Flying at temperature extremes?

[JY-tek]

I have read numerous times about hazards of flying when either too hot or too cold. What exactly are the safe temperatures, and what precautions should I exercise to try fly when cold?? It doesn't get too hot at my location, but I really want to do some photos over these snow capped mountains this winter. What do I need to know???

 

[Canuk]

Keep your battery’s warm . I flew my Pro last winter and as long as I had warm battery’s to put in the pro it was happy

 

[microlinux]

As far as cold, I've flown in below freezing temps many times. As stated above, just make sure you keep the batteries warm before flying.

 

[mavicBJ]

I just completed a flight in -23 deg C with the Mavic Pro. Maximum height was only about 75m (i.e. 210 ft) but the flight was stable and the movie was great. I did not fly too far away because I was unsure of the flight parameters in this cold weather. I flew for about 15 minutes with no problems. I then got a battery critically low on the phone. After I landed the Mavic I checked the phone and still found there was 70% battery charge. It took some time inside to get all the functions back on the phone. So, next time I fly I will place a pocket warmer on the back of the phone to give a longer battery life on the phone.

 

[RadioFlyerMan]

1-13-2019. MPP - Two flights @ 6 degrees F this morning. Flight radius of 2400 ft, altitude 360 ft for 16 minutes and 11 minutes. About a 12 mph wind. Drone performed flawlessly. Pilot got cold and quit.

 

[Koelkop]

Just keep icing in mind when conditions are right like this

Well I did something stupid today

 

[Mavic Pro Platinum]

I have read numerous times about hazards of flying when either too hot or too cold. What exactly are the safe temperatures, and what precautions should I exercise to try fly when cold?? It doesn't get too hot at my location, but I really want to do some photos over these snow capped mountains this winter. What do I need to know???

Make sure the batteries are warm. If you can keep them warm then you will be good!

 

[Mavic Pro Platinum]

1-13-2019. MPP - Two flights @ 6 degrees F this morning. Flight radius of 2400 ft, altitude 360 ft for 16 minutes and 11 minutes. About a 12 mph wind. Drone performed flawlessly. Pilot got cold and quit.

LOL!

 

[mavicBJ]

I just completed a 15 min flight at -33 deg C (-27 deg F), Max height was 400 ft, max distance was 1000ft. Still had 40% battery left in the Mavic Pro when it landed. The total flight distance for the 15 min was 5,661 ft. Camera was working good, controls were all good.

 

[bvsolutions]

Coldest temp I've ever flown in. Thanks Polar Vortex. -46 F wind chill.
Coldest temp I've ever flown in. Thanks Polar Vortex. -46 F wind chill.

 

[mavicBJ]

Not to put too fine a point of the subject of cold weather flying, but wind chill is not the same as temperature. In the case of wind on a cold day, heat is transferred from your body to the air around you. A thin layer of air (boundary layer) around you body forms which is warmed by the transfer of heat from your body. This layer of air has a smaller difference in temperature with your body than the bulk of the air and slows the rate of heat transfer. When it windy the air is rapidly removed and replaced with the bulk, shrinking the boundary layer and increasing the temperature difference between your body and the air, and therefore the rate of heat transfer.

For instance, water will not freeze is the wind chill is say 30 deg F and the actual temperature is 35 deg F it will just come to the same temperature of the air faster. Nothing will actually get to the wind chill temperature, because nothing actually is the wind chill temperature. It is merely the temperature that would yield equivalent heat transfer with your body as the actual temperature with the wind. Therefore only living things experience wind chill, inanimate objects like drones only see temperature.