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Flying in the cold

I know. But thats what my M2 has flashed up (very briefly) a few times recently.

Cold battery <15c. Flight performance and safety might be affected.
Even in 20c if you carry batteries in a thin rucksack, wind chill can reduce the temperature and give you the cold battery warning.
 
You may want to try flying from the warmth of your car or truck. Point your vehicle in the direction of your flight and enjoy... works great.
I've done it numerous times with no issues.
I agree. No problem at all and you can hand catch and take off if you have that skill.
 
Forget the drone (except as above) the biggest problem I have found in cold weather, it is the phone or tablet that are not built for prolong exposure to cold and wind chill and often cause the picture to break up.
Yes, I wondered about the same thing and am hoping to be flying up in Maine shortly. The tolerance is rated at 32F - 113F so we will see...
 
I flew my Mavic 2 pro this morning at 28 degrees F. No problems.
However, a few days ago at about the same temperature but with fairly heavy ground fog I had a new experience after years of flying. About 5 minutes into the flight an error message came up that I did not catch entirely but something about the propellers. The Mavic 2 tried to land in my neighbors lot with about 4 inches of snow on the ground. I kept moving the left stick up and brought it closer and closer to the landing pad. However, when the Mavic was about 4 feet away and about 2 feet in the air it suddenly landed in the snow. A quick trip to the house and absorption of every speck of moisture I could find, using a tissue, resulted in no damage and it has been flying fine since. I assume that the fog was icing up the propellers and the drone had made up its mind to land no matter where.
 
Icing on the leading edges of props is a very real issue. Can cause anything from vibration to lack of power from motors, loss of lift or at worst, loss of stability totally.
It really doesnt take much to unbalance a prop spinning at 5000rpm.
 
Icing on the leading edges of props is a very real issue. Can cause anything from vibration to lack of power from motors, loss of lift or at worst, loss of stability totally.
It really doesnt take much to unbalance a prop spinning at 5000rpm.
Good point about icing. I am concerned that my iPad Mini 5 is not rated below 30F, so i may be in the pick-uo truck!!
 
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Prop icing seems to be an issue to watch out for.
Not really, you rarely get prop icing because you need to have specific atmospheric conditions to produce an icing situation. Check the temp of the day and the Dew point temp. For real pilots, you will get a very good chance of airframe icing when the dew point temp is right at or within a few degrees of the ambient temp. Outside of those two being close, the further apart they are less likely you will ever encounter icing conditions.
 
Icing on the leading edges of props is a very real issue. Can cause anything from vibration to lack of power from motors, loss of lift or at worst, loss of stability totally.
It really doesnt take much to unbalance a prop spinning at 5000rpm.
It is a real issue but only when conditions are at the point of creating icing, which is very rare. See my post regarding what needs to happen to get icing conditions.
 
Pen-y-Fan was awesome in the snow last week.
But im bored now. Planning my escape before lockdown v4.0 which is a minimum 6 weeks. Time to get the hell out of this prison camp!
Ohhhh you lot had snow over there??? How beautiful it must have been. In the old days when I was young and living back home we got snow a good bit in the winter. However it seems in recent times we hardly ever get snow in the area. I wish I was there to see Pen-y-Fan in the snow. Please share some pics if you can, I miss home very much.
 
Ohhhh you lot had snow over there??? How beautiful it must have been. In the old days when I was young and living back home we got snow a good bit in the winter. However it seems in recent times we hardly ever get snow in the area. I wish I was there to see Pen-y-Fan in the snow. Please share some pics if you can, I miss home very much.
Its rare as hell now you're right. Growing up we used to get snow lasting weeks (im in the beacons) and always miss a week of school due to it. These days its 1 day a year at most and a few cm at most. Last year they had no snowfall at all.
Pen-y-Fan had a week of snow but the snowline was about 650m altitude, below that rain. Above that people on skis, snowboards, sledges and so on. Many thousands of people!
I did put some photos up on the photo forum so post should still be there.

The week before that we had some amazing inversions and low lying fog to see. Also freezing fog hence prop icing topic!
 
Forget the drone (except as above) the biggest problem I have found in cold weather, it is the phone or tablet that are not built for prolong exposure to cold and wind chill and often cause the picture to break up.
True. I was flying my old Phantom last week and the drone was fine even though it was about -5 (and the Phantom is only rated to 0) but after 35 minutes my iPad screen started to go wonky (discoloured in patches). Landed OK and everything's good, but I'm considering getting the Smart Controller for my Mavic 2 because it's rated to -20 and I want to fly more in the Canadian winter :)

(I was flying the Phantom because a friend wanted to try flying and I was more willing to risk the older drone.)
 
"I'm considering getting the Smart Controller for my Mavic 2 because it's rated to -20"

SC is fine sub zero BUT there is a slight slow down of update of the LCD screen itself. Not a problem but its there. Other than that it works fine.
 
Its rare as hell now you're right. Growing up we used to get snow lasting weeks (im in the beacons) and always miss a week of school due to it. These days its 1 day a year at most and a few cm at most. Last year they had no snowfall at all.
Pen-y-Fan had a week of snow but the snowline was about 650m altitude, below that rain. Above that people on skis, snowboards, sledges and so on. Many thousands of people!
I did put some photos up on the photo forum so post should still be there.

The week before that we had some amazing inversions and low lying fog to see. Also freezing fog hence prop icing topic!
Right, when you have fog or freezing fog, of course you have those temps and dew points I mentioned, so perfect icing conditions for real pilots. To check whether you may be going to fly in such conditions, just check your local weather report. Remember all who read this, when the dew point and the ambient temp are the same or close to each other, that is the only time you will have a chance of icing conditions while flying anything. The further away from each other these two temps are, the less likely you will ever encounter icing conditions, and that, luckily, are the temps/conditions you will find most of the time, for most of us flyers.

To see so many people up there on Sledges and skiing etc, must have been a wonderful sight. Reminds me of what the old days used to be like. My uncle used to build us a sledge (UK Speak)/Sled out of wood and we used to go up the mountain by our house in Crosskeys and slide down through the fields. When I was very young, I remember having a pair of wool socks put on my hands because we had no gloves. It was the sort of winter you see in that old classic film, "A Childs Christmas In Wales", with the singing around the piano in the front room, my grandfather and mum were excellent players and singers. Half the street would drop by at some point, during the day, and we would be going out for sledge riding and staying out until it got dark.

There was one winter before I was born where the snow was so deep they had to dig out from the front door to get into the street, my grand parents told me. Ahh the good old days. Thankfully where I live now, we do get snow, in fact have some on the ground now and are expecting more for Christmas Eve throughout the night. I'll search through to find your posted photos, thanks.
 
When in cold weather, your batteries will no last as long as you expect. I would recommend bring several fully charged batteries with you.
 
When in cold weather, your batteries will no last as long as you expect. I would recommend bring several fully charged batteries with you.
When in use they are producing their own heat, therefore you have little to worry about. As long as you are not starting out with very cold batteries you should have no problem. Your spares should be kept in your inside pocket to keep them warm and ready for use. Don't leave them sitting out in the cold or you will have a problem when you come to use them.
 
Right, when you have fog or freezing fog, of course you have those temps and dew points I mentioned, so perfect icing conditions for real pilots. To check whether you may be going to fly in such conditions, just check your local weather report. Remember all who read this, when the dew point and the ambient temp are the same or close to each other, that is the only time you will have a chance of icing conditions while flying anything. The further away from each other these two temps are, the less likely you will ever encounter icing conditions, and that, luckily, are the temps/conditions you will find most of the time, for most of us flyers.

To see so many people up there on Sledges and skiing etc, must have been a wonderful sight. Reminds me of what the old days used to be like. My uncle used to build us a sledge (UK Speak)/Sled out of wood and we used to go up the mountain by our house in Crosskeys and slide down through the fields. When I was very young, I remember having a pair of wool socks put on my hands because we had no gloves. It was the sort of winter you see in that old classic film, "A Childs Christmas In Wales", with the singing around the piano in the front room, my grandfather and mum were excellent players and singers. Half the street would drop by at some point, during the day, and we would be going out for sledge riding and staying out until it got dark.

There was one winter before I was born where the snow was so deep they had to dig out from the front door to get into the street, my grand parents told me. Ahh the good old days. Thankfully where I live now, we do get snow, in fact have some on the ground now and are expecting more for Christmas Eve throughout the night. I'll search through to find your posted photos, thanks.
Pen-y-Fan....Screenshot 2020-12-19 185549.png

Screenshot 2020-12-19 185649.png
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If you're bored enough or homesick, full album is here:-
 
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Yeah i had no issue. Battery was 6c (Air was -3c) , started props, waited a minute and flew no problem at all. Battery 24c on landing.

Its not a warning ive ever seen before though - wonder if it came with a new Go4 update.

The cold battery warning has been around for some time in DJI Go4 .. I was seeing it four years ago with my Phantom 4. You have to make sure the batteries are warm before taking off..

As mentioned, once they're warm, they'll create their own heat so you don't have to worry much about diminished flight times etc.
 
I do the same thing fly from inside a nice warm car, but in the front seat passenger side of the car. Bought some extenders for my MP's controller.
second year flying in weather above O degrees. Also, checking batteries,
motors, checking the heat sink with laser temp gun. Not flying for more then 15 minutes in the cold weather.
 
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Pen-y-Fan....View attachment 119693

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View attachment 119696


If you're bored enough or homesick, full album is here:-
Ohh, thank you so much for the photos. You have some stunning photos in your Flickr album, really beautiful. I used to fly right along the edge of one of those mountain shots from the Brecon Beacons photos you have in your album.

I used to keep my plane on a farm in Mamhilad and fly out of one of the farmer's fields there. It was on the hill side so had to always take off down hill towards the canal and always land up hill, regardless of the wind direction on the day. Not a flying field for a new pilot but it was relatively close to our house in the Crosskeys area. You have some lovely and now rare snow shots of the region, wish I could have been there as well.
 
Pen-y-Fan does attract quite a few gliders from Talgarth as well (some of which to be charitable could be described as not fully adhering to the guidelines for vfr flight regarding separation, altitudes and so on...)
I used to go from Usk and places. There are a few farm fields around here still but not many.
If you're from the Cross Keys area then you'll know where im from. Follow the river Ebbw upstream until it stops :)
 

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