Coldest temperature you've ever flown in?
Winter's coming here in Quebec Canada and I'll get my drone back soon.
Lots of beautiful footage to be had during our snowy winters.
What's the coldest temperature you've ever flown a DJI Phantom in?

Mayhem,

I've flown my P2 & P3P's in about 20F, I don't do it too often. I do fly quite a bit around the 32F and above mark. It gets pretty cold here in South Dakota but I don't like pushing it. The key for me has been to keep my batteries, birds and gear at room temperature just prior to flying. I'll usually put my bird out 5 minutes or so before I take off (without the battery) just to get it acclimated. When I'm ready to go I just slap the battery in and fire it up. I always hover around a bit for a few minutes before I make a run just to warm everything up and make sure all appears good.

Jerry

The aircraft's good to go around freezing point or less, but make sure the batteries are kept warm before using them, or they are likely to want to shut down to protect themselves.  The app will give you a warning, which you absolutely must obey.  The battery temperature returned is the temperature on the outside skin of the battery, so the core could be hotter or colder.  Don't take the reported temperature as an absolute.  The best thing is to use a battery heater, or keep the battery on your body to bring it up to operating temperature prior to flight, and allow the heat to stabilize throughout the whole battery.

many flights in 5 to 30 f over 2 winters

1 or 2 under 0F for short durartion...

the phantom was NOT the issue on these flights
it was the fingers!
be careful though everything gets more brittle and batteries don't last as long
nor do they have as much reserve energy, for fighting wind and high speed etc.

IMPORTANT;;keep the batteries as warm as you if possible

good luck and have fun flying

Thanks guys.
Hoping for a mild winter with lots of flying

I live in a tropical country so it will be 30°C

RYdronie Posted at 2016-10-31 10:00
I live in a tropical country so it will be 30°C

As Kirk says- After 5-10 minutes I can't feel my fingers!  I flew this morning, its 3 degrees here, which is what, 30 odd farenhiet, So, I guess about 10 minutes is my limit, wearing gloves just take all my feel/control away.
After I warmed my hands in the car, using 2nd battery I got a Batt. warning at approx. 10 minutes.
I;ve decided I don't enjoy flying in the cold.
Just looking at the weeks weather, calling for 20 degrees on Wed. that's more like it! (70 Farenhiet!)

my coldest flight with the p3p was -7c & -10c with p1

RYdronie Posted at 2016-10-31 10:00
I live in a tropical country so it will be 30°C

Just curious does that feel cold to anyone in Malaysia?

r.powell@rogers Posted at 2016-10-31 11:26
As Kirk says- After 5-10 minutes I can't feel my fingers!  I flew this morning, its 3 degrees here ...

Yah  I hear ya, fingers, coldness and controls always a problem in the winter.
Need to find gloves that keep my hands warm but allow me fine control of the bird

Flew in -9C yesterday with snow.
Wind was blowing over the river and getting snow crystals into the sticks, they were getting crunchy so I had to stop

MaYhEm sMiLeY Posted at 2017-1-1 06:06
Flew in -9C yesterday with snow.
Wind was blowing over the river and getting snow crystals into the sticks, they were getting crunchy so I had to stop

Happy New Year All!
Sun is out , its blindingly bright! which is a nice switch from blinding snow
0 degrees, 15-25 mph gusts, gotta get out flying today, as weather tomorrow says -10 with another 1' or so of snow & then to freezing rain!
Maybe just the one battery today or as long as I can feel the fingers!

fans987d278a Posted at 2017-1-1 09:38
Happy New Year All!
Sun is out , its blindingly bright! which is a nice switch from blinding snow
0 degrees, 15-25 mph gusts, gotta get out flying today, as weather tomorrow says -10 with another 1' or so of snow & then to freezing rain!

I'll be out this afternoon too with multiple drones and batteries, going to get as much in as possible then back to work tomorrow hehehe
Happy New Year and fun flying.
Where from in Canada? Montreal Quebec here

MaYhEm sMiLeY Posted at 2017-1-1 09:43
I'll be out this afternoon too with multiple drones and batteries, going to get as much in as possible then back to work tomorrow hehehe
Happy New Year and fun flying.
Where from in Canada? Montreal Quebec here

I recently completed this project in Northern Wisconsin.  Air temp was 10 degrees F with 15-20 mph winds.  The key is really warming batteries before your flight, watching your voltages closely and keeping your hands as warm as you can!   This was shot with my P3A upgraded to Pro camera/hardware.

AerialZ Posted at 2017-1-1 10:07
I recently completed this project in Northern Wisconsin.  Air temp was 10 degrees F with 15-20 mph winds.  The key is really warming batteries before your flight, watching your voltages closely and keeping your hands as warm as you can!   This was shot with my P3A upgraded to Pro camera/hardware.

https://youtu.be/qBE3AnUHX8k

Wow really nice job.
Thanks for sharing.

- 23 C or -9.4 F was the coldest that I have flown , no issues beside my fingers getting cold ..

Total Posted at 2017-1-1 19:24
- 23 C or -9.4 F was the coldest that I have flown , no issues beside my fingers getting cold ..

Near Toronto, Ontario, great flight yesterday, over an abandoned railway station, got 2 foxes playing in railway yard, videoed them for about 4-5 minutes, til I got Litchi girl- Low battery warning, land now, low battery, okay , okay I;m landing!
I landed shut everything off, i'd forgotten to stop video! No trace of anything on my card!
I;ve read that you may be able to save video by starting up again & this may re-do video, but, I couldn't connect,RC to bird, tried multiple times,  first time ever.

I recently couldn't take off, because the battery temperature was only +14°C (must be +15°C to be able to start motors). I went inside for a minute and +15°C was reached almost instantly.
After taking off outside the next warning was to get the battery temperature to at least +25°C for a safe flight. So I made some nearby "traffic patterns" before climbing to altitude and cruising...

I started thinking about actual operational temperatures and came to the following conclusion, after noticing that the battery's temperature (inside the Phantom 3) rises about 30°C during normal flight operation:
the actual safe air temperature range must be between -5°C and +40°C. Adding 30°C in flight leads to operational battery temperatures of between +25°C and +70°C (the latter is stated by DJI as max. battery operational temperature, IIRC).
So you could fly with air temperatures of -15°C with a battery working at +15°C inside the Phantom, although you are 10°C below the recommended in flight minimum.
EDIT: (I do not recommend it though. My coldest air temperature was -5°C (high humidity and windy) and my fingers got so cold after those approx. 15 minutes flight time, that it became really difficult to land safely and painful when the fingers came "back to life"...)
Flying "in the desert" (or generally on a very hot day) will be getting dangerous above 40°C air temperature, because your battery will heat up beyond the specified +70°C maximum. The hottest day I flew in was just +35°C, but I did not check the battery's temperature. (This was an Inspire 1 which has by design a battery cooling pro in summer and a battery "freezing" con in winter...)

Just a little footage from my day yesterday, was a great day

fans987d278a Posted at 2017-1-2 08:57
Near Toronto, Ontario, great flight yesterday, over an abandoned railway station, got 2 foxes playing in railway yard, videoed them for about 4-5 minutes, til I got Litchi girl- Low battery warning, land now, low battery, okay , okay I;m landing!
I landed shut everything off, i'd forgotten to stop video! No trace of anything on my card!
I;ve read that you may be able to save video by starting up again & this may re-do video, but, I couldn't connect,RC to bird, tried multiple times,  first time ever.

Man video of those foxes playing would be so sweet. What a fantastic day out yesterday here in Montreal too. Got chased off some private property yesterday, old burned out farmhouse. Some crazy dude went nutz, didn't stick around, gotta protect my P3 from the crazies. Think I'll stay off the private property.

vr-pilot Posted at 2017-1-2 09:40
I recently couldn't take off, because the battery temperature was only +14°C (must be +15°C to be able to start motors). I went inside for a minute and +15°C was reached almost instantly.
After taking off outside the next warning was to get the battery temperature to at least +25°C for a safe flight. So I made some nearby "traffic patterns" before climbing to altitude and cruising...

I put rice in ziplock bag and nuke for 20 seconds then put in a thermal lunch bag.
Transport the batteries in the lunch bag then transfer the batteries to my hoodie pockets under my down jacket.
I put those hot pouch thingies inside my gloves so that my fingers last longer in the thin gloves that I wear, wear thin gloves for better stick control.

Man I hate it when my electronics outright lie to my face.
My work phone says it's -19C, my personal phone says it's -16C and when I get to my car it will tell me something completely different
It's a cold one out there today, no winds though, so I'll be experimenting with a new idea that I have to try to keep my hands warm without losing too much stick sensitivity.
Don't worry it won't be as crazy as the drone sweater

-18F (yes, F) a couple days ago.  Had some instability in the gimbal, but was otherwise fine.

Today was the coldest I've flown and it was about 19F.  I just flew int he front yard so was able to make sure my batteries were fully charge and just took everything outside and started it right up.  It took a little longer it felt than warmer temps for it to do its automatic 'warm up' mode.  But after that it flew like a dream.  Feels like the battery drains a little faster.  I landed early because my fingers were so cold.  I'm currently dealing with a shaky gimbal I'm having to figure out how to resolve.  Cleaned around the grommets and added some loose zipe ties for added security on the loose holes.  Hopefully those couple little things will help out and my video won't be shaky tomorrow.  I'm uploading a little clip to YT right now showing the shaky video and some color grading I was working on.

But to put it short, today flying in 19F was the coldest I've flown in so far.

-6 degrees C even warming the batteries up in the house first to 20 degrees C it took ages for you P3P to warm up and be ready for flight. Even then the warning that the battery was under 25 degrees C popped up,for the first 10 minutes. Flew great though as always

Bhujang Posted at 2017-1-7 23:30
-6 degrees C even warming the batteries up in the house first to 20 degrees C it took ages for you P3P to warm up and be ready for flight. Even then the warning that the battery was under 25 degrees C popped up,for the first 10 minutes. Flew gretavthough as always

LOL I am so with you, feels like forever for it to come out of the warm up and say ready for flight hehehe
Thanks for posting guys. Having the time of my life these days, money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a Phantom and take you to paradise

The heater in the IMU has to come up to the temperature it was when you did the last IMU calibration.  That's why you want to do a cold calibrate.  Yes, there is shorter life when the battery is cold.  Yes, you should use less throttle when the battery is cold.  If you don't, you'll get a reduction in power from the software.  Fly gently, and always keep your battery warm until you fly.  Use small stick movements until the battery gets plenty warm.

When you want to fly, but don't want your feet to get cold you use painters tape.

Hot toes

Was so worth it, what a weekend, cold but beautiful.

Kite skier

Sorry guys,Screwed up and cannot figure how I managed to post a picture before zoinks
Getting old.