Feeling nervous cold weather

[Gruppe8]

I fly a DJI mini 3 pro, haven't flown since august last year, I aim to go out tomorrow morning first light but the temperature will be around -2 to -4c, battery fully charged, there is a country park lake as an option, i wont fly over the water just hoping to get some frost ice scenes, alternatively there is another area of open land near a tube train line, I know about the 50 meter rule so will be be that distance away and will get some stills and video of tube trains and express trains, any pitfalls to flying in these conditions I am a nervous flyer made more nervous from the last flight on a beach in turkey where a large street dog appeared and tried to take down my drone on descent, which I managed to prevent and all the new legislation coming in doesn't help either, any help or advice would be appreciated I aim to use a polarising filter to cut down the glare

 

[msinger]

any help or advice would be appreciated

Keep your equipment warm until you're ready to fly (especially the batteries), get some fingerless gloves, and keep a steak ready in your pocket in case that dog shows up again.

 

[Drone Views Media]

Keep your equipment warm until you're ready to fly (especially the batteries), get some fingerless gloves, and keep a steak ready in your pocket in case that dog shows up again.

Yep, I always keep my batteries in a pocket inside my jacket. The only thing I worry about is icing on the leading edges of the props, hence why I keep it close on a cold day

 

[Felix le Chat]

I fly a DJI mini 3 pro, haven't flown since august last year, I aim to go out tomorrow morning first light but the temperature will be around -2 to -4c, battery fully charged, there is a country park lake as an option, i wont fly over the water just hoping to get some frost ice scenes, alternatively there is another area of open land near a tube train line, I know about the 50 meter rule so will be be that distance away and will get some stills and video of tube trains and express trains, any pitfalls to flying in these conditions I am a nervous flyer made more nervous from the last flight on a beach in turkey where a large street dog appeared and tried to take down my drone on descent, which I managed to prevent and all the new legislation coming in doesn't help either, any help or advice would be appreciated I aim to use a polarising filter to cut down the glare

With the mini 3 pro, a lot of people find that they get significant lens fogging when using a drone that is warmer than the ambient temperature. So I tend to keep the batteries toasty inside my jacket and let the airframe equalise with the outside cold. About the only way round this is to take that useless stepped 'hood' off the front of the camera and replace it with a third-party UV filter, which acts as a thermal buffer, or as you intend: a polarizer. The postcode suggests you're UK based, so the A3 category 50 metre rule doesn't apply to the sub-250's, flown as A1 sub-classification drones, you have the leeway to "... Approach buildings or objects closer than 50 metres...".... but use your discretion.
Oh..... and make sure you have a Dekko at the Drone Assist map to make sure you're not anywhere near an official NFZ or temporary restriction

 

[old man mavic]

@Gruppe8 a few things to be aware of in cold temps ,some already mentioned
(1) flight time will be reduced
(2) possible prop icing if certain weather conditions are met
(3) i can comfirm the use of a ND filter or polarizer, in place of the open lens cover, to prevent the fogging issue
(4) a good way to help the batteries stay warm, is not to insert them into the drone ,untill you are just about ready to get airborne,and once aloft hover for a minute or so to help them reach a reasonable temperature
(5) now equally as important, is how you look after yourself ,when flying in very cold (or hot ) conditions ,mostly when flying a camera drone ,you tend to stay in one spot near the home point
this inactivity can cause your core body temperature to fall ,as well as your hands being cold ,so take a break between batteries, in a warm place if you can such as your vehicle,for instance
and always wear a hat of some sort, because your head is where most of your body heat is lost
another thing is beware of putting a very cold drone, in a warm place, as condensation can form inside it if you do
i know that the most of the things i have mentioned,are basic common sense,but its very easy to get caught up in the moment ,and forget them
i would have loved to have flown today ,but it was minus 5 at 8 PM, and only reached about plus 4 by mid day,yes the drone would have flown ok ,it was my age and medical conditions, that made me say not today

 

[StevenBrodsky]

Yep, I always keep my batteries in a pocket inside my jacket. The only thing I worry about is icing on the leading edges of the props, hence why I keep it close on a cold day

you should do an experiment and hover low for the length of the battery charge and see if your props ice up. do it on the coldest day with the highest humidity you can, maybe a light snow day. let us know the results.

 

[mobilehomer]

Taken this afternoon. Mavic 3 Classic, 11 degrees F. Flew flawlessly.

 

[slup]

...but the temperature will be around -2 to -4c

...The only thing I worry about is icing on the leading edges of the props

you should do an experiment and hover low for the length of the battery charge and see if your props ice up. do it on the coldest day with the highest humidity you can, maybe a light snow day.

Flying in colder ambient temps isn't anything to be overly afraid of if you know what to look for & know how to treat your equipment.

Prop icing... can occur between approx. +5C to -20C degrees when the dew point is about there where the ambient temp is... & the prop is operating in this environment. Note that thing's change with height so it can get critical higher up even if you do low height hover tests.

Why not any risk if it's colder than -20C degrees..?

The weather I have right now says ambient -15,3C with a dew point of -18C degrees... close enough to see moist falling out from the air, but it's sunny & almost a clear sky. But if looking straight into the sun I see that the air is glittering of ice crystals... so the moist the air no longer can hold isn't released as water droplets, it freezes directly. So if my drone didn't have a ambient operation temp on lowest -10C I would fly. The situation would have been very different if it was like -7C with a dew point on -10C... it most likely had been a bit foggy or hazy then... & I had skipped flying.

Equipment... the gimbal may act up some, the colder it is but this will in most cases not be a lasting problem, once warmed up all should work normally again. And the battery, even if you keep them warm before take off the colder ambient can make them operate during a colder internal temps than usual, this gives a higher internal resistance which can result in deeper voltage drops during amp draw than usual, so try to fly without sudden full stick moves & try to avoid full speed ascends+full speed horizontal & skip sport mode.

 

[HoozierDroneDaddy]

I have flown in -20f several times. flew the other day with 3f and wind chill of -25f. As mentioned above the critical point is the dew point. When that cold if there is any moisture in the air I generally don't fly. If questionable, I will do a short low level check flight hovering about 5-6 feet, land and check for icing. If any is present, I don't fly. If the props are dry, then I fly, but make periodic checks for moisture/icing on the props.

 

[Gruppe8]

Thanks for all your reply's and advice, well it was minus 4 this morning so i left the morning session, and went for the afternoon session arriving near the train line, I had a scout around for dogs, no problem but in the nice gap between the tree lined train line was something really worse, Crows not a couple around 30 within 40 meters of where my drone would be hovering, these are quite aggressive and will chase hawks herons etc etc, and i didn't want to risk the drone, so the only thing i got was a few miles of exercise, I did have a crow come after my drone in turkey i was at around 40 metres and the crow climbed towards it, so i put it in sports mode and climbed it gave up and flew away, but with this many crows the risk of mobbing is a reality, would any of you guys risked this situation ??

 

[Gruppe8]

@Gruppe8 a few things to be aware of in cold temps ,some already mentioned
(1) flight time will be reduced
(2) possible prop icing if certain weather conditions are met
(3) i can comfirm the use of a ND filter or polarizer, in place of the open lens cover, to prevent the fogging issue
(4) a good way to help the batteries stay warm, is not to insert them into the drone ,untill you are just about ready to get airborne,and once aloft hover for a minute or so to help them reach a reasonable temperature
(5) now equally as important, is how you look after yourself ,when flying in very cold (or hot ) conditions ,mostly when flying a camera drone ,you tend to stay in one spot near the home point
this inactivity can cause your core body temperature to fall ,as well as your hands being cold ,so take a break between batteries, in a warm place if you can such as your vehicle,for instance
and always wear a hat of some sort, because your head is where most of your body heat is lost
another thing is beware of putting a very cold drone, in a warm place, as condensation can form inside it if you do
i know that the most of the things i have mentioned,are basic common sense,but its very easy to get caught up in the moment ,and forget them
i would have loved to have flown today ,but it was minus 5 at 8 PM, and only reached about plus 4 by mid day,yes the drone would have flown ok ,it was my age and medical conditions, that made me say not today

Great advice thank you

 

[PHZ]

One last thing to consider when flying in cold weather. I had a Mavic Pro whose sensor was ruined by condensation from bringing the cold drone into my warm house. Water drops formed inside the camera and got on the sensor. Now I place the drone itself inside a sealed zip lock bag, then bring it in the house.

 

[slup]

One last thing to consider when flying in cold weather. I had a Mavic Pro whose sensor was ruined by condensation from bringing the cold drone into my warm house. Water drops formed inside the camera and got on the sensor. Now I place the drone itself inside a sealed zip lock bag, then bring it in the house.

Yep, a serious threat to any sensitive electronic equipment.