Hovtech said:
Since I got my 1st Phantom last March, I have never flown in winter. I'm sure there are great videos to be filmed. I have 1 worry though. This would be a question for the veterans here. Let's say it's 10 degrees outside. If I fly up to say 500 ft, how cold is it up there. Let's make up a number and say it's -20 degrees f. Would the battery freeze and the bird drop from the sky?
Are there any hills near you? Why don't you drive up a 500' high hill and see if its 30 degrees colder up there? With that kind of temp difference, snow skiing would sure be a cold sport. The change is much less than you're thinking. At 500' the change in temp would be less than 2 degrees from what it is at the surface.
The change is actually quite easy to calculate using a formula called the "lapse rate" Although the actual atmospheric lapse rate varies, under normal atmospheric conditions the average atmospheric lapse rate results in a temperature decrease of 6.4°C/km (3.5°F/1,000 ft) of altitude.
see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapse_rate