Celebrating my one hour of flight birthday in snow!

[nikkolaa]

Hi folks,

So.., after keeping the MP warm and cosy at home, so long since Christmas, I finally managed during the past three weeks to get some time AND clement weather to fly a bit, basically getting used to it and basic buttons on the RC.

Two week-end ago I went skiing and realized it could have been such a good idea considering the not so low temperatures (1 to 4 degC) and almost no wind.
And a wide open area at bottom of the ski station...

So last Sunday, to celebrate my first accumulated hour of flight, I have bring it along with me hoping for same weather conditions.
Starting from "flying over people is out of the perimeter", I chose not to fly during skiing, well,, good enough knowing I did not even test the smart functions yet.. Next time hmmm

So I just went skiing for few hours and after having left with car, I stopped along the road on my way back down and had the flight
Temperature in the morning were lower this time (-8 to -4) but I decided to let batteries in the car (parked under full sun exposition), when I returned six hours later, they looked a bit cold but not so much, so I'll drive around 10min, with heater's exhausts orientated on batteries (more or less ok! [emoji4])

At drone switch on, battery in MP was at 19,4 degC, so no problem

So what about taking off in snow??? Do you have experience to share?

I forgot my foldable landing spot, and wondered if it was a good idea as I never land grabbing it with hands, taking off is ok even if quite fun to prepare the landing point as powder was 50cm high.

I finally realized MP was not so heavy as myself, so rough leveling of snow looked good enough to put MP on ground for preflight checklist

At this point, I simply "hope" wind conditions will not be changed so much that my reduced landing area would be too narrow to ensure very accurate final landing sequence

I had a short flight, around 15 min, my fingers were freezing (no refer to this as many other post about it already exists, thx), and all went fine, not even a high wind alarm,
I went 50m above landing point altitude, setting new record altitude at 1749m
Max distance : 146m

In the end, it looks like the same thing keeps happening, when about to land, wind's going crazy and MP fights to keep hovering with GPS and I just wait for the best opportunity!

Quite a long post for such an opening thread : did you guys already had some stories in snow about how it might go wrong, etc?

Cheers,
Nicolas

 

[nikkolaa]

 

[Playthru]

Nice pictures but it’s making me cold just thinking about the temps you were flying in.

 

[shamus]

Similar story. Clear skies. Temp ~0°C, takeoff altitude 1650m, on top of a mountain.
Fog and wind was picking up and I had to return. At this point I was lower by 30m than starting point and 600m away...and lost connection. I was chicken **** since my RTH altitude was set to 100m. I was relieved when I could hear & see my drone above in that freezing, almost foggy moment.
But I set my altitude record to 1788 [emoji23]

 

[nikkolaa]

Where do you usually land in snow conditions?

Next time, I'll definitely prepare a larger landing point? [emoji4]

 

[Fly Me to the Moon]

Nice pics well done mate

 

[Cookedinlh]

I generally hand catch . (with gloves) . . summer and winter. This method became more the norm after landing on pavement and getting some dust/dirt/sand in one of the motors resulting in return to DJI to get the sand out . . expensive and time consuming. Hand catch is relatively safe (with leather gloves) in all but high wind conditions. In high wind (20mph+) I use a foldable circular disc (3ft across) . . .photographer's reflector, black side up . . .weighted or staked to the ground or snow. . . last resort in difficult terrain I have come into a low hover 1-3 feet over grass or weeds and just hit CSC (combined stick command) and a drop of 1-2 feet is fine with some cushion of grass is ok. . would not suggest this into soft or wet snow though. . . maybe throw down my jacket first. . . there are solutions, if you plan ahead for unexpected conditions.

Always have an "alternate plan" for the times when the original plan fails and the attempt at PLAN B leaves you wishing you were already on the ground.

 

[nikkolaa]

I generally hand catch . (with gloves) . . summer and winter. This method became more the norm after landing on pavement and getting some dust/dirt/sand in one of the motors resulting in return to DJI to get the sand out . . expensive and time consuming. Hand catch is relatively safe (with leather gloves) in all but high wind conditions. In high wind (20mph+) I use a foldable circular disc (3ft across) . . .photographer's reflector, black side up . . .weighted or staked to the ground or snow. . . last resort in difficult terrain I have come into a low hover 1-3 feet over grass or weeds and just hit CSC (combined stick command) and a drop of 1-2 feet is fine with some cushion of grass is ok. . would not suggest this into soft or wet snow though. . . maybe throw down my jacket first. . . there are solutions, if you plan ahead for unexpected conditions.

Always have an "alternate plan" for the times when the original plan fails and the attempt at PLAN B leaves you wishing you were already on the ground.

Well it was clear I forgot my foldable landing spot and will try not to reproduce it..

And the jacket was ready for plan b with csc !

Never tried catching him up, are your advice about wearing gloves coming from past (bad) experience?

 

[Cookedinlh]

Yes but the experience was while wearing gloves. Knitted/fleece gloves are not enough to prevent a bit of a "sting" . . close fitting stiff leather has worked better but . . . since changing my technique to grab a bit further forward resulted in never getting stung again. Grab it with the rotors not sunning and check how close they come to your fingers first! . . not a lot of room for error.