Flying in cold wet weather

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hi everyone,

I'm new to flying, are there any problems when it comes to flying in cold or wet weather? By wet, I mean cloudy with wet ground but not raining.

Should I avoid flying in this condition?

Thanks,
Luke
 
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Manual states you shouldn't fly below freezing, but pilots have flown well below freezing with great success. Be sure your battery is warmed pre-flight and keep an eye on battery strength as you fly.

Clouds and wet roads are no problem.

Watch out for the wind.
 
Manual states you shouldn't fly below freezing, but pilots have flown well below freezing with great success. Be sure your battery is warmed pre-flight and keep an eye on battery strength as you fly.

Clouds and wet roads are no problem.

Watch out for the wind.

Thanks mark, is there a technique to warming the battery or do I just turn the phantom on for a while before taking off?
 
There are lots of methods. One is to stick it in your inner coat pocket or even under your shirt and let your 37C body heat it up. Some guys put it on their truck dashboard with the defrost vents blowing on it and also leave it on the dashboard in the sun. I fly from home a lot and actually put mine in the kitchen oven, but you'd need to do a few dry test runs first with a good oven thermometer (my oven is actually only on for 90 secs) and use a timer!


Run_North_Dec_4_2016_P2_V_mp4_snapshot_00_01_201.jpg
 
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I know from several posts already that flight time will be reduced in the cold. My question is: Will the rate of drop be consistent and predictable? (versus gradual drop, then sudden depletion)
 
I took somebody's advice from a forum post I read and simply started the bird on the ground, and counted "alligator-1, alligator-2, ..." and let motors run before take-off for 1 minute. Twice this solved P3's complaining about cold battery, and it's pretty much a good idea anyways, being what we airplane pilors call a "run-up". It gives you a test to show that things are functioning well before you risk som altitude. I did a stick combo start and countes one minute, you could also auto-takeoff and hover for a while to warm up, run-up for more warmth.

Mind you, I didn't have batteries outside very long, this was a matter of taking the P3 from the warm house and flying just outside, parent's farm is a great place to get to. know the bird. If you were going "on location", where you might be outside for a while before flying, putting the battery inside your coat, or on the dashboard in the sun of a closed car (winter only), or in front of a heater vent for a while, might be good.

LiPo's would not want to be warm to the touch, but have their core temps above 40F/5C before flight. If they've been in the house, a few minutes exposure to cold should not matter much. If they've been outside all night in 10F/-12C I would warm them up by putting them on the kitchen table for 8 hours, not the oven.

Batteries don't need to be "warm", as much as they need to be "not cold", if you're going by touch.

As for wet, I did 2000 foot-long speed runs in nominal fog the other morning, no ill effects, no condensation. During the big snow melt a couple of weeks ago, I had a half-sheet of plywood that I put down as a launch pad, not bad as a dry spot and a maneuvering test for take-off/landing as I was getting to know the bird.

Long post I know, but hopefully addressing the subject at hand.
 
hi everyone,

I'm new to flying, are there any problems when it comes to flying in cold or wet weather? By wet, I mean cloudy with wet ground but not raining.

Should I avoid flying in this condition?

Thanks,
Luke


Luke you might love this if you still flying the Phantom 4

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