Flying in winter: things to watch out for?

[Chrislaf]

Personally I have not used desiccant or put any of my camera equipment (drones or DSLRs) in plastic bags when coming in from the cold and I have been out on some very cold days/nights. All of my drones are in regular semi hard cases (not moisture proof) which I usually have in a backpack or shoulder bag depending on what I am doing. When I come in from the cold I leave my drone in the backpack or bag for a while (usually for about an hour or more) until it has come back up to room temperature. If my drone is in a semi-hard bag I might take it out of the backpack or bag after about a half hour but leave it in it's case for awhile longer until it warms to room temperature. I have never had problems with moisture accumulation inside of my drone or DSLR lenses.

If you are in a hurry then maybe there would be a need for desiccant but in most cases just letting your equipment warm up to room temperature inside their cases should be fine.

Just as a side note: last January on a very cold night I forgot one of my DSLRs in the console of my truck overnight. It was not in a case. The next morning I brought it in and let it warm up gradually to room temperature for a few hours and it was fine - no moisture inside.

Chris

 

[meierjn]

Another tip would be to put some reflective tape on your drone if the drone is grey or white in color. It may assist with finding it in the snow in the event that it doesn't make it back to you.

 

[BenThe]

Another tip would be to put some reflective tape on your drone if the drone is grey or white in color. It may assist with finding it in the snow in the event that it doesn't make it back to you.

I will have a strobe light on the main drone that I will be deploying for winter flying - Air 3S. I recently acquired a new-to-me DJI Flip, but I likely won't put the light on that, or my Mini 4K. I will look into reflective tape, thanks!

 

[kilhan]

probably not a big detail, but sometimes, obstacle avoidance works fine when leaves are on trees and fails when the leaves are gone from thin branches

not that I've ever encountered that problem because I never screw up....uh huh

For me this was the only problem I really encountered twice, once in fall, once in winter. Both ended with the fall of the drone, fortunately without severe consequences. Small thin branches without leaves are not recognized as obstacles or are recognized too late. So in late fall and winter keep away from trees without leaves and in case of trees nearby keep the height high above or far distance from them.
Other winter dangers were already discussed by others
Chris

 

[halifax]

RC transmitter gloves and fingerless wool gloves are my go-to tools for winter flying.

Amazon.com : transmitter glove

 

[Robert Prior]

fly VLOS in case your screen suddenly shuts down or goes dark. This is less of a problem now with the built in screen controllers but it has happened to me and if you are within VLOS you can easily bring your drone back

I had that happen a few years ago. iPad just turned black. Fortunately Canadian regs require VLOS so I was able to bring the drone home. I suppose the RTH button would have worked but I usually fly manually so didn’t even think of it at the time.

 

[Hawkxyz]

I fly year round and have flown in temperatures as cold as -23ºC. There are some members on here who have flown in even colder temps. Winter is one of the most beautiful seasons to fly in so don't be afraid to get out and fly keeping in mind some precautions.

Here are some things that come to mind off the top of my head:
•cold can affect the touch screen making it sluggish or unresponsive so use the buttons if possible and be prepared for this possibility
•fly VLOS in case your screen suddenly shuts down or goes dark. This is less of a problem now with the built in screen controllers but it has happened to me and if you are within VLOS you can easily bring your drone back

Hope this helps.

Chris

Hi Chris,

Thank you for this. I have recently experienced these above mentioned problems. I went to the DJI store here in Reykjavik to explain the situation. They tested the drone last week and found no problems. That however can be explained by the fact that the day they tested it, there was little wind and +8 degrees celsius. They did fly BVLOS I am sure since the log mentioned that the drone flew for 5km's and went 150 meters in the air. Now the first time my touch / view screen went completely dark was when it was -13 degrees Celsius so that might explain things.
Today, I was first flying in a heavy wind condition, fortunately no problems. I was at the Glymur waterfall, the 2nd highest waterfall of Iceland and when I dropped the drone a little lower, the strong wind warning left the screen and I was able to take pictures and make a 30 second video. The canyon there provides shelter. All went fine.

At the second location though, I launched the drone and flew the drone to a small waterfall within VLOS. I took some pictures and then I tried to adjust the drone camera's iso and aperture while the drone was flying. That however meant that things went wrong. The screen began to flicker and I wasn't able to return to a normal screen so I returned the drone by manually flying it back to where I was.
My question is, should I if I plan to not use auto iso and aperture set that in winter before launching the drone? Like setting it to aperture 11 and 100 iso on my Mavic 4 Pro to take pictures with a long shutter speed and then launch the drone? Or is there something wrong with my remote control or my drone.
For your information, the second location wasn't exceptionally cold, like 5 degrees celsius but there was some cold wind at the location.

 

[Chrislaf]

Hi Chris,

Thank you for this. I have recently experienced these above mentioned problems. I went to the DJI store here in Reykjavik to explain the situation. They tested the drone last week and found no problems. That however can be explained by the fact that the day they tested it, there was little wind and +8 degrees celsius. They did fly BVLOS I am sure since the log mentioned that the drone flew for 5km's and went 150 meters in the air. Now the first time my touch / view screen went completely dark was when it was -13 degrees Celsius so that might explain things.
Today, I was first flying in a heavy wind condition, fortunately no problems. I was at the Glymur waterfall, the 2nd highest waterfall of Iceland and when I dropped the drone a little lower, the strong wind warning left the screen and I was able to take pictures and make a 30 second video. The canyon there provides shelter. All went fine.

At the second location though, I launched the drone and flew the drone to a small waterfall within VLOS. I took some pictures and then I tried to adjust the drone camera's iso and aperture while the drone was flying. That however meant that things went wrong. The screen began to flicker and I wasn't able to return to a normal screen so I returned the drone by manually flying it back to where I was.
My question is, should I if I plan to not use auto iso and aperture set that in winter before launching the drone? Like setting it to aperture 11 and 100 iso on my Mavic 4 Pro to take pictures with a long shutter speed and then launch the drone? Or is there something wrong with my remote control or my drone.
For your information, the second location wasn't exceptionally cold, like 5 degrees celsius but there was some cold wind at the location.

I'm not sure what would cause your screen to flicker. The temperature should not be affecting your controller as you were flying within it's spec's (-10ºC to 40ºC).

As far as camera settings go whether you choose Auto ISO or you set your ISO, aperture and shutter speed manually is up to you and depends a lot on the lighting conditions and what you are shooting.

I usually use manual settings - I usually leave ISO at 100 and adjust aperture and shutter speed manually on the wide lens. If I am flying in weather that is colder than -10ºC and there is a wind I will usually use Auto settings and bracketing because my hands will get cold very quickly. I usually don't fly with gloves so that I have more control on the sticks.

Hope this helps.

You have a beautiful place to fly - Iceland is on my bucket list.

Chris

 

[Hawkxyz]

Yep, there is enough room to fly drones in Iceland. Very open landscape helps as well. Just don't do it in Reykjavík or one of the popular tourist spots like the Geysir. This frozen waterfall... yeah thats when it was -13 degrees.
From what I see it looks like something does go wrong with the drone, it doesn't stand the cold as advertised or something else is wrong but I doubt it. If I fly from my garden and set iso and aperture mid air, it simply works but sometimes... my screen goes black or flickers but I still take sharp pictures and videos.

 

[Chrislaf]

View attachment 186323Yep, there is enough room to fly drones in Iceland. Very open landscape helps as well. Just don't do it in Reykjavík or one of the popular tourist spots like the Geysir. This frozen waterfall... yeah thats when it was -13 degrees.
From what I see it looks like something does go wrong with the drone, it doesn't stand the cold as advertised or something else is wrong but I doubt it. If I fly from my garden and set iso and aperture mid air, it simply works but sometimes... my screen goes black or flickers but I still take sharp pictures and videos.

Nice shot!

Even though the drone might be rated for temperatures as low as -10ºC, I would think it could handle much colder temperatures as most DJI drones can as long as you take precautions. I don't have a Mavic 4 Pro so I wouldn't be able to find out and the temperatures here where I live are just starting to dip below 0ºC. We are expecting our first snow tomorrow. (Can't wait as I love winter). I have flown my Mavic 3 Pro in much colder temperatures than it's rated -10ºC minimum without any problems.

Maybe someone else who has a Mavic 4 Pro and who lives and flies in a cold climate (@akdrone) will be able to give you a better answer as to the screen problems.

What controller do you have? The RC 2 or the RC Pro 2?

Chris

 

[Hawkxyz]

Nice shot!

Even though the drone might be rated for temperatures as low as -10ºC, I would think it could handle much colder temperatures as most DJI drones can as long as you take precautions. I don't have a Mavic 4 Pro so I wouldn't be able to find out and the temperatures here where I live are just starting to dip below 0ºC. We are expecting our first snow tomorrow. (Can't wait as I love winter). I have flown my Mavic 3 Pro in much colder temperatures than it's rated -10ºC minimum without any problems.

Maybe someone else who has a Mavic 4 Pro and who lives and flies in a cold climate (@akdrone) will be able to give you a better answer as to the screen problems.

What controller do you have? The RC 2 or the RC Pro 2?

Chris

Yeah, I have the RC 2, as I bought the Fly more combo. I was testing the drone from my garden today at +1 degree Celsius and as I expected, no problems today on screen as I was switching between apertures, iso, different lenses from 28 to 70 to the telephoto lens (165?), 100 meters high and 1 km away.
What to do.. I can't simply say it happens then and then or when I do this or that and I put my DSLR camera on my tripod to make a video of my RC 2 but yeah, I can't let DJI see what is going on since... nothing happened today. It's positive that I can fly my drone, take pictures and video however I don't know when my screen goes black or it flickers.

 

[Chrislaf]

Yeah, I have the RC 2, as I bought the Fly more combo. I was testing the drone from my garden today at +1 degree Celsius and as I expected, no problems today on screen as I was switching between apertures, iso, different lenses from 28 to 70 to the telephoto lens (165?), 100 meters high and 1 km away.
What to do.. I can't simply say it happens then and then or when I do this or that and I put my DSLR camera on my tripod to make a video of my RC 2 but yeah, I can't let DJI see what is going on since... nothing happened today. It's positive that I can fly my drone, take pictures and video however I don't know when my screen goes black or it flickers.

I have used my previous RC1 in weather colder than it's rated -10ºC without any problems. I plan on using my RC2 which was acquired this past July with my Mini 4 Pro in temperatures that are colder than it's -10ºC rating. I don't expect any problems. I have an RC Pro that I use with my Mavic 3 Pro and it has never given me any problems in temperatures colder than -10ºC. The only thing that might happen in cold temperatures is that the touch screen will become less responsive. The screen flickering and going black sounds to me like some kind of hardware problem with your controller.

Chris

 

[3rdof5]

Just my 2 cents, living in Canada If I didn't fly in winter my fleet would be parked over half the year lol! I regularly fly in cold temps and my record is minus 31C with my Phantom 3 Pro.
My words of advice:
First and always, start with fully charged and warm batteries (both aircraft and RC). No exceptions.
Second, go easy on the sticks, props get brittle in extreme cold, don't stress the aircraft unnecessarily.
Third, use a launch pad to minimize snow entering the aircraft during take off and landing and plan your flight to be 50% of the length of time you can fly when it's warm out. Trust me your aircraft will outlast your fingers!
Also keep in mind that DJI specifically states not to fly in freezing temps, if you crash and have coverage, it may be invalid if it can be proven you flew in too cold of temps.
Winter is a beautiful time to fly and practice your photography skills and these aircraft WILL handle the cold if you take good care.
Here is the link to my my minus 31C flight video:

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