Flying in extreme cold weather...

[Robert Prior]

Well, as you know, I have ordered my wet suit and other items. I am wondering if the water landing pad can also act as a cushion for hard landings? Any data on this? Thanks for the tip!

Mark

At -30 a flexible pad is likely going to be hard and may well be brittle. If you have a way of checking this ahead of time I would do that.

 

[Robert Prior]

Thanks! Unfortunately, I am in China, and purchased my drone in... China, so all manuals and other information are in Chinese.

Mark

You can download manuals in English.

Mavic 2 is rated to -10C according to my manual (one reason I got it, as the Phantom 4 it replaced was only rated to 0C). Likewise the Smart Controller if you have one. So you are operating 20 degrees below what the equipment is rated for.

I get a low-temperature warning if the battery temperature is less than 15C. When flying in -4C a few days ago the batteries ended up at 29C and stayed there for the flight. The reaction that powers a LiPo battery is exothermic, so when flying they will be warmer but how long they can stay 45 degrees warmer is the question you need to answer.

If you can manage it while flying, keep checking the battery on the display, not just the temperature but the voltage in different cells. If one cell starts dropping much more than the others then land immediately as it could well be freezing. Not certain about LiPo batteries but freezing a phone battery (Li-Ion) can permanently damage it.

When planning flights I would assume less than half expected battery life, and a very rapid falloff when you get to low battery conditions (based on experience with camera batteries).

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Getting back to the icing on props
I was wondering if there are any UAV Apps that will warn you that icing could occur when all weather conditions are met in your area? I know UAVForcast does not and air data does not seem to either. Is there one out there that might?

 

[DoomMeister]

I would say use Windy and check the METAR reports at the closest airport. You can view METAR’s in native jargon or switch to plain text in the app. Windy is a free app and is in my app arsenal for sUAS flight prep.

‎Windy.com - Weather & Radar

‎A UNIQUE WEATHER FORECAST VISUALISATION While most weather forecasting apps rely only on free global models, Windy has gone a few steps further and invested heavily in the most accurate models available, always at the highest possible resolution, to ensure accurate weather forecasts...

apps.apple.com

Windy.com - Weather Forecast - Apps on Google Play

Weather radar, satellite, wind, waves, ocean and hurricane forecasts.

play.google.com

 

[slup]

Getting back to the icing on props
I was wondering if there are any UAV Apps that will warn you that icing could occur when all weather conditions are met in your area? I know UAVForcast does not and air data does not seem to either. Is there one out there that might?

Should be enough with an ordinary weather app that show forecasts for the dew point together with the air temp.

... Then, be aware that all is forecasts.

On top of this you need to be observant regarding visible moist in the air, & have knowledge about the prop icing issue & what it can cause.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Should be enough with an ordinary weather app that show forecasts for the dew point together with the air temp.

... Then, be aware that all is forecasts.

On top of this you need to be observant regarding visible moist in the air, & have knowledge about the prop icing issue & what it can cause.

Ya I know. Just trying to see if there was a App that makes it idiot proof

 

[slup]

This was the first time we ever herd of the issue : . We have seen similar threads and some client have provided us pictures of the Mavic 2 when caught in severe wind gusts and the legs have folded in ...

PSA: Front arms can fold in during flight.

I probably should have posted this a while back when it happened, but I figure better late than never. I was testing some modified parameters which allowed for more speed, but I've been told others have hit this kind of speed with a tail wind and so this is relevant. 58mph...then both sticks...

mavicpilots.com

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain, Land on the Water.

It's all about the probability for ... & how apparent the conditions are for a disaster.

If disregarding all possible specs for your craft & get airborne anyway ... it's very apparent that you take big risks that can end badly.

Flying in conditions as shown below ... you know what you're up against & a disaster will not come as a surprise, doesn't matter if it's folded arms, blow away situations, badly working sensors initiating auto landings or power losses.



This condition below on the other hand seems to be totally risk free ... this is just screaming straight out, get airborne & get on making epic footage.

Without the knowledge about prop icing & when it's a great risk ... incidents will far more often happen here then in the picture above.

That's why we see prop icing cases here at the forum each winter but no folded arm incidents from flying in the condition above.

 

[slup]

...Just trying to see if there was a App that makes it idiot proof

Will never happen I'm afraid ... all is only forecast after all & they aren't always correct & more importantly, not made for exactly that spot you're flying in.

 

[robforbes123]

Hello all,

I am working on a book about China and have been given the opportunity to go to North East China, near the North Korean border to photograph a special event, where fishermen take a 1km long net, break the river ice and pull it with horses. The end result is 1000 TONS of fish in a day. Really an excellent topic for the book, but the temperatures dip down to -30 Celsius (-22F). I am wondering if anyone has any experience using a Mavic 2 Pro in these kinds of conditions and if you do, what words of wisdom can you expand upon? Would appreciate any advice. I have already purchased a rain jacket and pad for it, flying over the water, but what else? Many thanks!

Cordially,

Mark Lent

Hi Mark. There are lot of replies here already from a lot of more experienced drone pilots than me.
For what it's worth, I have flown my Mavic Pro here in Hokkaido, northern Japan all through the winter months for the past couple of years. The temperature often gets down to minus 30 Celsius and it snows a lot. I am a ski guide and spend my days at the top of mountains waist deep in snow. My drone and spare batteries stay in my backpack in an insulated case all day until I fly and film. Apart from the occasional visual sensor issue associated with launching over snow (I generally launch by hand but often use a launch pad) I have never had any other problems. The Mavic Pro has been a work horse in these conditions (Pegasus).

 

[surfbird]

Suprised none mentioned the IMU. It can be affected by cold temp, and it's varies from ac to ac.
The battery usually give som signs before they give up.
Most other electronics can go very low temp.
If the IMU get stucked, game over.

Regarding ice on props, since mavic uses flexible props, ice can be removed by doing a punch out. Max your params

 

[slup]

Suprised none mentioned the IMU. It can be affected by cold temp, and it's varies from ac to ac...

It was, together with all other components on the AC ... either head over to post #6 or look it up in the user manual.

"AC Operating Temperature Range -10 - +40C degrees"

 

[Droning on and on...]

Thanks to everyone for the good advice.

If this is a threat bigger than prop icing, then tell me, why we never have seen that as an incident cause here at the forum...

May be because it's hard to identify as a cause and nobody really wants to share the fact that they crashed their expensive toy? May be, because there's no obligation to share this at all, especially not on this forum?

But let me be the first to then share this experience. My friend's drone crashed due to heavy wind. First one arm folded, causing the Mavic 2 Pro to rotate horizontally, then the other followed so it came down. Attached you'll find a picture of how it looked like when we found it after it fell from a height of 100m, showing both front arms folded and one in the back snapped in two.

 

[slup]

Thanks to everyone for the good advice.


May be because it's hard to identify as a cause and nobody really wants to share the fact that they crashed their expensive toy? May be, because there's no obligation to share this at all, especially not on this forum?

But let me be the first to then share this experience. My friend's drone crashed due to heavy wind. First one arm folded, causing the Mavic 2 Pro to rotate horizontally, then the other followed so it came down. Attached you'll find a picture of how it looked like when we found it after it fell from a height of 100m, showing both front arms folded and one in the back snapped in two.

Did you & actually see the arms fold airborne ... or was it the conclusion you came to, depending on how the AC looked when it had crashed?

A much more obvious reason for a horizontal rotation followed by a rapid loss in height ... is that the AC lost thrust in either of the 4 corners (which would have started the rotation in either a CW or a CCW direction depending on which side that lost thrust) ... the fall that then followed is then easily explained by that only 3 corners producing thrust can't keep a M2 airborne.

That the arms was folded on ground is very common & originates from the the AC either hits obstacles on the way down or the ground itself.

 

[Droning on and on...]

A much more obvious reason for a horizontal rotation followed by a rapid loss in height ... is that the AC lost thrust in either of the 4 corners

How though? Motors don't just stop working out of the blue. Even if one had failed, the drone would have stayed in flight.

There was no VLOS, but we have the video recording. The drone fell face up. If the front arms had been hit by obstacles then they would have snapped in two like the rear arm. Also, on the video the prop can be seen front and center when the drone lost control. It would usually be out of sight. Trust me, we've been going through the footage by the frame to reconstruct how it happened.

 

[slup]

How though? ...Even if one had failed, the drone would have stayed in flight.

A loss of thrust in one corner can have numerous reasons but the most common seen here at the forum is motor & prop failures... also prop icing have been a smaller factor, especially during the colder seasons. And trust me, no M2 will stay airborne when losing thrust from one corner ... that will immediately cause a torque imbalance making the AC start to rotate in high speed & rapidly come spiraling down ... just head over to the Mavic Crash & Flyaway Assistance section & check it for yourself.

There was no VLOS, but we have the video recording... Trust me, we've been going through the footage by the frame to reconstruct how it happened.

OK ... you didn't see it. And you're speculating out from a blurry video clip.

Why not go to the source which have all true facts & can tell what really happened ... the M2's have both the mobile device .txt & .dat fully decrypted & readable for us. Share them both here if you really want to know what happened during the incident you're referring to.

 

[Robert Prior]

Motors don't just stop working out of the blue. Even if one had failed, the drone would have stayed in flight.

I thought a quadcopter needed all four props to fly?

If the front arms had been hit by obstacles then they would have snapped in two like the rear arm. Also, on the video the prop can be seen front and center when the drone lost control. It would usually be out of sight.

The only crash I've had, one of my front arms folded when the drone hit the ground. Not snapped, folded. The arm that didn't fold had a small crack so I got it replaced.

If the arm folded wouldn't the prop be out of the view of the camera? Front-and-centre would be more an arm snapping, wouldn't it?

 

[Pixeldawg]

An update... Had to cancel my trip because of other work obligations. Will go next year and keep all of this great advice handy. Thank you one and all!

Cordially,

Mark

 

[Robert Prior]

An update... Had to cancel my trip because of other work obligations. Will go next year and keep all of this great advice handy. Thank you one and all!

Cordially,

Mark

I went out earlier this week at -9. Was wearing a fleece jacket under a light parka. Put two batteries in inside pockets of the parka, the drone and a battery in an uninsulated backpack beside a battery-powered handwarmer.

When I went to fly the drone and battery in the backpack were at about 16°, batteries inside my parka were at 11°.

So if you get a chance to go, a heat source inside an insulated bag might be better than tucking batteries inside your coat.