Cold flying

[Startrunning]

It is beautiful outside. How cold can you safely fly the Mavic 2 pro?

 

[Former Member]

The manual says:

Aircraft Operating Temperature Range -10°C - 40°C (14°F - 104°F)

Battery Charging Temperature Range 5℃ - 40℃

Here is a search I did of cold weather flying:

Search results for query: cold weather flying

 

[Oconnb910]

I fly no matter what and I've had no issues

 

[Oconnb910]

Battery life is the only issue because it will substantially increase when it gets below freezing

 

[Oconnb910]

Decrease

 

[AMann]

Everyone who does it suggest pre-warming the battery by keeping them indoors or covered up when outside.

 

[msinger]

In addition to the suggestions above, make sure you're running a mobile device that can handle cold temperatures and keep your hands warm

 

[AMann]

In addition to the suggestions above, make sure you're running a mobile device that can handle cold temperatures and keep your hands warm

Good point! Any issues with iPhones? Mine seems to run really hot when flying so I wonder how it would do? Guess I could put a case on it.

 

[Anthonytoyo]

The drone can handle iT,your hands Will suffer sooner then the hardware [emoji1].the manual values are good indicators.i dont see myself operate my Mavic 2 acurate below -10 for very long

 

[msinger]

Guess I could put a case on it

That would be a good thing to try if it cannot handle the cold.

 

[Buckshot Ranch]

Flew yesterday with a 7 knot wind at 26 feet and windchill of 23 F. With the video activated it went through the battery like Michael Moore through a jelly donut. When I kicked up to 200 feet and caught a tailwind, at unknown knots, it took off like Rosie O'Donnel chasing an ice cream truck! Battery dropped quickly to 20% and it clawed it's way home. Total flight time was about 10 minutes on a fully charged batt and it took 2 hours to thaw out my fingers!

 

[terradriller]

Fly it from the warmth of your car or truck... works great, no cold fingers, you can see your iPad clearly.... no problem.

 

[Buckshot Ranch]

Good idea!....actually, I could probably fly it from one of the large windows in my house. I get pretty decent GPS reception inside. I have a Garmin GPS collar with a radio transmitter/receiver on my German Shepherd so I can keep track of him on my ranch. I'm amazed at how well the receiver tracks him from indoors. I only fly my bird over my ranch to check on cattle, predators and general security. The only challenge I face is the terrain. A good portion of my ranch is pasture but about 30 acres of it is heavy timber. In fact, I nailed an Aspen branch with the bird the other day at about the 100' elevation. My heart skipped a beat as I watched the camera somersault once before regaining a stable hover. I know the FAA rules say you are supposed to have visual at all times..but, no way I can on the ranch. Since I'm only over flying my property I don't worry about it.

 

[JonnyD]

I flew mine with 7°F and 13mph wind couple weeks ago with out any issues to the bird or RC. My phone did a force shutdown and one of my finger experienced frostbite. There were two jerking motion on the gimbal but other than that the MP2 performed like a champ.

 

[Blair Monfette]

I flew mine around 7F as well but I started loosing video. The camera started blacking out a few seconds at a time. Got nerous so brought it back down as soon as I could. Has anyone else ever experienced that?

 

[CanadaDrone]

I strongly recommend staying within DJI's posted flying temperatures for the M2 and make sure you keep the batteries warm. Also keep in mind flying outside of this range voids your DJI Refresh if you have it.

This thread may be of interest as well, issues with people flying when it's too cold are not uncommon and I suggest you ignore anecdotal comments like "I flew once at X temp. and it was fine".

Motor shut down in cold weather??

 

[ff22]

I strongly recommend staying within DJI's posted flying temperatures for the M2 and make sure you keep the batteries warm. Also keep in mind flying outside of this range voids your DJI Refresh if you have it.

This thread may be of interest as well, issues with people flying when it's too cold are not uncommon and I suggest you ignore anecdotal comments like "I flew once at X temp. and it was fine".

Motor shut down in cold weather??

Do the logs record air temperature?

 

[msinger]

Do the logs record air temperature?

No.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Do the logs record air temperature?

Pretty sure they do not. I am not sure what investigative lengths DJI would go to in order to approve/deny the potential claim however. They would presumably know approximately where & when it went down, so it would take them 2 seconds to find out what the temperature was. Just something to keep in mind anyway, it's probably not a major concern but it is specifically listed as something that voids the Refresh.

 

[Blair Monfette]

What do you mean when you talk about refresh? Sorry, haven't had my drone very long.