Winter flying

[olof]

Hi there all pilots!
Today I made a few flights in -37°C .The battery seems to handle the cold weather OK ,perhaps 5 % shorter flight time compared when I'm flying in plus degreeds Celsius.
The humid was pretty high in air I'll think it was 65% or more, after six minutes my bird started to shake like a frozen dog and after landing I couldn't see ice on the rotors but after 5 min indoor she stopped shaking again. Anyone who has knowledge flying in that temperature conditions? Tips?

 

[Wibble]

Wow that is cold - worst I flew in was -18C. I would MUCH prefer your weather though. We had 1300mm of rain last month but only 2 days of snow!

 

[Cale262]

I haven't flown in -37*C yet, I Haven't even seen that cold yet this year and I hope to be south before it shows up...but the only tip I can offer that you may already know is to start off with a warm battery. DJI offers pre warmers for the Inspire batteries but nothing as of yet for the Phantom line, I however made my own DIY warmer which is pretty easy to do.

 

[olof]

Maybe 5% is low calculated course I flew wery gentle with the trottle. After landing the battery temperature was +22°C, I am also a ultralightlight pilot so I'm not surprised of the icing on the propellers but this time I didn't risk my life ;-)

 

[GadgetGuy]

Maybe 5% is low calculated course I flew wery gentle with the trottle. After landing the battery temperature was +22°C, I am also a ultralightlight pilot so I'm not surprised of the icing on the propellers but this time I didn't risk my life ;-)

That's one of the biggest drone advantages: if the drone ever goes down, the pilot doesn't go down with it! He still lives to fly another day, as long as the FAA doesn't lock him up for the crash!

 

[olof]

Hello again! Today I flew in -40°C for a few minutes minutes,but this time the battery temperature was +17°C after landing...

 

[Mark The Droner]

Wow - that seems incredibly warm. +17 C is above 60 F.

The coldest I've flown is at 29 degrees F air temp, and the battery temp started at around 56 F and went down to about 47 F. So it seems odd your battery would be warmer at finish flying in such brutally cold air.

 

[nollzr]

How warm is to warm for your battery to get anytime of the year? Is this something I need to keep an eye on?

 

[Mark The Droner]

I don't have a P3, but...

My Vision manual states that the Li-Po battery should be discharged in an environment between -20C and 60C. It also says relative humidity should be below 80%. Since flying around is discharging the battery, these numbers make sense to me.

I can't find anything on the actual temp of the battery itself.