Is it bad to go 3-4 months without using drone?

[beeflyin]

Last used drone end of May. Was traveling a lot so dropped the monthly insurance and planned to fly again in August. It's been over 100 degrees where I live almost daily, so still haven't flown. Is it bad to go so long without flying it? Should I start it up or anything? At this rate, will be end of Sept before flying again.

 

[mavic3usa]

You should be fine. I have several drones that I have only flown once this year.

 

[MS Coast]

The drone will be fine. The batteries will self discharge down to the best state of charge. for storage.

But not flying for three to four months may have negative effects on your personal happiness and mental wellbeing.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

After 4 months I’d certainly check the LED level on batteries with a quick press.
They do go to storage level of about 55/60%, but do go down slowly after that over months.
If your leds are say 1/4 flashing, just give them a top off to 2-1/2 flashing and take off, or better full charge to ensure cells balance, then it can auto discharge again to storage SOC.

edit typos

 

[RadioFlyerMan]

But not flying for three to four months may have negative effects on your personal happiness and mental wellbeing.

That is so true. I experience withdrawal symptoms if I haven’t produced a drone video in a few weeks.

 

[howardK]

Last used drone end of May. Was traveling a lot so dropped the monthly insurance and planned to fly again in August. It's been over 100 degrees where I live almost daily, so still haven't flown. Is it bad to go so long without flying it? Should I start it up or anything? At this rate, will be end of Sept before flying again.

Im in the same boat as you. In the Houston TX area it has been brutally hot (101+) everyday for quite some time now. I think I will take my drone case out of the gunsafe and check batteries as well as the charge on the RC

 

[Aerophile]

The hardware will be fine.

OTOH, your piloting skills will have rusted and atrophied noticeably.

Whatever you are flying - real airplanes or small drones - the quality of your piloting is directly related to how much experience you have and how often you have been exercising those skills. Flying (anything) requires regular practice. If it's been a long time since you've had your hands on the controls, start off in a simple, non-challenging environment, and knock off some rust before you try threading needles or juggling many tasks. It may surprise you how quickly the rust accumulates.

Tip: If it's **** hot where you are, your hovering drone does make a somewhat effective fan if you stand right below it (warning: you need to be quite close and immediately under it, so do be careful...and wear eye protection - really).

 

[solidhouse]

Should be no problem for the most part. I didn’t fly my Mavic 3 for a few Months and one of the batteries went completely dead. I always charge them to 60% before storing. It would not charge at all. I sent that battery into DJI and they replaced it with a new one. This may have been a fluke. I’m not sure.

 

[mattcaz]

Here in Mesa, AZ where it's been over 110° for about a month with a few just below, I haven't even considered taking the Mini3Pro or Air2s out for a spin. I have however checked the bats and did a little indoor flying to sooth my mental anguish and return balance to my outlook on life.

 

[jephoto]

Last used drone end of May. Was traveling a lot so dropped the monthly insurance and planned to fly again in August. It's been over 100 degrees where I live almost daily, so still haven't flown. Is it bad to go so long without flying it? Should I start it up or anything? At this rate, will be end of Sept before flying again.

What insurance are you using?

 

[dajomu]

While battery storage is mentioned above, I'm writing to clarify for anyone who might need it stated more clearly: For long term storage your drone's batteries should be kept at between 40% to 60% charge. The actual issue is the voltage, and you can google to find more details if you care, but using the percentage should work well enough. it's fine to fully charge a DJI battery before long term storage because it will automatically discharge down to the above range after 10 days or so, and then stay at that range for months. This is one of the things that makes DJI's batteries "smart batteries". But it is not fine to store your batteries for months if their charge is below 40%. Doing so can reduce battery life and capacity.

 

[Melvoid]

The drone will be fine. The batteries will self discharge down to the best state of charge. for storage.

But not flying for three to four months may have negative effects on your personal happiness and mental wellbeing.

In my case, even though I've been flying for years, I had about a 3-month break over this past winter and when I got it up in the air for the first time, I'd forgotten a lot of the functions. Up, down, left, right were fine, but some of the other features were no longer in the foreground of memory.