Thunderstorms Look Really Cool but . . .

[Iceman318]

So T-storms make for some great photo / video ops. Question is, what's a safe distance from those without getting blown out of the sky by a bold of lightening? Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[THE CYBORG]

Do you think you Mavic could handle this ?

 

[dirkclod]

And the op had to ask, yawl know whats coming

 

[dirkclod]

Do you think you Mavic could handle this ?

View attachment 107197

Hey that WetSuit handle that ?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

So T-storms make for some great photo / video ops. Question is, what's a safe distance from those without getting blown out of the sky by a bold of lightening? Anyone have any experience with this?

You might enjoy this thread:

With and Air 2 Wet Suit : Into the Lightning Storm by Phantomrain.org

The Air 2 Geared up with the AIr 2 Wet Suit - Anything is possible. With zero percent chance of Rain last night a Freak Storm blew in, it was 1am a single Boom woke me up, I ran outside and threw the drone up and into the lightning. I flew Almost 26 minutes in the pouring rain . That...

mavicpilots.com

 

[bumper]

Smart glider pilots try to give wide berth to thunderstorms. For although the convective air associated with them provides lots of lift, (along with downdrafts too), horizontal lightning can commonly reach 5 to 10 miles from the storm. 20 miles and more is not unheard of.

Aircraft commonly have "static wicks" at the trailing edge of flying surfaces. This, to help bleed off static charges in the airframe that accrue as the aircraft moves through the charged air. Lighting can be attracted to electrically charged aircraft. The charge build up can also interfere with air-band communications.

Lightning can literally blow the wing off a glider. The extremely high voltage, up to a billion volts, and as much as 200,000 amps, travel through the carbon fiber (conductive) structure and literally turn moisture to steam, which then blows the structure apart. Both pilot and student, in the example I'm quoting, were able to bail out and survived.

 

[Iceman318]

Smart glider pilots try to give wide berth to thunderstorms. For although the convective air associated with them provides lots of lift, (along with downdrafts too), horizontal lightning can commonly reach 5 to 10 miles from the storm. 20 miles and more is not unheard of.

Aircraft commonly have "static wicks" at the trailing edge of flying surfaces. This, to help bleed off static charges in the airframe that accrue as the aircraft moves through the charged air. Lighting can be attracted to electrically charged aircraft. The charge build up can also interfere with air-band communications.

Lightning can literally blow the wing off a glider. The extremely high voltage, up to a billion volts, and as much as 200,000 amps, travel through the carbon fiber (conductive) structure and literally turn moisture to steam, which then blows the structure apart. Both pilot and student, in the example I'm quoting, were able to bail out and survived.

Great info - thanks!! At that distance, it's not worth the risk for a video.

 

[BigAl07]

So T-storms make for some great photo / video ops. Question is, what's a safe distance from those without getting blown out of the sky by a bold of lightening? Anyone have any experience with this?

IIRC my weather alert starts getting busy at 30 miles out and gets more intense warning as it gets closer. I'm pretty sure 30 miles is the "Danger" threshold for it though. Anything under 10 miles is SEEK SHELTER NOW.

 

[Cw4bray]

I was flying in a thunderstorm yesterday. The gust front associated with it is unpredictable and comes on suddenly, and typically exceeds the wind limits. A much bigger concern would be the operator being struck by lightning.Lightning strike - Wikipedia. It would be fun to see a video posted on here of thunderstorm activity

 

[Phantomrain.org]

The odds of becoming a lightning victim in the U.S. in any one year is 1 in 700,000 , but you can minimize that risk by not flying in an open field or hanging by a tree.
I have found the best way is simply to fly from inside the car, or from inside the house thru a window.

For those of us that find flying in the storms fascinating, Just taking a few precautions
will go a long way and stretch out those odds even further.

Now my chances of falling down the stairs when I hear the Thunder Boom to get my drone is a concern as over 1000 a year loose the life to the fall.
I do hang on tightly to the hand rail.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in and out of the Storm.

 

[iaincaradoc]

The odds of becoming a lightning victim in the U.S. in any one year is 1 in 700,000

Those odds are just a *tad* higher for some of us.

 

[Tom Peers]

So T-storms make for some great photo / video ops. Question is, what's a safe distance from those without getting blown out of the sky by a bold of lightening? Anyone have any experience with this?

More critical than lightening is "first gusts" out of the front of that storm cell.

 

[iaincaradoc]

Question is, what's a safe distance from those without getting blown out of the sky by a bold of lightening? Anyone have any experience with this?

I've been shooting weather and lightning for a couple of decades. You're far more likely to get blown out of the sky by the gust front and associated turbulence than a bolt of lightning. Not to mention the probability of getting some parts wet that shouldn't get wet (unless you equip your drone with a wetsuit, anyway.)

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Those odds are just a *tad* higher for some of us.

View attachment 107249

Im wondering what was the Catalyst for this in the sand. hidden treasure maybe. WOW whats the story on this shot ?

 

[itsneedtokno]

I was flying in a thunderstorm yesterday. The gust front associated with it is unpredictable and comes on suddenly, and typically exceeds the wind limits. A much bigger concern would be the operator being struck by lightning.Lightning strike - Wikipedia. It would be fun to see a video posted on here of thunderstorm activity

 

[iaincaradoc]

Smart glider pilots try to give wide berth to thunderstorms. For although the convective air associated with them provides lots of lift, (along with downdrafts too), horizontal lightning can commonly reach 5 to 10 miles from the storm. 20 miles and more is not unheard of.

The recorded "World Record" is 440 miles. 709 kilometers. Wacky stuff.

Two lightning megaflashes shattered distance and duration records

Satellite data show that the two extreme bolts, both appearing over South America, more than doubled the previous records.

www.sciencenews.org

 

[iaincaradoc]

Im wondering what was the Catalyst for this in the sand. hidden treasure maybe. WOW whats the story on this shot ?

I regularly go out to the Four Peaks Wilderness area during our "Southwest Monsoon" storm season. That was the last photo I took that day. It was 113 degrees and *raining* on me for a few minutes before the temperature dropped.

I have a few other photos from that day - I posted one in another thread - but that particular strike was just under a quarter-mile away, and *extremely* loud, and I decided it was definitely time to "bug-out."

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Adding sound is very powerful , Im going to work on adding that.
These clips are fantastic.

This caught me off guard , I had just flown thru a mother load of rain and was taking pictures of the Phantom 4 pro and the storm said good bye.

 

[itsneedtokno]

???

... Waiting, waiting, waiting...

Holy bejeezus!

That was me yesterday, in reverse. (no wetsuit... YET)

I went up with no rain, and landed with 10 seconds to spare before literally the skies opened up.

 

[iaincaradoc]

...and while I'm thinking about it... Thanks, Weird Al (this is from "Word Crimes.")