I'm tempted to get some footage outside while it's foggy. The temp is around 28-degrees F. There's ice on foliage and surfaces but only because of precip last night. The fog "feels" dry as opposed to ice crystals, but then that's at ground level. Opinions about damage to motors or the craft's innards?
fly in freezing fog?
- Thread starter trwalp
- Start date
The vents that are located generously all over the arms of the body provide direct access to the electronics inside- there is no protection from moisture or debris etc. I'd be reluctant to fly in anything moist... rain, snow, icy fog...
I hear yeah!
I'm reluctant but too stoked to fly!
I flew last night at -5 degrees...brr my hands lasted 10min.
As far as the vents, I've crashed my twice into snow. Once about 30 feet up and props hit a branch and it swirled down and boom...cloud of snow! I ran over tapped it off blew the snow off and got it to my truck to blow heat on it. It survived and is flying fine. This was about 4 flights ago. The other time it was at low altitude and camera was fully underneath snow. It is working fine at the moment. I think I've been lucky
So...I've taped up all vents and and openings. I think with the cold weather the internal heat will be fine.
Just my 2 cents.
Cheers!
-AK :mrgreen: "Colorado"
I'm reluctant but too stoked to fly!
I flew last night at -5 degrees...brr my hands lasted 10min.
As far as the vents, I've crashed my twice into snow. Once about 30 feet up and props hit a branch and it swirled down and boom...cloud of snow! I ran over tapped it off blew the snow off and got it to my truck to blow heat on it. It survived and is flying fine. This was about 4 flights ago. The other time it was at low altitude and camera was fully underneath snow. It is working fine at the moment. I think I've been lucky
So...I've taped up all vents and and openings. I think with the cold weather the internal heat will be fine.
Just my 2 cents.
Cheers!
-AK :mrgreen: "Colorado"
Hi,
I've done it with a F450 with about 10 degrees Celsius or more. Even gone for a moment above the fog, at 116 meters, and then had to land because the battery was low. After the flight there was moisture in various points of the quad but that hasn't caused any problem.
I like to fly in the fog but don't know if I'll do it again...
Regards,
Rui
I've done it with a F450 with about 10 degrees Celsius or more. Even gone for a moment above the fog, at 116 meters, and then had to land because the battery was low. After the flight there was moisture in various points of the quad but that hasn't caused any problem.
I like to fly in the fog but don't know if I'll do it again...
Regards,
Rui
I took ONE flight in a misty moderate drizzle this morning with my souped-up F450 (Proton Volcano 30A ESC's Tiger motors, etc). I was far more concerned about water getting on/in my Futaba transmitter than my F450. All went well, although I wouldn't advise others to repeat my risky behavior.
PF
PF
trwalp said:
I flew mine over the weekend, it began snowing and it was 30 degree's. Flew without a problem though I needed to give the Phantom an extra couple of minutes to hold a solid GPS lock as it was flicking on and off. Once I was confident it was solid I flew. I also saw video of someone flying in a much heavier snow without any apparent ill effect.
You can see the video of the flight where the snow fall was most clearly visible. I have a couple of other videos up of the flight at earlier points as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpaYVU5JTio
And here's footage of someone else flying in a heavier snowfall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEYTYJ8wpOQ
it's probably not the best idea anyone fly in a heavier snowfall as in the other persons video. The motor's are exposed and you probably don't want a lot of moisture building in them while flying.
Dns_Rui thanks I really enjoyed that, got a warm fuzzy feeling watching the whole thing plus a little surprise on the return leg. I've seen some his videos before, I think he tested the range of a Phantom or PV at night which must've been fun for the folks below seeing lights in the sky!
iDrone
iDrone
We have suspected icing as a cause of loss on larger multi-rotor aircraft when flown in certain conditions. We certainly know it can happen but many multi-rotor pilots may not be aware of it or even that it can happen.
Here's a video showing what icing looks like: http://youtu.be/czz_Islm_UY
Recently a multi-rotor aircraft pilot who is also a manned aircraft pilot posted their experience with an icing occurrence that that did NOT result in a loss.
The icing occurred on 15 inch carbon fiber props and 380kv motors. The conditions were -13 degrees F and higher humidity levels....the same conditions where it occurs on manned aircraft leading edges, rotors and propellers. The pilot noticed some unusual vibrations and that the aircraft was just not flying right. The pilot landed it without incident and recognized icing on the propellers.
This is important because a problem was recognized by an experienced pilot who took appropriate action in landing the aircraft immediately upon noticing a problem. Afterward, the icing condition was recognized by a pilot trained to recognize it and who then shared their experience which can help others avoid the same experience.
As we say in the manned aviation world: No problem ever gets better in the air so get it on the ground as soon and as safely as possible.
Here's a video showing what icing looks like: http://youtu.be/czz_Islm_UY
Recently a multi-rotor aircraft pilot who is also a manned aircraft pilot posted their experience with an icing occurrence that that did NOT result in a loss.
The icing occurred on 15 inch carbon fiber props and 380kv motors. The conditions were -13 degrees F and higher humidity levels....the same conditions where it occurs on manned aircraft leading edges, rotors and propellers. The pilot noticed some unusual vibrations and that the aircraft was just not flying right. The pilot landed it without incident and recognized icing on the propellers.
This is important because a problem was recognized by an experienced pilot who took appropriate action in landing the aircraft immediately upon noticing a problem. Afterward, the icing condition was recognized by a pilot trained to recognize it and who then shared their experience which can help others avoid the same experience.
As we say in the manned aviation world: No problem ever gets better in the air so get it on the ground as soon and as safely as possible.
Wow...good to know. I was thinking that after the first really good snow storm here it might be pretty to do some imaging of the snow-white neighborhood or the snow-covered beach with either the Phantom or my F450. I'll have to confirm a low relative humidity pre-flight, and monitor for wonky in-flight characteristics.
Thanks for the heads-up.
PF
Thanks for the heads-up.
PF
Just flew in foggy Colorado conditions at 6500ft altitude, temps in the mid 20 degrees F. When landing, noticed P2V was a bit shaky. After props stopped, noticed leading edges had about 1mm of ice on them. Be careful out there this winter.
That would make a great Christmas card: a toy deicing truck next to PV spraying it's iced prop tips. Reminds me of Gumby and Wallace & Grommit! :lol:
iDrone
iDrone
