Flying in the clouds - advice needed!

[DJI DelBoy]

So I’ve been flying near some mountains and occasionally the clouds roll in. When they do I get out of the way.

I recall watching a video on YouTube where the owner of a DJI drone (can’t remember which model it was as I watched the video about a year ago) almost lost his drone because the clouds interfered with his drone’s sensors.

I’ve also noticed some forum members warning about moisture being drawn into the Mavic 2 by the internal fan.

However, I’ve seen videos of people flying their Mavic 2s through clouds. Are they risking it or can the Mavic 2 deal with clouds?

If so, what settings should be enabled or disabled? And what precautions should be taken?

Thanks in advance for any advice and explanations.

 

[afarkas]

It was a spark that was nearly lost. If you turn off ALL sensors, you risk only airplane coming out of the cloud.
Moisture is [Language Removed by Moderator]. The interrior of mavic is hot and all humidity is vaporised immediatelly. If you let the bird run 1 minute after landing, all humidity from interrior is gone for 500%
This morning i was flying in intermediate rain again, don't remember how many times before...
Dont fly in clouds anyways. You don't drive your car blindfolded neither...

 

[DJI DelBoy]

It was a spark that was nearly lost. If you turn off ALL sensors, you risk only airplane coming out of the cloud.
Moisture is [Language Removed by Moderator]. The interrior of mavic is hot and all humidity is vaporised immediatelly. If you let the bird run 1 minute after landing, all humidity from interrior is gone for 500%
This morning i was flying in intermediate rain again, don't remember how many times before...
Dont fly in clouds anyways. You don't drive your car blindfolded neither...

Yes, you are correct. It was a Spark. As for flying in the clouds I’m not talking about thick clouds. Just clouds, not the dense type, the size or a car or bus that drift past fairly quickly.

What do you mean by “risk airplane coming out of the cloud”?

Are you saying that all the YouTube videos footage flying through clouds has involved the user risking his drone?

 

[THE CYBORG]

I have flown through fog ( pretty much the same as clouds ) for an atmospheric shot, when I landed the drone was literally dripping with water, all was OK with it afterwards but it got me worried at the time, I won’t be doing it again.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

So I’ve been flying near some mountains and occasionally the clouds roll in. When they do I get out of the way.

I recall watching a video on YouTube where the owner of a DJI drone (can’t remember which model it was as I watched the video about a year ago) almost lost his drone because the clouds interfered with his drone’s sensors.

I’ve also noticed some forum members warning about moisture being drawn into the Mavic 2 by the internal fan.

However, I’ve seen videos of people flying their Mavic 2s through clouds. Are they risking it or can the Mavic 2 deal with clouds?

If so, what settings should be enabled or disabled? And what precautions should be taken?

Thanks in advance for any advice and explanations.

Moisture is a problem with getting inside the battery of the Mavics, this is the really the only reason why we created the Mavic 2 Wet Suits.

The Wet Suits protect the battery from any moisture getting inside the battery., and protect the vents , but we have not found that the internal fan is able to suck in rain. ... and we have flown in some heavy rain.

You can check out all the storms we posted so far at phantomrain.org .

We fly in every rain storm we can with the Mavic Wet Suit and the results have been fantastic.

Phantomrain.org
Gear for flying in and out of the storm for your Mavic 2.

Notice in the last video we posted how you can barely tell its raining untill half way thru the video when I pan down and you can see how hard it really raining. The full video is 26 minutes long but you get the idea how deceiving rain really is on the camera.

 

[DJI DelBoy]

Moisture is a problem with getting inside the battery of the Mavics, this is the really the only reason why we created the Mavic 2 Wet Suits.

The Wet Suits protect the battery from any moisture getting inside the battery., and protect the vents , but we have not found that the internal fan is able to suck in rain. ... and we have flown in some heavy rain.

You can check out all the storms we posted so far at phantomrain.org .

We fly in every rain storm we can with the Mavic Wet Suit and the results have been fantastic.

Phantomrain.org
Gear for flying in and out of the storm for your Mavic 2.

View attachment 71482


Notice in the last video we posted how you can barely tell its raining untill half way thru the video when I pan down and you can see how hard it really raining. The full video is 26 minutes long but you get the idea how deceiving rain really is on the camera.

That’s a nice product but doesn’t it act as an insulator and stop the heat of the drone from being dissipated into the surrounding air?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

That’s a nice product but doesn’t it act as an insulator and stop the heat of the drone from being dissipated into the surrounding air?

No , the Neoprene is not dense enough , its only 1.5mm and we learned a lot from the Wet Suits we made for the Phantom 4 Pro series. , Neoprene also stays cooler than the Plastic in the Extreme heat.
The vents on the Mavic are still open but better protected from rain and debris with the the Wet Suit.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Here is another good link to take a look at : Phantom Rain ! NEW TWILIGHT Wet Suits - For the changing seasons to come - Forum members special Price.

 

[afarkas]

What do you mean by “risk airplane coming out of the cloud”?

Are you saying that all the YouTube videos footage flying through clouds has involved the user risking his drone?

What i am saying is that while you are flying in the clouds, you loose the VLOS and you are risking to hit an other aircraft flying in the same cloud (a drone or a manned aircraft - doesnt matter).
Of course, you can do whatever you like, but anyone serious will advice you to respect the rules...

 

[Thomas B]

No , the Neoprene is not dense enough , its only 1.5mm and we learned a lot from the Wet Suits we made for the Phantom 4 Pro series. , Neoprene also stays cooler than the Plastic in the Extreme heat.
The vents on the Mavic are still open but better protected from rain and debris with the the Wet Suit.

Being a diver I must advise that neoprene, the substance used to make “wet suits” for divers does insulate, and holds heat well. I mean that’s why scuba and snorkel divers wear the stuff, to avoid losing body heat to the water. Without one you’ll end up shivering in 80+ degree water. The suits come in 2mm neoprene thickness and up to much thicker. The purpose is to hold in heat, even a short leg and sort sleeve version does that well. Breathing is like vents on a drone and dissipates

I cannot believe that a neoprene drone suit won’t provide some degree of insulation, I.e. heat holding for the drone.

 

[DVMAC]

I shoot weddings for a large wedding company I have my part 107 as well as photographers insurance and DJI insurance.I had a wedding late last year where it was pouring the whole day.Probably had it up 3 hours in the rain.Nothing went wrong during or after and it was soaking wet.Brushless motors and I presume the circuit boards epoxy coated.

 

[G Lee]

This was only 250 ft it was fun. Never lost VLOS. More like fog this time. No moisture.

 

[FLPilotshark]

DJI DelBoy - care to share some of your work mate? I just made my 3rd Youtube video and this is what it came out like!
I filmed this in D-LOG but it was a weird sunny cloudy day so there is a lot of blown out Saturation, plus, I did not use any software editing tools, post-production.
This footage came ok I guess since it came right from the MicroSD card and uploaded thought iMOVIE maker. What are your thoughts?

 

[msinger]

If so, what settings should be enabled or disabled?

Definitely disable Landing Protection. If the downward sensors detect the clouds are right below the aircraft, it will automatically ascend to get away from the clouds. And if you have the throttle in the full down position while the downward sensors are detecting the clouds, the aircraft will auto switch to Forced Landing mode and start to land.

 

[bobscheel53]

Moisture condensation depends on the temperature of a surface and the relative humidity of the air or dew point within the cloud. The risk to your AC is higher when air temps are lower.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Being a diver I must advise that neoprene, the substance used to make “wet suits” for divers does insulate, and holds heat well. I mean that’s why scuba and snorkel divers wear the stuff, to avoid losing body heat to the water. Without one you’ll end up shivering in 80+ degree water. The suits come in 2mm neoprene thickness and up to much thicker. The purpose is to hold in heat, even a short leg and sort sleeve version does that well. Breathing is like vents on a drone and dissipates

I cannot believe that a neoprene drone suit won’t provide some degree of insulation, I.e. heat holding for the drone.

When we first made the Wet Suit for the Phantom 4 two years ago now , we did all the tests , even flew to Tennesse for the Total Eclipse in 110 degree weather and the Neoprene kept the drone cooler than the Plastic Parts hitting the sun.

I think you are thinking of a Divers Neoprene which is rubber closed cell and not the Open Cell sponge Neoprene which is fire resistant and water resistant ,along with it being 0.3 ounces , the idea of holding heat in is not an issue on the phantom nor the Mavic 2 wet suits.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I shoot weddings for a large wedding company I have my part 107 as well as photographers insurance and DJI insurance.I had a wedding late last year where it was pouring the whole day.Probably had it up 3 hours in the rain.Nothing went wrong during or after and it was soaking wet.Brushless motors and I presume the circuit boards epoxy coated.

We also think the boards are coated because we Flew the Phantom 4 pro in the water and was amazed at how the Phantom could handle the fresh water so Yes We think the boards are Coated which is why the only succeptible part of the Mavic was the battery as it was with the Phantom 4.

This is why the Wet Suits are so Effective because if you can protect the battery and the vents you have an extremely capable machine.

You can check out the Phantom 4 flying under water at Phantomrain.org in the Phantom section.
We have yet to have a 3 hour pour as were lucky to get 30 minutes, but were ready.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

It was a spark that was nearly lost. If you turn off ALL sensors, you risk only airplane coming out of the cloud.
Moisture is [Language Removed by Moderator]. The interrior of mavic is hot and all humidity is vaporised immediatelly. If you let the bird run 1 minute after landing, all humidity from interrior is gone for 500%
This morning i was flying in intermediate rain again, don't remember how many times before...
Dont fly in clouds anyways. You don't drive your car blindfolded neither...

Since we fly everyday that it Rains , we consider Moisture to be on the Outside of the Drone but even after just 4 minutes in a light downpour you will have water inside the battery , if not a small Koi pond at the bottom.

This is the reason why we decided to make the Wet Suit for the Mavics as we did not expect that to be the result..

You also have the Power Button which is also very succeptible to Water and once that starts blinking , the battery is compromised.

But Moisture itself is not an issue and cause for alarm but flying in the Rain is.
So if you open the battery up an see water inside you were rolling the dice with the drone gods.

 

[Guido De Spirt]

Look what happened to me flying tru clouds in Canada... one propeller iced and the MP came down very fast rotating. Fortunately no damages as it crashed on soft snow :

 

[BlueRidge]

Hi All,
I don't mean to be the bad guy here, but the rules in the U.S. are that a drone must operate 500 feet under vertical cloud altitudes and 2000 feet horizontally from clouds. I am aware that there is a difference between flying in rain and fog at low altitudes. Also aware that mountains create a conundrum in that you could take off from "above" a cloud. Please be safe because it only takes one mistake to ruin it for everyone.