Do you fly in the snow?

Kilby

Active Member
While I would never consider flying in the rain, with winter upon us the question has came up around our house if I could fly in light snow. Aside from the obvious issue of getting moisture in the electronic bits, I was wondering if there are any other restrictions to keep you from flying in the snow.

Do you/have you ever flown during a light snow fall? What was your experience like if so.

-Terry
 

dolby

Needs more bacon!
Yep I fly in the snow all the time, you get some neat video although it does screw with auto focus a little. Obviously you want to keep the electronics covered the best you can. Your battery might not last as long depending on how cold it is. I had my batteries in the car for 30min when it was 9 degrees and they only lasted 30sec. Keep the batteries in the house or some place normal temp until your ready to fly. You might want to keep an eye on motors and make sure the bearings are kept nicely oiled.
 
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Jake Bullit

Fly,crash,glue,repeat!
I would recommend keeping you equipment somewhere cold for an hour before venturing out.If you take it out of a warm house straight into cold temps condensation will be a problem.
 

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
I would recommend keeping you equipment somewhere cold for an hour before venturing out.If you take it out of a warm house straight into cold temps condensation will be a problem.

Good advice, I was doing a little night flying two days ago with the latest incarnation of my Naza APV quad, ambient temps in the mid 20s F. Flew fine, biggest problem was keeping my hands warm enough that my fingers didn't stiffen up. As soon as I brought the quad back into the house it was immediately covered in a thin layer of condensation from the more humid air in the house so it can be a real problem with electronics that are more sensitive to moisture like MK.

Snowing here at the moment, at some point I'll stick a GoPro on something and go fly around a bit in the snow, should make for some interesting video.

Ken
 

Macsgrafs

Active Member
Hi Tewrry, I love flyign in the snow, as long as its stopped or only falling lightly... they do tend to give orientation problems in heavy snow!!! You will enjoy the experience of that I'm sure.

Ross
 

dolby

Needs more bacon!
Going from warm to cold I dont really have any condensation problems. Its going from cold to warm but I just unplug the copter before I bring it back inside. If you have some bright LED's on your copter heavy snow isnt too bad.
 

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