WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEGREES

Qwadjok · Dec 24, 2013

WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEGREES

Place: Lakeville, Minnesota USA
Time: 4:00 am to 4:18 am
Conditions: Outside temperature a balmy -15 degrees F. below zero. One hour after test flight temps dropped to -17 degrees below zero, windchill was -24 degrees, Winds calm at 0 mph. Humidity 83%, barometric pressure was 1029.34 hPa, skies were clear.
Verified: By video during flight, still photos from cell phone, photos of thermometer, screenshots of cell phone and TV weather channel weather.

Here is the video compilation of flying in these extreme conditions. Finally got some time to put it together.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzHZAPfedPQ[/youtube]

I had to get up at 3:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2013 to prep for the coldest temps so far this winter season. TV weather said -15 degrees, cell phone said -15 degrees and our outside thermometer said -14 degrees. Either way a couple degrees, I didn't feel the difference. Fingers were numb wore face-mask and gloves to protect exposed skin. I had flown at -5 degrees a week earlier and waited for a colder snap to test flying in extreme cold.

And no, I wasn't bored, just trying to illustrate that if needed, the Phantom 2 Vision can fly in extreme cold.

To verify and confirm my extreme cold flight test, I took screenshots from three different weather sources. 1. the weather channel, 2. screenshots on my computer weather bug, 3. screenshots of my cell phone weather widget.

Then, because my cell phone, a Samsung Galaxy S3 freezes up within 5 minutes in extreme cold, I taped a hand warmer to the back side of the phone to keep the battery warm and it worked. I was able to fly for 17 minutes and then as soon as the P2V battery wore down enough so flight was impossible, the cell phone finally froze and I was ready for the ultra warm bed I left inside.

Let me know what you guys think and if anyone in Canada or Alaska has flown a P2V quad in colder temps.

Qwadjok · Dec 24, 2013

Re: WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEG

Only allowed three photos per post so here are a couple more.

If there had been even a slight breeze, the outside windchill would have been dangerously low and could have affected the test flight so I am glad this worked.

QJ

FASTFJR · Dec 24, 2013

Re: WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEG

NICE!

But man you must be REALLY bored if your flying in those temps :lol: :lol: :lol:

Shrimpfarmer · Dec 24, 2013

Re: WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEG

I like crazy stunts like this. Well done and I for one recognise your current World Record !!!!

sleagues · Dec 24, 2013

Re: WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEG

Wow you have a heat wave down there. LOL 31 below up north in Ely this mourning. I'm moving to Lakeville! lol
I been using hand warmers around my battery's on my non vision. But the most I been getting is about 11 minutes with gopro with duel 2700 2dog rc bats. I been putting my batterys inside old stockings. cutting off the toe end and wrapping the batterys and hand warmers up inside. I gain only about 1 to 2 minutes extra flight time when 5 to 10 below. But when its around twenty I get about 3 to 4. I need to find something other than the stockings that will hold the heat in better. And that's not too heavy.
Im using a Dx8 with telemetry. After warming up phantom and battery's by a heater the telemetry shows about 90 to 95 degs. after about 3 minutes flight time its down to about 30 degs and by the end of the flight its 15 degs inside the phantom.

race3 · Dec 24, 2013

Re: WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEG

Qwadjok said:
WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEGREES

Place: Lakeville, Minnesota USA
Time: 4:00 am to 4:18 am
Conditions: Outside temperature a balmy -15 degrees F. below zero. One hour after test flight temps dropped to -17 degrees below zero, windchill was -24 degrees, Winds calm at 0 mph. Humidity 83%, barometric pressure was 1029.34 hPa, skies were clear.
Verified: By video during flight, still photos from cell phone, photos of thermometer, screenshots of cell phone and TV weather channel weather.

I had to get up at 3:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2013 to prep for the coldest temps so far this winter season. TV weather said -15 degrees, cell phone said -15 degrees and our outside thermometer said -14 degrees. Either way a couple degrees, I didn't feel the difference. Fingers were numb wore face-mask and gloves to protect exposed skin. I had flown at -5 degrees a week earlier and waited for a colder snap to test flying in extreme cold.

To verify and confirm my extreme cold flight test, I took screenshots from three different weather sources. 1. the weather channel, 2. screenshots on my computer weather bug, 3. screenshots of my cell phone weather widget.

Then, because my cell phone, a Samsung Galaxy S3 freezes up within 5 minutes in extreme cold, I taped a hand warmer to the back side of the phone to keep the battery warm and it worked. I was able to fly for 17 minutes and then as soon as the P2V battery wore down enough so flight was impossible, the cell phone finally froze and I was ready for the ultra warm bed I left inside.

Let me know what you guys think and if anyone in Canada or Alaska has flown a P2V quad in colder temps.

How is wind chill at -24 if the winds are at 0mph??

PTCX · Dec 24, 2013

Re: WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEG

race3 said:
How is wind chill at -24 if the winds are at 0mph??

I thought that odd too.Not that wind chill has any effect on a quad in any case.
Wind chill only affects living creatures that perspire,eg,humans.

Is there any video of the flight? Or was it too dark?

iResq · Dec 24, 2013

Re: WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEG

Electronics don't feel windchill, but operators do!

Qwadjok · Dec 24, 2013

Re: WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEG

Cold is cold. The weather channel said it was -24 windchill.
At this low temp it doesn't take much of anything to make it feel much colder.

Just got back in. Its warming up fast. In the time it took me to get three layers of clothes on and
my P2V warmed up the temp rose three degrees from -12 to -9 degrees. Compared to our good folks in Ely, Mn it is a heat wave.

I did get video and when I get it downloaded and edited I will post it here.
most is in the dark but I did use an Led light to brighten the outside
thermometer up and a little while in flight with far off lights.

This makes my 5th test flight below zero with no mechanical issues.

QJ

iDrone · Dec 25, 2013

Re: WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEG

Awesome record! Colin & crew should visit you to make a new DJI Phantom commercial. I'd also love to see him demonstrate a Sub-Zero Compass Dance... w/subtitles of course since we probably wouldn't be able to understand him thru three layers!

iDrone :lol:

Qwadjok · Dec 30, 2013

Re: WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEG

Ya know, it's cold again here in Minnesota but this time, I'm stayin indoors.

I was out filming all day yesterday at Buck Hill ski area when it was 48 degrees above zero and was sweatin.
At 7:00 pm last night when I was packin it in, the cold front moved on in and now at 12:02 a.m. it is -15 below.

QJ

rmb · Jan 1, 2014

Re: WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEG

Great to read your post! I am a new pilot, but very excited to fly whenever possible. I was just lamenting that I could not find any info on DJI's site on safe operating temps and as a result was not going to risk it. After reading your post I am off to fly. I am also embarrassed after reading your flight conditions as it is a balmy 22 degrees here in upstate NY.

Thanks again

dav5942 · Jan 1, 2014

Re: WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEG

New 2014 flight record, plus 82f here in FL!

Qwadjok · Jan 5, 2014

Re: BELOW ZERO WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT TONIGHT PHANTOM 2 VISION

01-05-2014: 8:30pm Central Time:

Currently, it is -17 degrees below zero outside. But to let all you cold weather pilots know if the phantom flies in cold weather, yes. Your fingers, toes and cell phone will give out before the Phantom 2 vision does.

The wind is currently 18mph from the west which is going to make it even tougher to fly and the wind chill is expected to be -51F.

Here is two screenshots of what we will be experiencing tonight and tomorrow morning and that is much worse in Northern Minnesota. :ugeek:

Q

Scottrod · Jan 5, 2014

Re: WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEG

Awesome. I was worried about flying in 5-10 degree temps here in Pennsylvania!

Qwadjok · Jan 6, 2014

Re: WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 14 MINUTES @ -21 DEG

Well, to those of you fellow Phantom 2 Vision pilots, if there was any day to test cold weather flying it was today. This beats my old record of -15 degrees.

Thermometer outside said -21 degrees while the weather station at our local airport on the PC screen said -24 with a 16 mph west wind.

Heck what's 2 or 3 degrees below zero with a wind chill over -45 below zero. Either way, it's dam cold outside.

Here's what my testing showed.

Temperature: -21 to -24 degrees Fahrenheit depending on source
Wind Speed: 14 to 16 mph do west
Time in Temp: 14 minutes

First things I noticed were right thumb tip in glove went numb.

4 layers of clothing and three hoodies and a shot of Jack Daniels.
When air-born, wind speed made hovering quite unstable but doable.
Kept losing wifi signal and satellite to Android phone which then caused video to start and stop chewing up valuable time.
Compass and GPS were calibrated before flight.
Battery seemed to drain pretty fast as soon as I started controlled flight ops.

I will work on getting the video up on here.

BenDronePilot · Jan 6, 2014

Re: WORLD RECORD PHANTOM 2 VISION FLIES 17 MINUTES @ -15 DEG

Note for those of you flying in extreme cold and using rechargeable batteries in your transmitter. Not all rechargeable are designed to work in extreme cold. Most are meant to be used in above 0 degree Fahrenheit temps. That's one of the reasons I chose Sanyo XX 2500mah eneloop batteries. Not only do they hold their charge for years if you let them remain idle. They have better longevity per charge then a standard battery and are designed to work well in sub zero temperatures. Moral of this story. If you're going out in extreme sub zero temps to be on safe side, use only regular batteries or a high performance rechargeable like the ones I got.

They're a little pricey though but worth it, I got an 8 pack of them for $30 on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008LT ... UTF8&psc=1

P.S. Without getting into the specific scientific details. You're not going to see any range difference in transmitter range when using rechargeable 1.2 volt AA's versus standard 1.5volt AA's.