What was your coldest Flight!?

Shivers · Nov 13, 2019

Good morning, night, or where ever you are... Greetings.
Last time I saw this as a topic was 2018....

For the Mavic 2 units, what was your coldest flight!? What have you done to keep your bird warm? Or warm her up!?

Winter is coming, and I don’t plan to stop flying! Just want to do it with knowledge.

Thanks again to everyone around here that helps, and contributes to the forums!

25Vettes · Nov 13, 2019

I'm interested in this as well. I know the LiPo batteries are sensitive to the cold and they should be kept warm prior to flight, but what about in-flight? Maybe a disposable hand warmer packet on the top of the battery held in place with a velcro strap would help?

Shivers · Nov 13, 2019

25Vettes said:
I'm interested in this as well. I know the LiPo batteries are sensitive to the cold and they should be kept warm prior to flight, but what about in-flight? Maybe a disposable hand warmer packet on the top of the battery held in place with a velcro strap would help?

I know they warm up as being used, so I don’t know if we will be a hand warmer. But good idea!
Any feedback at what anyone has done, would be great!

spicciani2 · Nov 13, 2019

High 70s here last week and today high 20s.... I know my battery life is decreased in the cold but Wondering if there is anything i should do other than warm storage for lipos...

zocalo · Nov 13, 2019

I've done around -15C with an M2P without any handwarmers, insulating skins, or anything like that. A fully charged and relatively warm battery going into a relatively warm M2P chassis (maybe +5C to +10C for both) lasted about 10min. The M2P had a slight frost just starting to form on parts of it when I landed, but not enough or in what I would class critical areas (e.g. around the camera/gimbal, motors, and battery) to be really concerned about - main concentration of ice was along the edges of props, which I guess makes sense and would be something to be wary of.

Prismatic · Nov 13, 2019

Shivers said:
Good morning, night, or where ever you are... Greetings.
Last time I saw this as a topic was 2018....

For the Mavic 2 units, what was your coldest flight!? What have you done to keep your bird warm? Or warm her up!?

Winter is coming, and I don’t plan to stop flying! Just want to do it with knowledge.

Thanks again to everyone around here that helps, and contributes to the forums!

Your display device (phone, iPad, whatever) was not designed for use in extreme temperatures. You must keep it warm too.
My coldest flight (Mavic Air) was around 0°F, and it did not go well. The bird was not properly taking stick input, ascended on its own to max altitude, and the iPad was pretty much impossible to use. I initiated RTH from the controller, and landed manually once the drone was within a few yards.
The drone battery was warm to the touch upon landing, and that heat seemed to keep the drone itself within operational thermal limits. I think most of my problem stemmed from a cold controller and iPad.
If I fly in such conditions again, both of those will have multiple hand warmer packs attached via masking tape.

mahunter · Nov 14, 2019

Shivers said:
Good morning, night, or where ever you are... Greetings.
Last time I saw this as a topic was 2018....

For the Mavic 2 units, what was your coldest flight!? What have you done to keep your bird warm? Or warm her up!?

Winter is coming, and I don’t plan to stop flying! Just want to do it with knowledge.

Thanks again to everyone around here that helps, and contributes to the forums!

I live in Illinois, which has been into freezing temps for the past few weeks and into single digits on a couple days. I fly the Pro 2 and Zoom. I haven't flown in teens or single digits yet, but have flown for periods of 15/20 minutes in mid 20's during sunny days. I keep the drone and esp. batteries warm and fully charged before flying. I do get a cold battery warning on the Smart Controller, but only fly till the drone gets cold, again, about 15-20 minutes. No problems whatsoever so far. A very impressive drone. I will continue flying this winter, testing the boundaries as I go.

spicciani2 · Nov 14, 2019

On old motorcycles we cover the cooling bits in the winter... wonder if blocking an exhaust vent or two would be catastrophic... I wont try it...

Shivers · Nov 14, 2019

I use the smart controller and that supposed to be better in the cold, was not to bad in 40 deg, and 30.

tomisitt · Nov 15, 2019

This. M2P, 20 minute flight on one battery, 2 degrees C, then an 8 hour hike out.

jwt873 · Nov 17, 2019

It gets darn cold where I live. When I fly in the winter I fly sitting in my Jeep Wrangler with the heat blowing. It has a plastic roof that doesn't block the controller signal..

I've used the battery screen in DJI Go4 and have recorded how the battery performs at various temperatures.

When it's +30C (86F) outside, the battery will warm to 55C (130F) during flight.
When it's 0C (32F) outside, the battery will warm to 34C (93F) during flight.
When it's -20C, (-4F) outside the battery will warm to 28C (82F) during flight.
When it's -30C, (-20F) outside, the battery will warm to 23C (73F) but if hovering or flying slowly, it will drop as the cold starts sucking the heat out faster than the battery can generate it. You have to maintain a steady high speed to keep the battery warm.

The coldest flight was at -30C (-20F). I flew for 19 minutes, traveled 5km (3.1 miles) and landed with the battery at 26%