Arizona desert is heating up. Any ideas on flying in 110 degree weather? Kinda worrisome, we hit 100 today and it'll soon be a lot hotter. Can my PV2+ take it???
Hot weather flying - The Arizona desert is heating up. What's the highest temp that you've flown in?
- Thread starter AzDroner
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Not to mention your electronics getting a bit warmer, you've got a much higher density altitude to deal with. Your bird will think it's flying a couple thousand, or more, feet higher. Reduced flight times. 
If you are near the upper weight limit, you may experience some negative reactions from the Phantom, like wobble and difficulty hovering.
If you are near the upper weight limit, you may experience some negative reactions from the Phantom, like wobble and difficulty hovering.
Dang, that's hot. What elevation were you flying and do you recall any significant reduction in flight time?
I've been as close as Kamloops a couple times. Beautiful country.
Better yet, got any videos?
I'm an Arizona-boy, native, grew up here. One of my grown-up hobbies for the past year has been flying my Phantom, so I only have one summer's worth of experience to comment on. Depending on how much time I have I generally head to one of the local RC-tolerant parks or with a bit more time I head out to the desert proper. It's possible that there might be some diminished flight time on those really hot days, but I haven't done an official measurement to find out. 15 minutes is typical for me before I'm down to or near the 30% battery mark. I can't say that I've noticed it drop to, say, 12 minutes on the scorchers. Nor have I noticed an adverse effect on the electronics.
But all of that said, I'm rarely out in any fashion on the hottest part of the day. Our here, driving into the desert on a 120 degree day (yes, they do occur) at 3:00 in the afternoon is a bad idea. You learn to do the outdoor stuff in the morning and save the afternoon for activities indoors or involving a lot of water.
But all of that said, I'm rarely out in any fashion on the hottest part of the day. Our here, driving into the desert on a 120 degree day (yes, they do occur) at 3:00 in the afternoon is a bad idea. You learn to do the outdoor stuff in the morning and save the afternoon for activities indoors or involving a lot of water.
Dang, that's hot. What elevation were you flying and do you recall any significant reduction in flight time?
I've been as close as Kamloops a couple times. Beautiful country.
Better yet, got any videos?
yeah it gets warm here in the summer! Usually over 30C everyday. I normally fly at Vernons elevation of 1250ASL. I have flown on top of mountain and I have never noticed a difference. Flown in -10c as well, all I noticed was a bit of jello.
I'm in central Arizona, there are enough "fly away" issues so I am not going to tempt fate by flying above 100 deg. So my P3P is staying in the hangar unless I get up early and fly in the AM coolness.
I fly the deserts between Tucson and Phoenix almost every weekend year around. 110+ degrees doesn't seem to have much negative effect. Watch out for the dust devils as the ground warms up. I have had one flight where I crashed my TBS disco due to what I think was lack of air density and I could not get any lift. I think the summer heat is worse on the pilot than the multi rotor.
I think that this part of the world I fly is the best year round flying you could find. No cold, no snow, no rain, no fog, few clouds. just wind and dust.....
I think that this part of the world I fly is the best year round flying you could find. No cold, no snow, no rain, no fog, few clouds. just wind and dust.....
I've flown in 100+ temps a lot the last month. Lots of 102-104 degrees, and 107 today! Seems no problem for the Phantom 3 Pro I have, it's more the tablet or phone you use. iPhone 6+ gets a dark screen when it's hot and working hard, plus some choppy video, over 102 degrees. iPad Air 2 hasn't yet reached a temp where it misbehaves on me.
Flew my p3 earlier at about 102 F. Got a couple short flights on my f450 a few minutes ago still nearly 100 F. In AZ summer afternoons I think the quad makes it much longer than I can
I find a good shade tree, use a comfy folding chair from ****'s, and keep a small cooler of Gatorade nearby. And plenty of sweat rags! But, yeah, if it gets any hotter than it already has, I think I'll just stay home, under the cooler, and read the forums.
I get you guys are having hot days but I just don't think its the same as Phoenix. You guys are getting into the 70's at night and were lucky to get into the low 80's. Being below 110 is a good day for us. Everything here has been baked. Concrete is too hot to walk on barefoot and radiating crazy heat for hours past sunset.
Oh, I'm not vying for hottest. You can keep your heat there! I'm sure it's worse. Then again, it's all in what you've been raised in, and how you've acclimated to it. My problem.................. the last 14 years, before retiring last year, I worked in a freezer........ -30F! Also had 9 fans blowing hard, I'm sure wind chill was -50F! It was my world for making a living for a long time. Getting outside in the summer, in high heat, was almost a no-no for me. Gawd it hurt! I'm slowly acclimating back to it over the last year and a half. Spending 2 hours in 107 temps yesterday was a small miracle for me!
My biggest worry is the battery temps. Once they show 57 Celsius I take her down. Just a number I chose cause the batteries feel very hot to the hand past that. What's the max discharge temps for the batteries?
