FlyingFish82
First Officer
Flight distance : 3662503 ft
United States
Offline
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Winter is such an amazing time to travel and explore despite the cold and harsh conditions. Snow covered landscapes are so eye catching to me. every time I travel to colder weather locations I am always thinking about the cool shots I will be able to take. Flying drones and operating any other battery powered gadget on COLD frigid temps brings some difficulties. Below are some steps I take when I prepare myself to capture aerial shots on cold morning shoots when I travel.
1.Fully charge batteries:the night before i want to go shoot, I charge at least 4 batteries fully. colder weather and higher altitudes tend to drain batteries the quickest. the same goes for charging the tablet/phone or device that will be used as a monitor for flying (if not part of the remote)
2.Check weather beforehad: it is a given that it will be cold, but you want to make sure the wind is not too strong and it is not snowing very hard as the drone will get wet when snowflakes melt and could cause issues if it is not water resistant. Stronger winds will also reduce your air time as the drone will have to work harder to keep up, increasing the chances of something foing wrong.
3. Keep batteries warm: I use hand warmers and put them inside the bag or pockets where im carrying my drone and extra batteries. This helps maintain the batteries warm and reduce the loss of charge due to cold weather.
4. Warm up the engines: fire up the drone and let the motors warm up by gently giving it some throtle. This will warm up the system and improve the energy transfer from batteries to circuits and motors.
5. Quick systems check: I take of to about 3 ft and test the controls to make sure they are all working properly for about a minute. If all seems to be working fine I raise altitude slowly avoiding full thortle power. Always remember to monitor your battery life as flight time will be reduced due to temp and depending on altitude (Higher altitudes require the motors to spin quicker to maintain lift as the air is thinner)
Hope you find these tips useful and enjoy a couple shots i took while traveling to Lake Tahoe CA , Copper Mtn. CO and Cottonwood Canyon UT. Cheers and Fly Safe!
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