Cold Weather

[shawgod]

Tomorrow I would like to get my Air 2S out flying for the very first time for just 2 batteries. It is suppose to be 20 degrees Fahrenheit tomorrow. I plan to keep one of the batteries in my coat or run my car and leave it in there to keep it warm before flight. Do you think this is a good idea or a bad idea? I just don’t want to doom my brand new drone in. I know I should expect diminishing battery power because of the cold and will keep it close. I just am itching right now to fly it so bad. I just got it and want to stretch its props.

 

[waynorth]

20 F is minus 6.5 Celsius - that is no problem. Keep your batteries warm as you suggest, and don't fly too far away since this is your first flight. Find an open space, fly carefully and no Sport mode until you get more experience.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I would recommend you fly from inside your car if possible. This way you an focus on the drone as well as what is happening on the controller.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Air 2S in the Rain / Snow

 

[akdrone]

I shoot at -20F regularly and have shot at -30F at times. The Frozen Forest was a video shot at -20F in a 20mph wind. akdrone videos. We’re probably two months away from seeing +20F… LOL. Just don’t tell DJI you’re shooting in those temps if something bad unrelated to temp happens because it’s out of their specs by a few degrees…

 

[moldorf]

I shoot at -20F regularly and have shot at -30F at times. The Frozen Forest was a video shot at -20F in a 20mph wind. akdrone videos. We’re probably two months away from seeing +20F… LOL. Just don’t tell DJI you’re shooting in those temps if something bad unrelated to temp happens because it’s out of their specs by a few degrees…

I just looked that up on the wind chill chart. That was essentially -48F. That's some DD (droning dedication)

Wind Chill Science

 

[GFields]

Tomorrow I would like to get my Air 2S out flying for the very first time for just 2 batteries. It is suppose to be 20 degrees Fahrenheit tomorrow. I plan to keep one of the batteries in my coat or run my car and leave it in there to keep it warm before flight. Do you think this is a good idea or a bad idea? I just don’t want to doom my brand new drone in. I know I should expect diminishing battery power because of the cold and will keep it close. I just am itching right now to fly it so bad. I just got it and want to stretch its props.

You'll be fine

 

[DanJ]

I totally agree with akdrone.
I live in central Alberta and we average -10 to -20 Celsius in the winter.
I keep my vehicle warm, ie, warm batteries, controller, etc. and have no problem flying in lower temps.

 

[akdrone]

Here’s a thought about flying in extreme temps. As it has been noted you want to keep your batteries warm so I would not go to fly if my batteries could not be kept warm. There is an inherent issue with bringing a very cold drone into a very warm car. If you bring a super cold drone into a toasty warm car it will cause moisture to condense on the lens and then you take it out and that freezes. Not good. When I’m out flying in seriously cold temps I dress warmly and before I bring the drone in the car I open the doors for a moment or two and let some cold air in.It only takes moments to allow the air in the car to cool down and then once flying you can crank up the heat. Another option is to change batteries outside and I often do that instead of bringing the drone in the car. I used to do a lot of aurora photography and have shot aurora down at -60F when a large pro battery lasts about 3 minutes. Then I would swap batteries endlessly (and expensively) while the first battery was warming up and once warmed it was good to go again. Another issue is charging. You don’t want to charge your battery while it is frozen Which is why I have at least 5 batteries for all my drones. Surprisingly all of my drones work fine in extreme temps. The battery life is affected but not as much as you might think and not at all at temps like +20F from may experience. It’s often the moving joints and oils that are of the most concern but so far no problem. I have yet to fly my Avata or Mini3 in extreme temps. This winter has had me sidelined much of the time with knee problems so I’ll have to wait but expect similar outcomes to my FPV and Mavic3. If you want to be able to keep a nice toasty car while flying extreme temps you can 1) change out batteries outdoors so you don’t ever bring the drone from cold to warm and 2) when done flying bring a case for your drone outside to cool down during your last flight. When done, put the cold drone into the cold case and zip it up. The drone will warm up slowly inside the case and the cold/warm condensation problem will be mitigated. Another option is to move to Florida.

 

[Yaros]

I flew my Mavic Air 2 in very cold weather (-20°C/-4°F), besides the gimbal tilting a bit during the first minutes of the flight, nothing else went wrong.
However, don't rush, I do recommend reading this whole reply for more advice.

[IMPORTANT] Keep your batteries in a warm condition until the moment you put it in the drone. Always store them in warm conditions.

[IMPORTANT] After takeoff, hover at a low altitude until your battery reaches approximately 20°C/68°F, you can check the battery temperature by going to the three-dot menu on the top right of the Fly app, in Safety Tab --> Battery Info. To make it go quicker, you could fly slowly in Cine mode.

[IMPORTANT] Do NOT fly in Sport mode or stress the drone in any way, if your batteries aren't new, or have some problems, in cold weather this will be very noticeable, and dangerous. Voltage sag might occur, causing the drone to crash or land very quickly, even if the battery percentage is high!

[IMPORTANT] Do not make rough/fast movements with the drone, always accelerate and decelerate smoothly, only make sharp movements if required due to safety reasons, for example when you noticed that you're too close to an obstacle and might crash, so you need to stop immediately.

[CAUTION] Beware of prop-icing. Do not fly over water, which might have humid particles rising, as upon exiting that area, your props might freeze and lose thrust. If you have a warning that says that your propellers are spinning too fast, immediately bring your drone down lower to the ground, and definitely don't be fly over water!

[WARNING] Always keep your drone in VLOS, as in cold weather your phone could disconnect from the controller/reboot. That happened to me, so I was required to fly it back visually. I know that RTH exists, and even if the app is not open, you could hit the button on the controller and it will RTH, but still, not having VLOS nor live feed is scary! Beware: if for any reason your phone does disconnect, do not wait for it to RTH, unless you did press the button on the controller, the phone disconnecting from the controller will not trigger an RTH, the drone would need to lose signal for that to happen, so even if the app isn't connected in mid-flight, you can still fly it back visually, using the sticks, or press RTH.

[WARNING] Bring it back with at least 20% battery, don't risk it. LiPo batteries perform much worse in cold conditions! You might not even realize that your battery is getting low so fast until you get the RTH warning.

[ADVICE] I know that you will want your footage as soon as you get home, but don't rush to turn on the drone or charge the batteries. Let them sit inside at room temperature for about 40 minutes before turning anything on. Bringing electronics from the cold, will make condensation inside the device start to turn into moisture, and if it is powered on, it might cause an unwanted short circuit in the PCB.

And lastly, have a great time flying and capture some amazing footage! Don't hesitate to ask further questions if you're unsure about something, and share what you captured in Photo & Video Showcase!

 

[reaperman]

Most likely your hands will give out before your battery if you stay outside. If you can last without gloves for the duration of two batteries, well, then your almost ready to move over to Minnesota

 

[DanJ]

Most likely your hands will give out before your battery if you stay outside. If you can last without gloves for the duration of two batteries, well, then your almost ready to move over to Minnesota

That's been my experience.
My hands will get too cold before the drone gives up and I "condition" my hands by walking in very, very cold weather.
Believe it or not one does acclimatize to the cold. What feels like deathly cold in November can seem positively balmy in February.

 

[Rchawks]

It can be very dangerous for your fingers before you know it. My neighbor came home from a hard day of deliveries and I seen him in the parking lot. He showed me his hand, the two small fingers were white as this background, frostbite was setting in. I'd show you the picture, but out of respect for him I won't. It was truly shocking. always be careful. I've been flying from the car with the roof cover open to see above me as well as the other windows, much safer. I'm not crazy about flying with gloves on, even though I have some thin ones for that purpose. I have a transmitter mitt my wife lined with sheepskin on the inside I used for flying planes in the winter. I haven't tried it with the drone though.

 

[DanJ]

It can be very dangerous for your fingers before you know it. My neighbor came home from a hard day of deliveries and I seen him in the parking lot. He showed me his hand, the two small fingers were white as this background, frostbite was setting in. I'd show you the picture, but out of respect for him I won't. It was truly shocking. always be careful. I've been flying from the car with the roof cover open to see above me as well as the other windows, much safer. I'm not crazy about flying with gloves on, even though I have some thin ones for that purpose. I have a transmitter mitt my wife lined with sheepskin on the inside I used for flying planes in the winter. I haven't tried it with the drone though.

After having spent my childhood with my younger brother outdoors in the winter, we've seen everything from frost bitten ears to fingers and toes.
Cold can be dangerous. There is no way around it.

 

[dan.utinske]

I flew my Mavic Air 2 in very cold weather (-20°C/-4°F), besides the gimbal tilting a bit during the first minutes of the flight, nothing else went wrong.
However, don't rush, I do recommend reading this whole reply for more advice.

[IMPORTANT] Keep your batteries in a warm condition until the moment you put it in the drone. Always store them in warm conditions.

[IMPORTANT] After takeoff, hover at a low altitude until your battery reaches approximately 20°C/68°F, you can check the battery temperature by going to the three-dot menu on the top right of the Fly app, in Safety Tab --> Battery Info. To make it go quicker, you could fly slowly in Cine mode.

[IMPORTANT] Do NOT fly in Sport mode or stress the drone in any way, if your batteries aren't new, or have some problems, in cold weather this will be very noticeable, and dangerous. Voltage sag might occur, causing the drone to crash or land very quickly, even if the battery percentage is high!

[IMPORTANT] Do not make rough/fast movements with the drone, always accelerate and decelerate smoothly, only make sharp movements if required due to safety reasons, for example when you noticed that you're too close to an obstacle and might crash, so you need to stop immediately.

[CAUTION] Beware of prop-icing. Do not fly over water, which might have humid particles rising, as upon exiting that area, your props might freeze and lose thrust. If you have a warning that says that your propellers are spinning too fast, immediately bring your drone down lower to the ground, and definitely don't be fly over water!

[WARNING] Always keep your drone in VLOS, as in cold weather your phone could disconnect from the controller/reboot. That happened to me, so I was required to fly it back visually. I know that RTH exists, and even if the app is not open, you could hit the button on the controller and it will RTH, but still, not having VLOS nor live feed is scary! Beware: if for any reason your phone does disconnect, do not wait for it to RTH, unless you did press the button on the controller, the phone disconnecting from the controller will not trigger an RTH, the drone would need to lose signal for that to happen, so even if the app isn't connected in mid-flight, you can still fly it back visually, using the sticks, or press RTH.

[WARNING] Bring it back with at least 20% battery, don't risk it. LiPo batteries perform much worse in cold conditions! You might not even realize that your battery is getting low so fast until you get the RTH warning.

[ADVICE] I know that you will want your footage as soon as you get home, but don't rush to turn on the drone or charge the batteries. Let them sit inside at room temperature for about 40 minutes before turning anything on. Bringing electronics from the cold, will make condensation inside the device start to turn into moisture, and if it is powered on, it might cause an unwanted short circuit in the PCB.

And lastly, have a great time flying and capture some amazing footage! Don't hesitate to ask further questions if you're unsure about something, and share what you captured in Photo & Video Showcase!

Just a quick comment regarding icing. Icing can occur at 40F with visible moisture, aka clouds, fog. etc.. Icing will occur on the blades and asymmetrical shedding can destroy the drone, meaning ice is shed off one or more of the blades throwing the drone out of balance. Flying in Sport mode in visible moisture at that temperature can also causing icing on the cooling vents. I actually believe this would be pretty rare given the limited amount of flight time available but anything is possible.

 

[Rchawks]

I think I ask too many questions, sorry.

 

[LeeB]

I am heading to Norway this Saturday for a cruise to see the Northern Lights and will be taking my M2P. I have flown my drone at 30F but expect colder temps on this trip. All the comments, warnings, suggestions and advice are super helpful and will guide me during this trip.
Thank you to all.

 

[waynorth]

I am heading to Norway this Saturday for a cruise to see the Northern Lights and will be taking my M2P. I have flown my drone at 30F but expect colder temps on this trip. All the comments, warnings, suggestions and advice are super helpful and will guide me during this trip.
Thank you to all.

You are coming to northern Norway, maybe around Tromso city? This is where most Northern Lights tourists come.
It is unusually warm here now, 4-5 degrees C, and will stay warm for at least a week.
And unfortunately it will also be cloudy, with not much chances to see the Auroras.

 

[akdrone]

You are coming to northern Norway, maybe around Tromso city? This is where most Northern Lights tourists come.
It is unusually warm here now, 4-5 degrees C, and will stay warm for at least a week.
And unfortunately it will also be cloudy, with not much chances to see the Auroras.

Some years ago there was a meteor shower that I wanted to see I had planned to view, but it got cloudy so I chartered an eight seat plane and sold the seats to friends and colleagues, and we went up above the clouds and the planes simply went back-and-forth one group I got to see a meteor showers for a while than the other. If I had made an expensive cruise to Norway, and found it to be cloudy, I would do similarly assuming that the clouds could be flown over. The best chance to see northern lights for southerners is to watch a Weather app closely which can’t tell you when northern lights are expected and then get a last minute flight to Alaska or some other area where the weather is going to be cooperative.

 

[LeeB]

You are coming to northern Norway, maybe around Tromso city? This is where most Northern Lights tourists come.
It is unusually warm here now, 4-5 degrees C, and will stay warm for at least a week.
And unfortunately it will also be cloudy, with not much chances to see the Auroras.

We will be in Tromso Feb 6-7 and have scheduled an excursion for the lights Feb 6. I've been surprised by the UAV Forecast reports for that area being that warm. AIRMAP indicates that area as Special Use Airspace and unable to fly. I don't know exactly where we dock nor where the excursion takes us. We are keeping our fingers and toes crossed that we will be able to see the lights.

 

[waynorth]

We will be in Tromso Feb 6-7 and have scheduled an excursion for the lights Feb 6. I've been surprised by the UAV Forecast reports for that area being that warm. AIRMAP indicates that area as Special Use Airspace and unable to fly. I don't know exactly where we dock nor where the excursion takes us. We are keeping our fingers and toes crossed that we will be able to see the lights.

The only NoFlyZone is the 5 km radius from the airport, see the red circle on the map.
The excursion will depend on the weather, but will probably be on the island Kvaloya west of Tromso, as I marked with yellow. If it is cloudy at the coast, but clear further east towards Sweden, prepare for a long drive.