Flying in Freezing temps

I haven't flown much below +20°F, but if you start with a "warm" battery, drawing flight current (~20A) should keep the battery warm enough.

Let us know how it works for you!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stealth
I haven't flown much below +20°F, but if you start with a "warm" battery, drawing flight current (~20A) should keep the battery warm enough.

Let us know how it works for you!
I agree with you.
That is what I do when flying in zero (Celsius) temperatures: I keep the batteries warm. Then I run Solo's motors on the ground for 30-60 sec. and then fly Solo as usual. I tend to be careful and land Solo with more battery capacity left (30%). I have not noticed significantly shorter flying times.
I hope this helps.
 
I agree with you.
That is what I do when flying in zero (Celsius) temperatures: I keep the batteries warm. Then I run Solo's motors on the ground for 30-60 sec. and then fly Solo as usual. I tend to be careful and land Solo with more battery capacity left (30%). I have not noticed significantly shorter flying times.
I hope this helps.

You know, I'm kind of new but that seems to be the best way to handle Solo in all conditions. Just take it easy. Realize the limitations of the equipment and operate from there. Just my two cents.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stealth
I just got my Solo this past summer. I have not flown in temps below freezing. I'd like to fly today and the temp is not supposed to be above 33°. Has anyone had bad experiences in cold temps? Or am I good to go?
Thanks for any input

I have had a crash in the winter. I live in Canada. So dont do this: Install battery in quad, go outside turn on and fly as soon as gps locked.
DO THIS: put quad outside for 5-10min let the quad acclimatize, this is due to the fact there is a barometer in PXhawk. It determines your height. It will get out of wack if it goes from warm to cold too fast. Mine crashed basically lost altitude and dropped like a rock.

In the cold I let it hover for 1 min, preform stick function checks in all directions at about 15' in the air. Then carry on, after that I have NEVER had a problem. But yes keep your batteries warm. Dont let them freeze.
 
Also keep tabs on your phone\tablet battery. I was flying last winter, and during landing my 3rd battery my phone shut down due to cold. App was gone, landed with sticks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jarrettc24
Wish I could get up there and take video in the winter but I think -37F is pushing it, just wandering whats like the lowest temperature I could fly in without damaging it.
 
It was only -3 where I live today and I had all sorts of problems. First it took forever to get a GPS lock, second before takeoff I had to recalibrate the drone even though it was on level ground, also my drone almost fell out of the sky before it regained level even when I wasn't even touching the sticks just hovering, then to top things off my phone went from about 85 percent to shutting down out of nowhere.. thank God it was in sight to fly manually because return home was not working. Scared the pants right off of me
 
I took it out in -20 below for like a minute just to make sure it worked because I hadn't flown it before, I hope that's what not always happens because then I can't fly till summer.
 
I am also interested in limiting temperature flight for my dronie 4Pro. -5 for -26 С?
The manufacturer declares the temperature to -0.
But I went out with him on the street and at -10. We now have a -20. So much snow, I want to shoot, but dread.
 
According to 3dr instruction manual solo operating minimum temp is 32 farenhieght....technically operating below the minimum would void warranty.
 
According to 3dr instruction manual solo operating minimum temp is 32 farenhieght....technically operating below the minimum would void warranty.
It would void your warranty just in case you crash flying in sub zero (oC) temperatures.
The battery specs read: "Discharging operating temp: -20C ~ 60C".
 
Yeah I've been flying at about 0 - 5 f, but the temperature dropped down to -19 F below, so I'm grounded for awhile.
 
Yeah I've been flying at about 0 - 5 f, but the temperature dropped down to -19 F below, so I'm grounded for awhile.
I've flown the Solo in -20 F. Regularly flown it in -10 F temps.

Like others have said, the key is to leave the Solo out in the cold for a long time before trying to fly. If you take it from a warm place to the cold, condensation frost forms in the barometer. So you need to let it aclimate to the cold for at least 10 minutes to prevent that. Meantime, keep batteries inside and toasty warm right until you take off. I find that keeping a battery in a jacket pocket isn't reliable. When snow showing I pack the hand warmers all around my batteries. Once it's been flying for a minute, the battery will warm itself.

For the I phone I stick hand warmers onto the back to keep it warm. Considered doing the same with the controller, but I've never actually done that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stealth
Flew in salt lake last week. 7-20 degrees. Only issue was go pro wouldn't turn off and ran out of battery. First flight I left the bird sit in the cold. Next 5 flights I walked outside and waited for gps lock. That took about 5 min each time. Only problem was antenna lost signal. My bird takes easily a couple of minutes even with the piece of card board. Kept batteries in the trunk and bird in the car while traveling.
 
No problems with mine down to 15F so far, will be -15F here in the next few days so I may do a short hop or two. Flew yesterday in freezing rain. That is definitely not recommended....the props ice up fairly fast and you will lose lift and pick up vibration. With no change in power Solo was slowly descending due to iced props! It was a short flight! Before you jump all over me for being an idiot, I knew all that would happen, just seeing what it could do in a controlled environment if something went wrong. This will likely be an issue around the freezing mark in high moisture scenarios (around water, fog, etc) not necessarily falling precip so caution would be advised. The Gopro is protected from snow and freezing rain from the props themselves blowing things away.

The only issues I've had in the cold is the gimbal itself. It will pick up vibrations due to everything becoming stiffer, the rubber isolation balls get very stiff. The gimbals will also have a tendency to tilt at random times. I do leave mine sitting in the cold for 5 to 10 minutes before installing the battery. If I didn't fly in the cold I would be watching my Solo's collect dust all winter! Been flying RC in the cold for years, the same precautions apply here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hubisz

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
13,093
Messages
147,741
Members
16,048
Latest member
ihatethatihavetomakeanacc