Flying in dust storms - a bad idea?

[Deleted member 94047]

Hello folks!

Over the weekend, we had a very unusual weather event where I live - a dust storm. These are very rare in my part of the world and from what I have read, this particular event was a result of low pressure over the Sudan and parts of North Africa. So the butterfly effect and all, we ended up with skies like these starting Friday afternoon and extending to Sunday.



So this being a rare event and all, I was tempted to fly and capture it. Two things made me not do that. First, visibility was so low that I doubted if I would be able to capture anything of value in the first place. Second, I was not sure if flying in to a sky full of dust and particles was good for the motors. So even if I decided not to fly this time, I wanted to hear what the community has to say about flying during dust storms. I understand VLOS is certainly an issue here but I also would like to know how risky it is for the aircraft in terms of damage to the motors and such. Any thought? Or perhaps experiences?

Thanks.

 

[old man mavic]

Hello folks!

Over the weekend, we had a very unusual weather event where I live - a dust storm. These are very rare in my part of the world and from what I have read, this particular event was a result of low pressure over the Sudan and parts of North Africa. So the butterfly effect and all, we ended up with skies like these starting Friday afternoon and extending to Sunday.

View attachment 96751

So this being a rare event and all, I was tempted to fly and capture it. Two things made me not do that. First, visibility was so low that I doubted if I would be able to capture anything of value in the first place. Second, I was not sure if flying in to a sky full of dust and particles was good for the motors. So even if I decided not to fly this time, I wanted to hear what the community has to say about flying during dust storms. I understand VLOS is certainly an issue here but I also would like to know how risky it is for the aircraft in terms of damage to the motors and such. Any thought? Or perhaps experiences?

Thanks.

a very good decision not to fly,the fine particles make a very good abrasive ,and would not do the bearings in the gimbal or motors and the internal cooling fan any favours
and also the props could get damaged as they spin in the dust,in affect the whole airframe could have been compromised

 

[Deleted member 94047]

You make very good points @old man mavic. The props never even crossed my mind but you are absolutely right, they would probably have suffered. Thanks!

 

[old man mavic]

You make very good points @old man mavic. The props never even crossed my mind but you are absolutely right, they would probably have suffered. Thanks!

one last thing that i just thought of the amount of dust being sucked into the cooling fan and motors could have caused the mav to overheat and crash

 

[dirkclod]

What about the dust your going to suck into your eyes and lungs. Naaaa

 

[Deleted member 94047]

What about the dust your going to suck into your eyes and lungs. Naaaa

That was unavoidable anyway. But on hind sight, I could have at least put on a face mask. Like I said, totally inexperienced when it comes to dealing with sand storms.

 

[Dave Maine]

Add the gimbal motor assembly to a place where you don’t want dirt. The gimbal overload warning is most distressing.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

So I guess the general consensus is do not fly in a dust storm! Got it, thanks !

 

[Rockycat]

good call. wait for the air to clear.

 

[Thomas B]

In AZ the dust storms roll in like a wall of dust... cool to see, but after it gets to you it’s just dark with limited visibility.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Dust like that would be bad for ALL parts of your drone, it'd get through the entire internals as well as gimbal and motors etc.
It'd be cool to film an approach of a dust storm front like in @Thomas B photo above, but get on the ground and inside before it hits proper.