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Don't fly a Phantom in below freezing weather

Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 11:26 am
by rdonnay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y77Fl93jR4

It was Christmas Day, 2015.
I already had several successful flights even up to 300 ft altitude.
It performed well.
Then on this flight, the camera lense became frosted over and one of the motors suddenly stopped.
Luckily, nothing was broken when it crash landed.

After warming up, the motor started working again.

Re: Don't fly a Phantom in below freezing weather

Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:15 am
by Tom
The specs say, operation temperature should be between 0 and 40 degrees celsius. Unfortunately, it's colder in winter. ;) I bought a battery heater, but flying below minus 4 or 5 (celsius) is a risk. And it's getting colder the higher it flies. Don't do that.

Re: Don't fly a Phantom in below freezing weather

Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2015 4:40 am
by rdonnay
Most of the discussion about flying in cold weather relates to the battery. It was warm and had a full charge. It still had 70 % when it failed. I think the problem was related to condensation after being in the warm house. It was a nice learning experience at no cost.