Cold Weather Flying?

Bunny Too · Nov 4, 2017

jorn said:
I flew my Mavic Pro for the very first time yesterday. And, it’s obviously below freezing in these shots.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qVIR5ApR9Ds

Howdy from Wyoming, jorn. Welcome to the community, plenty of fine folk and excellent information here.

Flying Hun · Nov 4, 2017

I think this is a great ideal. I don't have a truck but can lay out the landing pad next to my door. Temp where I am was in the high 30s this morning and I never thought of flying but certainly will in the future.

Vigi · Nov 5, 2017

Brojon said:
I went out flying this weekend when it got down to 40 here in Texas.
I don't mind the cold so much. I wanted to see the effects of cold on flight time.
I have a course I made that specifically covers 3.5 miles and usually I get the battery down to around 40% or so when it's hot out. This weekend I got in 2 flights and both times I had 55% remaining. Apparently the cold actually helps battery life. This was with the new props but I don't think they add that much.
Just thought I'd toss that out there.

Colder the air the heavier the air gets. = less air needs to be pushed with the props to get the same lift = lower rpm with props. Just my theory.

Bad Brad · Nov 5, 2017

wxperson said:
This is what you need... provided you have an antenna system from Titan Drones.

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I have one on my way to
Alaska super stoked changes the winter flying game
For sure!! I’m so Tankful for Titan Drones their products are rad.

ThorDar · Nov 5, 2017

raymo said:
I love how terrified these deer were of the Mavic. This is why in Canada we are banned from flying anywhere near animals.

Yep. Do that in Canada and get caught, up to a $3000 fine.

Brojon · Nov 5, 2017

Vigi said:
Colder the air the heavier the air gets. = less air needs to be pushed with the props to get the same lift = lower rpm with props. Just my theory.

Air density - it's a reasonable theory. I was also wondering if the extra cooling kept the batteries from getting hot.

tictag · Nov 5, 2017

The biggest problem I found with flying from within my car was maintaining light of sight with the aircraft, even though I have 6, that's SIX, windows in my car. So figured I could open my sunroof and it was kind-of OK if I just wanted to go up and down, but who wants to do that all day, right? So I enlarged my sunroof with my jigsaw and, yeah, I got a bit more lateral movement within LOS but ended up just cutting the roof off to get maximum vantage.

Well, here's where the trouble started. Firstly, it turned out to be just as cold outside as it was with the roof cut off and, completely coincidentally, my car was due in for its annual MOT a few weeks after the roof came off and bastards failed it!

Now I'm having to buy a new car. What a dumbass I was!! Learned from those lessons, allright, bought a motorbike this time, no need for roof surgery on this baby!

Riveratdave · Nov 5, 2017

Just wanted to offer some info from memory, not Google, lol. Simply put: cold is the enemy of batteries, but electronics love the cold. So, while batteries lose efficiency and capacity the colder they get, but will be damaged by high heat; electronic circuitry, especially CPUs, are more efficient at lower temps and actually will be also be damaged by high heat. Our Mavics, and controllers have thermostatically controlled internal cooling fans for the circuitry, so no problem there. Batteries are the main problem in low temps. Between Mavic battery discharge heat buildup, and it’s close proximity to the warm circuitry in the Mavic, the battery should remain within it’s temperature operating range during flight in low temps. How low, I guess we’ll see. Flight motors generate their own heat during operation, which should keep the bearing lubricant fluid. Looks like the gimbal, as pointed out, may be a problem though. My advice is to keep everything warm, (room temp) until the last moment before flight. Do a full battery test run in an open area, while keeping the uav close. Btw, I like the idea of flying from inside a vehicle; solves a lot of problems! I’m looking forward to some winter flying.

Pvitale · Nov 5, 2017

Ron_Dog said:
View attachment 23935 Went out for another flight from inside the truck cab(the colder it gets,the better I like it). Not one problem,plus I didn't get cold,or my extra batterys! I'm liking this! Hot Coffee,music,plus heat!

Starting to get cold in NYC thanks for the info I will be trying it soon.

Ron_Dog · Nov 5, 2017

tictag said:
The biggest problem I found with flying from within my car was maintaining light of sight with the aircraft, even though I have 6, that's SIX, windows in my car. So figured I could open my sunroof and it was kind-of OK if I just wanted to go up and down, but who wants to do that all day, right? So I enlarged my sunroof with my jigsaw and, yeah, I got a bit more lateral movement within LOS but ended up just cutting the roof off to get maximum vantage.

Well, here's where the trouble started. Firstly, it turned out to be just as cold outside as it was with the roof cut off and, completely coincidentally, my car was due in for its annual MOT a few weeks after the roof came off and bastards failed it! Now I'm having to buy a new car. What a dumbass I was!! Learned from those lessons, allright, bought a motorbike this time, no need for roof surgery on this baby!

Line of Sight? What's that?

GooterFly68 · Nov 5, 2017

Ron_Dog said:
Line of Sight? What's that?

Exactly! The MP is so small that once it gets about 500 feet out you can’t see the **** thing...

Riveratdave · Nov 5, 2017

Rnl said:
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Nice work! Lots of deer here in N. Alabama. Always looking for new ways to use my MP.

Ron_Dog said:
Line of Sight? What's that?

IKR!

Rnl · Nov 6, 2017

raymo said:
I love how terrified these deer were of the Mavic. This is why in Canada we are banned from flying anywhere near animals.

They are not scared at all, how can you say terrified ,you don't know deer I guess.

Riveratdave · Nov 6, 2017

Rnl said:
They are not scared at all, how can you say terrified ,you don't know deer I guess.

I have to agree with Rnl on this. Wild deer are suspicious of everything, and will be more alarmed by a human with a camera at 100 yds, than this uav at 10 yds. I enjoy wildlife photography, and wild deer are very difficult to get close enough to photograph; likely because of our scent. These animals obviously don’t perceive this ‘bird’ as a real threat. As always, please don’t chase wild animals with a uav; that will lead to more regulatory laws. Common sense!

Ron_Dog · Nov 6, 2017

I did some testing with my friend Jim along with his MP. We took a couple of "truck flights" out over the river bottoms to check out how well the range worked. We both flew to a bridge that is a ways off, without any problems, plus I set the iPad Air 2 on the dash and used a long cord to connect to the RC. It worked flawlessly!

We are now going to have to refer to this type of flying as "VFR" or "Vehicle Flight Rules"

!

Rnl · Nov 6, 2017

I want to see some river bottom

51 Drones · Nov 6, 2017

That's pretty much how I fly every time here in North Dakota from November through March!

Ron_Dog · Nov 6, 2017

Rnl said:
I want to see some river bottom

Will Do!

Here ya go! Shot today in 1080P 30fps.

Rnl · Nov 6, 2017

Riveratdave said:
I have to agree with Rnl on this. Wild deer are suspicious of everything, and will be more alarmed by a human with a camera at 100 yds, than this uav at 10 yds. I enjoy wildlife photography, and wild deer are very difficult to get close enough to photograph; likely because of our scent. These animals obviously don’t perceive this ‘bird’ as a real threat. As always, please don’t chase wild animals with a uav; that will lead to more regulatory laws. Common sense!

Yes I never chase, when they start getting nervous I'm out.

Franks my Dog · Nov 6, 2017

I'm in western Canada, and we got our first serious snow and cold weather this week....-15, -19C, only warming up to -10 or so during the day ( WAAY too cold, WAAY too early, but I digress). I flew last year quite a bit from inside my car; this year, I added a set of goggles to the mix. There is some signal loss, but it's much less than I expected. I'd flown my earlier gen Phantoms (1, 2, 3 and 4) from inside, with only the 4 showing minimal signal loss. The older machines took about a 50% hit on range. You can get some pretty spectacular shots during the winter, just being aware that your battery life will be shorter, and likely your range slightly reduced. The biggest issue is avoiding overexposure in your footage, especially on a bright sunny day. Polarizer filter helps a lot with that