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Dolan Ellis

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Aug 30, 2019
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Age
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Location
Scottsdale, Arizona
Howdy! My Name is Dolan and I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I am a new pilot. (one week, and three short flights)
My question is this...
In your opinion, is it OK to fly my drone in this extreme heat that we have here in the summertime? (currently 113 degrees F. this past week) I see my poor little bird up there in the direct hot sun, while I am sitting in the shade with my controller and I feel guilty. I have been flying it in short intervals,(10 to 15 min.) as I am afraid that I may damage my battery. Your opinion, please?
Thanks!!!
Dolan
 
Hi Dolan, welcome to the forum.
Can’t help with your question as I live in the UK and only dream of heat like you get.
 
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Welcome.
I want to think I did read something about high heat in the manual, but don't remember what is was.
If you can spare some of that heat, send it to me in cold, cold Michigan.
 
the main thing is to get the battery off the mav as soon as you land, and get it in the shade to cool down, if you have a cooler box put a couple of the freezer packs wrapped in some old toweling, and place the battery on the toweling this will speed up the cool down process, after it has cooled keep it in the box till you get home out of the sun, and let it return to room temp before you are ready to charge it up again, it is a good idea in the sort of temps you mention to let the drone cool down in the shade between flights, and dont leave it in your vehicle as the temps inside can be very high
 
Welcome to the forum :)
 
After two 8 minute times in the air at the beach today, I got a warning my unit was overheating and I should stop using it as soon as possible. It was only 68 F and I thought first official flight and I have a problem. Landed and checked the motors and battery. They were just warm, that is all. Hard to figure that one out until I touched my pad. With that black face it was very hot. Warning came from the pad and not the Mavic. Guess I will have to put a sun shade on it just to keep it from the direct sun.
 
Howdy! My Name is Dolan and I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I am a new pilot. (one week, and three short flights)
My question is this...
In your opinion, is it OK to fly my drone in this extreme heat that we have here in the summertime? (currently 113 degrees F. this past week) I see my poor little bird up there in the direct hot sun, while I am sitting in the shade with my controller and I feel guilty. I have been flying it in short intervals,(10 to 15 min.) as I am afraid that I may damage my battery. Your opinion, please?
Thanks!!!
Dolan
I fly in the eastern and southern metro Phx area most commonly. I check, among other things, the ambient temp. I do not launch if the temp is 102degrees F or more. I am mostly flying sun up and sunrise times as a consequence, but am not experiencing any problems with batteries or drone with this habit.
Also, as mentioned above, after landing I put the bird in the shade with battery removed until the drone and it’s motors palpate neutral temp when I touch it/them.
 
My limited experience with some flights in Utah was the mobile phone overheated before the drone. I was flying in probably 95-98F or maybe more mid day and took off and immediately noticed laggy video on phone and laggy responses to phone selections (quick shots). So I quickly landed and kept to flying sunrise and sunset times. Flew one other time in middle of day but I stayed inside the car with a/c on. If the phone is getting hot I suspect my drone innards are really hot. Too me not worth stressing the aircraft that much. Fly when its cooler.
 
Howdy! My Name is Dolan and I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I am a new pilot. (one week, and three short flights)
My question is this...
In your opinion, is it OK to fly my drone in this extreme heat that we have here in the summertime? (currently 113 degrees F. this past week) I see my poor little bird up there in the direct hot sun, while I am sitting in the shade with my controller and I feel guilty. I have been flying it in short intervals,(10 to 15 min.) as I am afraid that I may damage my battery. Your opinion, please?
Thanks!!!
Dolan
I do not know the DJI answer to your question but in real time practical experience, I have gotten temperature warnings on my Mavic Air, saying that the battery was overheated. So I ceased operations, took the battery out and put it in the shade. I waited 5-10 min for the Mavic Air to cool down, put in another battery and did not get another warming and then did my flight without incident. I was amazed how "smart" the little bird was. The ambient (actual) temperature at the time was a pleasant 76 degrees F.
 
New pilot here too. Looking at getting M2ED.

Am part of Phantom groups. Fly P3A, P4A for fire service. In the south it is HOT. Watch temps provided by manufacturer DJI. Use electronic thermometer showing heat/humidity as well as IR heat gun. Flights over fires can be hot anyway, but have not received any warnings onscreen.

I do not use whole battery
I limit my flights to low speed
I monitor battery temp while inflight
I monitor motor temps and record them when landing for battery swap or photo downloads
I let bird rest in A/C of truck for about 10 min.

I will not take off if temps are 103 or above. One flight was 102 and all went well; temps well within range. All flights this summer have been fine. Oh, the Ipad does heat up, so I keep it covered with a shade, as well as myself is I can! LOL
 
Welcome to the forum I fly in Northren Phoenix area, in the summer I fly early morning, was out this morning a 530 for a bout 15 min flight. I don't fly when temp is over a 100, I feel its just to hard on the bird and the battery, JMOP.
We have a group that gets together on occasion if your interested North Phoenix DJI Drone Flyers (Phoenix, AZ) check it out come fly with us
 
Howdy! My Name is Dolan and I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I am a new pilot. (one week, and three short flights)
My question is this...
In your opinion, is it OK to fly my drone in this extreme heat that we have here in the summertime? (currently 113 degrees F. this past week) I see my poor little bird up there in the direct hot sun, while I am sitting in the shade with my controller and I feel guilty. I have been flying it in short intervals,(10 to 15 min.) as I am afraid that I may damage my battery. Your opinion, please?
Thanks!!!
Dolan
 
Hey... Follow the specs of your drone mate.... They should show you the temperature that your drone is capable of operating in
 
Welcome, I'm in southern Arizona and right now I only fly in morning when it's cooler or late afternoon after the temps have dropped below 100. I also bring my bird right inside and put it in front of a fan separated from the battery so they both can cool down faster. I also monitor the temps during the flights. My Smart Controller is what seems to get the hottest. I make sure everything is cooled down before the next flight or transferring pictures to the computer.
 
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