Would you fly and film below -10 Degree celcius?

erkme73 · Apr 6, 2018

Keep in mind that plastic gets extremely brittle when below freezing. I never gave it any thought for my MP until I tried to show off some jumps on my RC traxx-like truck. I've had it jump 12+ feet in the air, doing cartwheels on landing, never breaking anything during warmer days... Then this winter, I made a few moderate (<3') jumps, and two of the four plastic rims shattered. Temps were about 15°F. It made me think long and hard about flying in such cold temps. If the blades get as brittle as those rims, I wouldn't trust them to take take any kind of abuse... Just a thought.

RTKD · Apr 7, 2018

erkme73 said:
Keep in mind that plastic gets extremely brittle when below freezing

I did in fact shatter a blade on some ghost branches that I'm pretty sure would have been only a minor annoyance in warmer temps. Had the gimbal cover on though, good thing cause it crashed in a foot of powder snow.
That brings up another point: Anyone fly with the gimbal cover on in cold weather? People reported overheating if you leave it on, but that's not a problem when it's freezing out.

Manny T · Apr 9, 2018

JakeS said:
Thank you! It was a fun day

nice one! i bet it is indeed

Manny T · Apr 10, 2018

RTKD said:
Great edit, I think sound design is the next step in my work...
With all the research I did before purchase, I missed the fact that the Mavic isn't recommended for flights below freezing. Living in Vermont, this is a very big deal. It's true that keeping the batteries warm and just being careful all around works, but I've had some hair raising moments. (-10F, -23 C)
If you don't have the battery info up on screen that's a good idea; keep an eye out for voltage drops.
Any of you reading about the gloves, I say DON"T BUY EM! If you're cold, the Mavic's cold. I found that by the time my fingers were getting numb it was just about time to bring her in. For solidarity, we froze together I also wiped the body and props down with Rain-X to prevent icing.
Here's my favorite edit in the cold:

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ah yea i know what you mean, where is vermont? canada i'm guessing? yea it seems like the mavic can handle cold up to around the -15 area over that you might be risking it, you're gonna need to prepare a warm bag or something to keep the battery warm before take off.

haha i know what you mean, when it's cold you cant feel your fingers anyway.

Manny T · Apr 11, 2018

erkme73 said:
Keep in mind that plastic gets extremely brittle when below freezing. I never gave it any thought for my MP until I tried to show off some jumps on my RC traxx-like truck. I've had it jump 12+ feet in the air, doing cartwheels on landing, never breaking anything during warmer days... Then this winter, I made a few moderate (<3') jumps, and two of the four plastic rims shattered. Temps were about 15°F. It made me think long and hard about flying in such cold temps. If the blades get as brittle as those rims, I wouldn't trust them to take take any kind of abuse... Just a thought.

oh ok! that's very intersting! never have thought they would be before. that's good to know....thanks for sharing those events happened

Manny T · Apr 13, 2018

RTKD said:
I did in fact shatter a blade on some ghost branches that I'm pretty sure would have been only a minor annoyance in warmer temps. Had the gimbal cover on though, good thing cause it crashed in a foot of powder snow.
That brings up another point: Anyone fly with the gimbal cover on in cold weather? People reported overheating if you leave it on, but that's not a problem when it's freezing out.

really? wow didnt know the blade can shattered so easily... yea i never leave the gimbal cover on, i always remove it, yes it does provide protection in case you crash or against snow and rain but it degrades your IQ and footages quality so i never leave them on.