high temperature flying

[stonecherub]

On the solstice, Friday, the sun will rise and set 30 degrees north of E-W prompting me to go out into the desert on a day when the predicted temperature is 110F (43 C), The calculated density altitude is a bit over 5000 ft so that should not be a problem.

I am soliciting comments from desert flyers about high temperature problems you might have encountered with your mavic pro.

 

[macoman]

I have a rule no to fly when it's over 90F. Of course nothing may not happen but it is dangerous because the batteries overheat even in normal temperatures and also the gimbal get very hot.

 

[KeithLa]

FWIW, I'm experiencing overheating problems with my MPP remote controller, which I believe to be the root of worsening aircraft disconnects, mid-flight at short range. At ambient temp around 87F yesterday, my remote would not connect to the MPP or to Djigo4 mobile app, and failed a firmware update. I also noticed its fan is no longer running, so believe I have faulty remote controller.

 

[Mossiback]

I have read posts of battery swelling due to high temperatures. Try to store your extra batteries in a cool location; not the trunk of your car. DJI does not recommend using the batteries in temps above 104 deg. From the DJI battery guidelines book: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/mavic/Mavic+Pro+Intelligent+Flight+Battery+Safety+Guidelines-EN.pdf

 

[stonecherub]

Yeah, I read the book, too. An ambient air temperature of 43C is going to be lower than the temperature of the drone with its orange skin in full sun. I plan a test flight when I arrive Friday afternoon, just a quick up an down to photograph some lava flows. Sunset flights will depend on the success of this one but sun heating at that time will be minimal with OAT being most important.

Overnight temperature are predicted to drop to the mid-70s and I plan to start out walking at first light, climbing the cone to arrive before sunrise. I expect to fly at least 5 batteries (20 min each).

This trip is on the edge for me, the spot prognosis is not optimum. Friday night winds are forecast to be 20 kts with gusts to 25 and the same for Saturday. I am counting on the dawn effect to dampen things down. If not, I don't go.

Why am I doing this? I have been prowling around this particular volcano off and on for nearly 50 years. I call it the World's CENSORED Volcano (starts with God...). My dawn and dusk drone photography in the first few months of 2018 has shown me structures I have never see from the ground, being both too close and on the cone too late in the day.

The opportunity to see the cone surface with the sun so far north is just too good to miss. I gotta fly!

 

[stonecherub]

OK, this is not going to work. The air temperature on my patio was about 36 or 37 a while ago so I set the drone out on the pavers for 10 minutes to let it sun-soak and then took off and hovered. I planned to fly for 15 minutes watching the battery temperature but aborted at 12 when it reported 57.5 - just a bit too hot.

I guess the Mavic, like the geologist, is strictly fair weather.

 

[Canuk]

Could you put some reflective tape on the top of the battery so the heat from the sun can’t add heat .

 

[Lapeer20m]

You could try to cool your batteries pre-flight. Perhaps near the temperature Dji considers too cold to fly (57*?F)

I find this helpful when doing endurance testing as it allows the batteries to begin charging sooner after a flight.

 

[stonecherub]

Could you put some reflective tape on the top of the battery so the heat from the sun can’t add heat .

I dimly remember a story about a gold skin in the forum a couple of days ago. Because I would never find a gray Mavic in a pile of gray rocks, I have to have a skin, orange or fluorescent green.

Maybe gold ..... that's what NASA put on the lunar explorer craft.

 

[stonecherub]

You could try to cool your batteries pre-flight. Perhaps near the temperature Dji considers too cold to fly (57*?F)

I'll try that tomorrow. I think the battery manual mentions -10 C as too cold to fly but I had warnings last December when I left the batteries out on the back porch in Ajo and that was well above freezing