flying into steam/smoke coming out of a smokestack

[Corey Tucker]

there is a power plant nearby and one of the big tall smokestacks always has this steam or smoke coming out of it. i think it would be cool to fly up there and film flying through the smoke. has anyone done this? i was a little worried that it might push the drone too much and make it crash, or if it was steam, it would get the drone too wet.

there is also other taller smokestacks there but i don't see anything coming out of there. i want to try to fly right over the top of them and maybe try to land on top and then take off again. hopefully its not putting out soemthing i just don't see.

if anybody works at power plant and knows if there is anything to worry about let me know. will post video if i don't crash first. lol

 

[Raceman17]

Does the smoke or steam dissipate after it is up in the air for some time? If it stays it is more than likely smoke from some burning process. If it dissipates and goes away then it would be steam.

 

[Corey Tucker]

yeah it goes away pretty quick so i guess that means its steam, so will that be bad? i can try to fly thru towards top where most is already gone. still wonder if it will push my drone up to much

 

[Meta4]

there is a power plant nearby and one of the big tall smokestacks always has this steam or smoke coming out of it. i think it would be cool to fly up there and film flying through the smoke. has anyone done this? i was a little worried that it might push the drone too much and make it crash, or if it was steam, it would get the drone too wet.

there is also other taller smokestacks there but i don't see anything coming out of there. i want to try to fly right over the top of them and maybe try to land on top and then take off again. hopefully its not putting out soemthing i just don't see.

if anybody works at power plant and knows if there is anything to worry about let me know. will post video if i don't crash first. lol

These are cooling towers:

What you see coming from them is water vapour and steam.
There will be a wet updraft as well.
If you are talking about tall chimneys, they will have hot exhaust.
Landing on a reinforced concrete or steel structure is not going to be a good idea.
You will have compass troubles if you try.

 

[Raceman17]

I wouldn't think it would push you up. It would be like flying through a cloud or a lite mist I would think. Take some tape and cover the vent hols if your worried about water droplets getting in there. Go fly and have fun.

 

[Corey Tucker]

it's not like those fat nuclear looking things, it's more of the tall skinny ones. will give it a shot and post vid later. thanks!

 

[dirkclod]

Here ya go Corey ,is not mine but posted it last week.

 

[Meta4]

it's not like those fat nuclear looking things, it's more of the tall skinny ones. will give it a shot and post vid later. thanks!

There's nothing nuclear about "those fat nuclear looking things".
Cooling towers are just an effective way of cooling hot water and you see them at all kinds of power stations.

 

[eaglegoaltender]

Nice vid - thanks for posting, dirkclod. There ya go Corey - he saved you the trouble of risking your drone flying through the steam. Landing on one of those stacks? Too much re-bar (metal) - you would mess up the compass - and lose your drone.

 

[dirkclod]

Nice vid - thanks for posting, dirkclod. There ya go Corey - he saved you the trouble of risking your drone flying through the steam. Landing on one of those stacks? Too much re-bar (metal) - you would mess up the compass - and lose your drone.

Why I posted it . I was thinking flying around that would be illegal being a power station so I posted it Power Plant STEAM BATH and saw Corey's post and being I am the self appointed assistant administer I thought he might like to see that .
We have a small stack here and want to fly through it but is just from a pellet mill .

 

[Corey Tucker]

cool video. sucks its already been done, but i gotta try it out still! doesn't look like it did anything at all to that drone so at least i dont have to worry about that. but yeah, maybe i'll find something else less metal to attempt a landing. been wanting to try that sometime too.

 

[Corey Tucker]

self appointed assistant administer

ummm, that's "self appointed assistant TO THE administrator" lol

thanks!

 

[dirkclod]

ummm, that's "self appointed assistant TO THE administrator" lol

thanks!

Ya I messed that up but hey I did put in that application so be watching
Anyway Mal has a video in here where he fly's almost down one in his country so I'm really not sure about the rebar issue though it does look like it would be . I wanted to do it just for the effect of going into the steam/smoke and coming out .

 

[eaglegoaltender]

not sure about the rebar issue though it does look like it would be . I wanted to do it just for the effect of going into the steam/smoke and coming out .

Rebar probably not an issue if you are at a safe flying distance - I would be more concerned about landing on something like that (as our friend Corey mentioned) and maintaining compass efficiency.

Don't see how flying through the steam or smoke at a safe distance and within eye-sight would be an issue. They are using drones now to fly in and around wild fires looking for hot spots etc. so should be ok. Concrete loaded with re-bar and a compass - just equals issues you don't want. Safe n happy flying.

 

[dirkclod]

Well what I got looks really hot and have went through high but wanted to be like right were it comes out which is about 60' up
Was worried I might cook it
Here's that video Corey from Mal. Now I am not suggesting you try this but just showing you .
I think Mal would like you

 

[eaglegoaltender]

Thanks again for posting that. Those are metal flue stacks and inside you can see the "brick work" (thermal bricks) that protect the metal stack from high temps - the temps inside and near the top can reach 120' - 140'c. Pretty brave flying.

The cooler ambient air and sometimes in-plant forced flow induced fans create a draft for the flue gases to emit out the top of the stack (chimney effect). A lot of times you can see a small air-gap between the top of the stack and the steam/smoke - that is due to very high temps at the opening of the stack where smoke/steam is still being burned off.

I wouldn't fly too close to the opening of an active stack due to exit force and temps - I am pretty sure there is at least a 150 foot ROW (right of way) around the stacks similar to hydro towers whereas flying near them might be illegal - let alone flying around a power plant these days.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

The biggest problem with this idea is there is a good chance you will be explaining yourself the the authorities. Flying around infrastructure like owner plants, dams, oil refineries, federal installments, etc. It is all not allowed and in some areas illegal by local laws. Basically, dont do it.
There is always stuff in life you 'could' do, but you shouldn't, this idea (or dropping weapons) is one of those 'shouldn't do' things.

 

[Corey Tucker]

The biggest problem with this idea is there is a good chance you will be explaining yourself the the authorities.

dirk sent me a video earlier where he did this and told me it was ok. i didn't know there was any laws against that. i didn't see your comment until after i had flown this.

it didn't go quite as well as i wanted anyway. I couldn't get as close as i thought so was about 2 miles away and took a while to get there. when i got above the smoke stacks, i started losing signal pretty bad. i was basically flying blind, only getting little snapshots of where i was.

the biggest stack was over 1000 feet, but as soon as i started going above that one, it got low on battery and started coming back home.

anyway, here's a little bit of the flight. didn't do any damage to it, and luckily i was far enough away nobody stopped me.

 

[dirkclod]

I sent you what Corey ? Ya lost me there

 

[Raceman17]

You should drive up closer to the site so you can do some longer footage. Pretty cool.