How cold is too cold?
- Thread starter Jofo17
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How I know where my first wife’s heart came from.
I flew my p3 standard 10,000 feet away at 8° in VT.Having said that the real feel was -5°... I have a truck.Use regular side hand warmers and a few elastic bands.I put one below battery and one on top..It was pushing it to the very limits at first video was funky.Check it out on( Dog & Drone Search D&D) on you tube.Named you must see th I s drone video off mountain in 8 °.......The altitude was off mountain.It was at 2,900 not the drone hover.Take off altitude.
This was opening day for fishing season 2017. We had a foot of snow. You can see some of the heavy snow in the lower left of the image. I keep the batteries warm and the flghts short. The temperature was in the upper 20’s.
Flying when the dew point and temp have a narrow spread gave me my first icing experience. Controls became sluggish and the camera would not move from a downward position. Condensation between the lens and UV filter was also a problem, fuzzing the video. I had trouble wrestling the bird down and after shutdown ice sheathing the blades and camera was significant. Pilots are wary of narrow dew point/temperature spreads as it indicates a very high probability of ground fog.
I took these last Sunday. Our high was 1.1*F and it was not during the time I was flying. I had the battery inside for a few hours and freshly charged.
Had zero problems and a slight breeze so “feels like”was probably -8 to -10*F. I flew slightly inside to the right in this image due to the left side buckling.
My craft is stored inside a hard shell, padded case in my unheated garage, so it was already fairly cold. I did not take it inside after, but back in it’s case. I allowed the craft to warm up, per the screen before takeoff. Flew the trip without shutdown and did not turn the battery off until the flight I wanted was done, but did land twice to step inside and take still photos with a camera, leaving the battery on, while doing so.
Had zero problems and a slight breeze so “feels like”was probably -8 to -10*F. I flew slightly inside to the right in this image due to the left side buckling.
My craft is stored inside a hard shell, padded case in my unheated garage, so it was already fairly cold. I did not take it inside after, but back in it’s case. I allowed the craft to warm up, per the screen before takeoff. Flew the trip without shutdown and did not turn the battery off until the flight I wanted was done, but did land twice to step inside and take still photos with a camera, leaving the battery on, while doing so.
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I've flown every week this winter in temps below 0°F ambient, much colder with wind chills. Lately I've been setting the Ph4 and Ph4p outside for a few minutes and staying in the car to stay warm with batteries. Ph4p performs like normal, Ph4 is hard to fly smoothly for videos. Might just be my bird too but that's my experience. Ph4 also had iPad 4 live feed image go to about half size and flip upside down. Bird still flew as it did before but was difficult to have image upside down. Might have been iPad getting too cold too.
Also invested in this
Thicken Gloves, Jrelecs FPV Wild Aerial HM Transmitter Remote Control Handle Cold Hands Warm Wind Protection Cover Sets-Orange https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017XJFYK6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_HobLvj8da7G4g
to keep hands warm. I like it so far! Some hand warmers in it might even be better.
Also invested in this
Thicken Gloves, Jrelecs FPV Wild Aerial HM Transmitter Remote Control Handle Cold Hands Warm Wind Protection Cover Sets-Orange https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017XJFYK6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_HobLvj8da7G4g
to keep hands warm. I like it so far! Some hand warmers in it might even be better.
Some days ago - I did IMU calibration in -5C outside ...
Now I find I am getting near instant Good to Fly on powering up outside. Before - I would wait maybe a minute while IMU warmed up ...
My batterys are of course warmed ready to use.
Nigel
Now I find I am getting near instant Good to Fly on powering up outside. Before - I would wait maybe a minute while IMU warmed up ...
My batterys are of course warmed ready to use.
Nigel
My take on flying in the "cold". I was in norther Vermont Christmas til after New Year 2018. It was VERY cold temp below zero many times, however I could not resist flying my P3A, STRICTLY. My suggestions. check You tube good info on cold temp, pay close attention to batteries ( useful item digital therometer Lowes $19 on sale). BEWARE of your surroundings, near misses can happen easily, I flew several times with temps single degrees, But BIGGEST suggestions Protect your hands, I had old pair gloves cut thumb tips off to better felt controls, Trust me frostbite can happen quick, especially in the wind, I have small area on thumb still recovering. That being said " be careful and it can be done"
As we all know the view from above is awesome, But Please use common sense and protect your hands , Happy Flying
As we all know the view from above is awesome, But Please use common sense and protect your hands , Happy Flying
I have thin wool gloves with Touch screen tips for light use ... heavier Velour gloves with touch tips for real cold.
I hate gloves actually - as I want to 'feel' the sticks ... but P3 being a lot easier to fly than usual RC - I can live with gloves OK.
Nigel
I hate gloves actually - as I want to 'feel' the sticks ... but P3 being a lot easier to fly than usual RC - I can live with gloves OK.
Nigel
I fly in Wisconsin. Its cold here 9mo of the year seems like.
The deepest I have flown was -15F (P3P).
I have a couple soft side lunch boxs (walmart) that I carry for batteries. In the hot months, I pack a blue ice pack in it and put batteries in it for charging. That way they don't overheat when its upper 90's F out.
In the winter months, I drop in 2 to 4 of those cheap hand warmer packs into the cooler and keep the batteries in there prior to flight. It stays around 70-80F even at -10F outside. I can fit 4 P3 batteries or 2 I1 batteries in the kit. The hand warmers are usually 4 or 8 for a buck in the spring when stores want to clear the shelves so I stock up on them in spring to use the following fall/winter. Store in ziplock bags and they will easily last a couple years.
For hands I use thermal gloves (thin) with the touch screen finger tip. When not flying, can put on heavier thinsulate ski gloves over those gloves to maintain dexterity. Its fairly easy to carry and handle a phantom or I1 with the heavy gloves. Then remove the heavier outer glove for flight and then back on once its landed.
Another evil you need to combat in winter is condensation. You know what happens when you expose a cold object to warm air? Think cold soda or beer in the summer. Right. Sweat. Its condensation. Thats what will happen to your bird if you bring it indoors after a flight in the winter. Warm interior air meets cold beer can. I carry my birds in the bed of my truck (its got a hard cover). When I bring it out from the house, I place them in the truck and cover with a couple thick blankets. This will let them slowly cool to the outdoor temperatures. After cold outdoor flights, I place them in the carrying case and immediately close it tight with the blanket over. The bird warms during flight (internal electronics). And I don't want it cooling too rapidly.
I keep sd cards and other media in a wallet in my jacket. When done for the day, media comes out of the bird and the bird goes in its case.
After a day's flying, the birds come inside in their cases and immediately into the basement. Coldest place in the house. I keep 2 very heavy quilts down there and I cover the entire case with them. They will stay down there overnight. Probably not necessary for that long but as expensive as these are, well, CYA. Next day I bring them upstairs and let them acclimate to the house for a couple hours in the case before opening for cleaning or other general maintenance.
And the final bandit, icing. Yea, the same thing that brings down airplanes will bring your bird down just as quick. I don't find that it accumulates too bad on the chassis but I have found that it can and does build up on props. The low pressure created when the prop is doing its job creates a perfect place to allow ice to form. Most of the time it simply gets slung off with centripetal force. But I have had it build up significantly around the hub and inner blade areas. I found that by wiping the props with Rain-X soaked paper towel (in the kitchen) and then wiping clean with a dry towel, the ice simply slips off. Its not enough to misbalance the prop in any way but applies enough on the surface of the prop to keep moisture from sticking, just like it does your winidshield on your car. Figuring WTH, if it works on props, it should work on the body too. So once a year, sometimes twice, I treat my phantoms and inspire bodies with Rain-X as well. And don't forget to treat your spare props too. Easy to forget.
The deepest I have flown was -15F (P3P).
I have a couple soft side lunch boxs (walmart) that I carry for batteries. In the hot months, I pack a blue ice pack in it and put batteries in it for charging. That way they don't overheat when its upper 90's F out.
In the winter months, I drop in 2 to 4 of those cheap hand warmer packs into the cooler and keep the batteries in there prior to flight. It stays around 70-80F even at -10F outside. I can fit 4 P3 batteries or 2 I1 batteries in the kit. The hand warmers are usually 4 or 8 for a buck in the spring when stores want to clear the shelves so I stock up on them in spring to use the following fall/winter. Store in ziplock bags and they will easily last a couple years.
For hands I use thermal gloves (thin) with the touch screen finger tip. When not flying, can put on heavier thinsulate ski gloves over those gloves to maintain dexterity. Its fairly easy to carry and handle a phantom or I1 with the heavy gloves. Then remove the heavier outer glove for flight and then back on once its landed.
Another evil you need to combat in winter is condensation. You know what happens when you expose a cold object to warm air? Think cold soda or beer in the summer. Right. Sweat. Its condensation. Thats what will happen to your bird if you bring it indoors after a flight in the winter. Warm interior air meets cold beer can. I carry my birds in the bed of my truck (its got a hard cover). When I bring it out from the house, I place them in the truck and cover with a couple thick blankets. This will let them slowly cool to the outdoor temperatures. After cold outdoor flights, I place them in the carrying case and immediately close it tight with the blanket over. The bird warms during flight (internal electronics). And I don't want it cooling too rapidly.
I keep sd cards and other media in a wallet in my jacket. When done for the day, media comes out of the bird and the bird goes in its case.
After a day's flying, the birds come inside in their cases and immediately into the basement. Coldest place in the house. I keep 2 very heavy quilts down there and I cover the entire case with them. They will stay down there overnight. Probably not necessary for that long but as expensive as these are, well, CYA. Next day I bring them upstairs and let them acclimate to the house for a couple hours in the case before opening for cleaning or other general maintenance.
And the final bandit, icing. Yea, the same thing that brings down airplanes will bring your bird down just as quick. I don't find that it accumulates too bad on the chassis but I have found that it can and does build up on props. The low pressure created when the prop is doing its job creates a perfect place to allow ice to form. Most of the time it simply gets slung off with centripetal force. But I have had it build up significantly around the hub and inner blade areas. I found that by wiping the props with Rain-X soaked paper towel (in the kitchen) and then wiping clean with a dry towel, the ice simply slips off. Its not enough to misbalance the prop in any way but applies enough on the surface of the prop to keep moisture from sticking, just like it does your winidshield on your car. Figuring WTH, if it works on props, it should work on the body too. So once a year, sometimes twice, I treat my phantoms and inspire bodies with Rain-X as well. And don't forget to treat your spare props too. Easy to forget.
Temp- -24 celcuis with wind chill -34 degrees, cold didn't stop this 140' x 60' building, burning to the ground, bright sun/snow. Ireally need to invest in some filters!
I had some focus issues, attribute this to numb fingers.
I had some focus issues, attribute this to numb fingers.
Royster, not to hijack the thread, but I bought the DJI filters(ND4, 8 and 16), what a difference they make when flying in bright conditions. Well worth the $'s.
Don't know the answer to that question but, apparently a lot colder than the specs suggest. This won't get me into the Phantom Pilots HOF but, so far this month, I've made nearly a dozen flights with air temps down to around +15 deg F without any reported issues. The battery temp is between 65 - 70 deg F at startup, preflight is double checked, I let the bird hover a short while after lift off, and I keep a close eye on the telemetry all the time it's in the air.
Thats a killer warmer thnxYes fine ...
My system is to have both Batterys and AC in the car warmed up ... and minimum time outside powering up etc.
Batterys can easily be warmed by use of picnic insulated bags and hand warmers ... I have a small bag that is designed for 6 pack of beer ... I can put warm things in or for hot summers put cooler things in ... keep it zipped up and its good for a couple of hours. I also have a larger picnic bag that I have separate LiPo safe bags in ... I split up my LiPo's in size and put in there .. its usual for me to carry anywhere between 10 and 15 LiPo's each session.
The excellent budget priced Turnigy LiPo warmer bag ... its not only a programmable warm bag runs of 12v but also a LiPo safe bag ... this can easily take 2 P3 batterys and plugs into car .. or you can have a small 3S LiPo to run it ... one of the best LiPo bags ever ... cheaper and better than the DJI battery warmer !
Turnigy Programmable Lipo Battery Warmer Bag (12v DC)
Nigel
I took my Phantom 3 4k out in -25c here in Canada ... I was nervous, ... I kept all the equipment in the car until I plot the shots I wanted, then ran to the location & with a slow take off proceeded to fly over Lake Ontario. At 1st it seemed to take off over the lake w/o any control, then it stopped I regained control brought her back until I was certain I had full control & off I went to do a short flight until I thought I pushed the until long enough. Got the shots I wanted but, I will most likely not be doing this again in such extreme cold conditions ....
Just finished two local flights here in Fbks- temp is minus 21F at my place. Supercharged (extra top off) on battery with battery and bird warmed up in my cabin.(Yeah, I get enough signal thru the windows to establish home point)
First flight was to 400 feet and out as far as 3,000 feet. Got a cold battery warning as it lifted off-batt was at 13C. The climb to 400 brought the temp to 16C and I found that a little spirited maneuvering kept temps high enough to avoid a BTC (batt too cold) warning. I brought it back when the #1 cell fell and stayed into the yellow even with a workload on the props. 10 minute flight and 62% batt left on return.
For the second flight I attached an indoor/outdoor thermometer to the left skid (bird is on PolarPro gear extenders) with the extra cable and outdoor sensor attached to the rear of the right leg. Auto takeoff resulted in a rise to 4 feet and then it began descending. Throttle input took it to 6 feet where I reset the min/max function I had forgotten about. Climbing to 400 again I notice the bird was gently rocking from side to side during the climb and at a 400 foot hover. The thermometer is a small one but something about it caused the bird to work harder to stay level, keeping the cells in the green for the entire 7 minute flight. I didn't note the leftover battery charge in my haste to untapped the thermometer. My bad. I did find out why taking just a few seconds to unglove to press the min/max reset on the thermometer was so unpleasant-the max low recorded was minus 52.6F. I was not expecting the thermometer to read wind chill created by the downdraft.
I just slapped this experiment together between stoking the wood stove but if you monitor your temps with say the C2 button and keep a workload on the bird with limited hovering your comfort level should be the main deciding factor in whether or not it is too cold to fly.
First flight was to 400 feet and out as far as 3,000 feet. Got a cold battery warning as it lifted off-batt was at 13C. The climb to 400 brought the temp to 16C and I found that a little spirited maneuvering kept temps high enough to avoid a BTC (batt too cold) warning. I brought it back when the #1 cell fell and stayed into the yellow even with a workload on the props. 10 minute flight and 62% batt left on return.
For the second flight I attached an indoor/outdoor thermometer to the left skid (bird is on PolarPro gear extenders) with the extra cable and outdoor sensor attached to the rear of the right leg. Auto takeoff resulted in a rise to 4 feet and then it began descending. Throttle input took it to 6 feet where I reset the min/max function I had forgotten about. Climbing to 400 again I notice the bird was gently rocking from side to side during the climb and at a 400 foot hover. The thermometer is a small one but something about it caused the bird to work harder to stay level, keeping the cells in the green for the entire 7 minute flight. I didn't note the leftover battery charge in my haste to untapped the thermometer. My bad. I did find out why taking just a few seconds to unglove to press the min/max reset on the thermometer was so unpleasant-the max low recorded was minus 52.6F. I was not expecting the thermometer to read wind chill created by the downdraft.
I just slapped this experiment together between stoking the wood stove but if you monitor your temps with say the C2 button and keep a workload on the bird with limited hovering your comfort level should be the main deciding factor in whether or not it is too cold to fly.
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