Coming from Canada, one thing I recommend is to have a game plan in mind before taking off. Go to the spot you want to shoot and scout it out before you take your drone out of the bag to fly, so that you can minimize your flight time and reduce risk of damage to batteries or props while still getting the shots you want. If you fly around aimlessly you will waste precious time especially in freezing cold weather. I had my mini 2 out in -8 weather yesterday over an ice covered river but the shots were 100% worth it as I got some sunset and late evening shots with the ice and snow
From Canada also. I don't know if you mentioned it Matthew but obviously you need to keep a much closer eye on your battery life and RTH settings. The battery could show adequate charge but drop considerably within a very short period of time. Also the temperature and conditions at a couple of hundred feet up could be quite different than at ground level. Thanks for your videos.
Thanks for your comment and valuable information. I did mention the battery life in the video, something that needs to be kept an eye on in cold conditions.
I live in the Scottish highlands and at present we are covered in snow but not flown due to temperature not getting above -2 and irregular outbreaks, so when I see the footage people are doing while snowing it makes me think how many recreational flyers have not done there home work, perhaps A2CofC should be a must have if you are piloting a drone. People don’t take into consideration the temperature drops the higher you go. 👍
One tip to keep your batteries warmer in winter is simple. Most coats have an inner pocket for cell phones that is against your body. You may want to put the battery in a little baggy so you do not get dust, lint or other items in between the contacts. This is a great place to carry a battery before takeoff to keep it fairly warm. 35 years ago circuit boards were not really coated and in a humid environment they would collect dust and the humidity would accumulate in the dust and start causing intermittent shorts. That was decades ago. As far as moisture in the drone, all circuit boards these days are covered and pretty waterproof. The issue is getting water on the contacts between the circuit board and battery connections. You could end up with a short, having a higher voltage going across a circuit designed for a lower voltage and this could fry components on your circuit board and kill the drone. If you get any moisture in your drone, land immediately and remove the battery. Removing the battery will drastically minimize any damage if no damage has occurred at that point. As far as rotor icing in winter, ice can be formed at higher temperatures or lower temperatures depending on an increase or decrease in the air pressure. If people look up Bernoulli's principle, it explains how rotors and wings produce lift. The leading edge of the rotor creates a higher pressure, and as the high pressure air passes over the sloping and trailing edge of the rotor, it creates a negative pressure which vacuums the rotor upwards providing lift. I think I got that right...but that is part of the reason you can have ice build up when you're above freezing temperatures. Also, just because the weather is warm enough in the day for flying doesn't mean the temperature will not plummet drastically as the sun sets and push you down into below freezing temperatures.
I live in Colorado inside a class d airspace and just got my mini 2. I honestly prefer having more difficult conditions to operate in. Its like a trial by fire. Its really helping trying to transfer over to part 107 now that I already am doing LAANC.
I put my batteries in a heavy winter sock and put hand warms on the outside of the sock and place in my backpack. Wipe your props with deicing that you put on ski bindings from ice forming on props.
Another tip might be to carry one or 2 of those inexpensive hand warmers and activate them and place near to the batteries in your bag (keeping them warm)…another 2 would be handy for your own hands…I used photography gloves (you can release your main fingers and thumbs) when out shooting my last video on my JH2020 channel…it was sunny but freezing 🥶
@@TheDroneCreative : Thank you Matthew…forgot to mention, you make great videos…I have been a subscribed viewer for a while now and always enjoy your content 👍🏻
@@Andy.Bennett : Hi Andy…I’m not familiar with that type…I haven’t had to use the ones I have but they are a clear gel type and seem to be well sealed…always have to be careful of course 👍🏻
Make sure you have some sort of buffer on the heater, direct contact will get too warm. I found an old airsoft pouch for mags and the batteries fit perfectly.
A good tip is also to make sure you give your camera time to acclimatize before starting filming, especially going from a warm house or car to the cold outside. The lens and any filter will most likely fog up initially and take time to sort itself, so make sure any moisture and fogging is removed before flying off to film
Usually fogging up happens when you go from the cold into a warmer environment. In the Canadian winter at least, in my experience. Our winters are cold and very dry so it may be different in more humid areas. I put the drone in an inside pocket of my parka to keep it warm.
@@paulsoftley8170 Very true, but sometimes moisture gets trapped between the filter and the lens that might otherwise go unnoticed. Sadly our winters here in Scotland might be cold at times, but normally very wet too
hey Mattheww, so I flew my drone for the very first time yesterday and it was O degrees fahrenheit, recommended flight temps are 34F-104F. I warmed the battery up before I took off and it flew great. I only flew for about 10 minutes but when I landed my drone was actually still pretty warm. Tomorrow is going to be 33 out I cannot wait to fly it.
@@TheDroneCreative I did!! Even being a rookie, I'm a quick learner. This thing shoots so nice right out of the box! Also took a video of our shop today and uploaded it on TH-cam. I flew it and landed it out my car sunroof. I'm having a ton of fun with it.
Good reminders that we all forget tbh! I used my mavic 2 pro the other day and it was about 3 degrees, however think the wind chill made it alot worse. I always seem to have problems with the 3 batteries expanding,, for my mavic 2 pro and difficult to remove them, whether it is summer or winter! Is this just me or a design fault with this drone that does not allow for expansion? Interested to hear any similar stories from dronies on here ;-)
Does wind chill factor need to be taken into account when air temperature is 0°C and thus within DJI specifications? Also the higher you fly the lower the temperature.
Wind chill only affects creatures- it’s the concept that wind steals energy from warm skin. Because a drone has a cold plastic exterior they aren’t really affected
Great stuff as always! I was expecting to do some cold weather flying while in Iowa over the holidays but it was strangely warm in the 50's (f) . I went ahead and filmed a bunch of brown sticks, and the river that is normally at least partially frozen: th-cam.com/video/PHUuFvwrWlo/w-d-xo.html I saw one guy do a video and he sits in his car and launches the drone using his sunroof as a landing pad when it is cold. I guess if you can drive to where you are flying from that's ok but I've had issues with satellite acquisition when too close to the car.
Coming from Canada, one thing I recommend is to have a game plan in mind before taking off. Go to the spot you want to shoot and scout it out before you take your drone out of the bag to fly, so that you can minimize your flight time and reduce risk of damage to batteries or props while still getting the shots you want.
If you fly around aimlessly you will waste precious time especially in freezing cold weather. I had my mini 2 out in -8 weather yesterday over an ice covered river but the shots were 100% worth it as I got some sunset and late evening shots with the ice and snow
Great advice! I bet them shots looked incredible! Thanks for watching, appreciate it.
Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and experience, it’s a very big help for a beginner like me.
Happy to help, thank you for taking the time to watch - it means a lot.
From Canada also. I don't know if you mentioned it Matthew but obviously you need to keep a much closer eye on your battery life and RTH settings. The battery could show adequate charge but drop considerably within a very short period of time. Also the temperature and conditions at a couple of hundred feet up could be quite different than at ground level. Thanks for your videos.
Thanks for your comment and valuable information. I did mention the battery life in the video, something that needs to be kept an eye on in cold conditions.
I live in the Scottish highlands and at present we are covered in snow but not flown due to temperature not getting above -2 and irregular outbreaks, so when I see the footage people are doing while snowing it makes me think how many recreational flyers have not done there home work, perhaps A2CofC should be a must have if you are piloting a drone. People don’t take into consideration the temperature drops the higher you go. 👍
I think one of the most valuable parts of the A2 C of C is understanding the weather and your drone! Thanks for the comment, appreciate it.
This winter will be my 1st trying to get some waterfall footage with snow ❄️ I will keep these tips in mind
Shout out from Northern Ontario.
Excellent Video On Flying In Snow And Cold Weather Mattheww! Thank You!
Always quality videos! what camera do you use to stream ?
Thank you! Sony A6400. Thanks for watching.
One tip to keep your batteries warmer in winter is simple. Most coats have an inner pocket for cell phones that is against your body. You may want to put the battery in a little baggy so you do not get dust, lint or other items in between the contacts. This is a great place to carry a battery before takeoff to keep it fairly warm. 35 years ago circuit boards were not really coated and in a humid environment they would collect dust and the humidity would accumulate in the dust and start causing intermittent shorts. That was decades ago. As far as moisture in the drone, all circuit boards these days are covered and pretty waterproof. The issue is getting water on the contacts between the circuit board and battery connections. You could end up with a short, having a higher voltage going across a circuit designed for a lower voltage and this could fry components on your circuit board and kill the drone. If you get any moisture in your drone, land immediately and remove the battery. Removing the battery will drastically minimize any damage if no damage has occurred at that point. As far as rotor icing in winter, ice can be formed at higher temperatures or lower temperatures depending on an increase or decrease in the air pressure. If people look up Bernoulli's principle, it explains how rotors and wings produce lift. The leading edge of the rotor creates a higher pressure, and as the high pressure air passes over the sloping and trailing edge of the rotor, it creates a negative pressure which vacuums the rotor upwards providing lift. I think I got that right...but that is part of the reason you can have ice build up when you're above freezing temperatures. Also, just because the weather is warm enough in the day for flying doesn't mean the temperature will not plummet drastically as the sun sets and push you down into below freezing temperatures.
I live in Colorado inside a class d airspace and just got my mini 2. I honestly prefer having more difficult conditions to operate in. Its like a trial by fire. Its really helping trying to transfer over to part 107 now that I already am doing LAANC.
I put my batteries in a heavy winter sock and put hand warms on the outside of the sock and place in my backpack. Wipe your props with deicing that you put on ski bindings from ice forming on props.
Excellent tips. Flyers should always the wind conditions on apps like UAV forecast or Tomorrow io before flying.
Thanks for your kind feedback. I will have to try out the Tomorrow app.
All such basic advices, but a lot of ppl forget about the basics after the nice hot summer.
Thank you for the reminder =)
Couldn't agree more - have fun flying! Thanks for watching.
What if you fly your drone in the cold... then when you are done put it in your car, etc. Won't condensation build up under the canopy??
Another tip might be to carry one or 2 of those inexpensive hand warmers and activate them and place near to the batteries in your bag (keeping them warm)…another 2 would be handy for your own hands…I used photography gloves (you can release your main fingers and thumbs) when out shooting my last video on my JH2020 channel…it was sunny but freezing 🥶
That's a great piece of advice about warming the batteries! Thanks for watching - appreciate it.
Be careful with those, they love to leak their black powder all over the place if you’re not careful
@@TheDroneCreative : Thank you Matthew…forgot to mention, you make great videos…I have been a subscribed viewer for a while now and always enjoy your content 👍🏻
@@Andy.Bennett : Hi Andy…I’m not familiar with that type…I haven’t had to use the ones I have but they are a clear gel type and seem to be well sealed…always have to be careful of course 👍🏻
Make sure you have some sort of buffer on the heater, direct contact will get too warm. I found an old airsoft pouch for mags and the batteries fit perfectly.
A good tip is also to make sure you give your camera time to acclimatize before starting filming, especially going from a warm house or car to the cold outside. The lens and any filter will most likely fog up initially and take time to sort itself, so make sure any moisture and fogging is removed before flying off to film
Great advice - haven't had this happen with my drone yet, but happens a fair bit with my main camera. Thanks for sharing!
Usually fogging up happens when you go from the cold into a warmer environment. In the Canadian winter at least, in my experience. Our winters are cold and very dry so it may be different in more humid areas. I put the drone in an inside pocket of my parka to keep it warm.
@@paulsoftley8170 Very true, but sometimes moisture gets trapped between the filter and the lens that might otherwise go unnoticed. Sadly our winters here in Scotland might be cold at times, but normally very wet too
hey Mattheww, so I flew my drone for the very first time yesterday and it was O degrees fahrenheit, recommended flight temps are 34F-104F. I warmed the battery up before I took off and it flew great. I only flew for about 10 minutes but when I landed my drone was actually still pretty warm. Tomorrow is going to be 33 out I cannot wait to fly it.
I bet you got some awesome shots! Thanks for the comment.
@@TheDroneCreative I did!! Even being a rookie, I'm a quick learner. This thing shoots so nice right out of the box! Also took a video of our shop today and uploaded it on TH-cam. I flew it and landed it out my car sunroof. I'm having a ton of fun with it.
Expect to have less battery life I use an rechargeable electric hand warmer. Keeps hands warm keeps batteries warm
you are the best!
Great and very helpful video Mattheww!
Thanks for watching, appreciate it.
Good reminders that we all forget tbh! I used my mavic 2 pro the other day and it was about 3 degrees, however think the wind chill made it alot worse. I always seem to have problems with the 3 batteries expanding,, for my mavic 2 pro and difficult to remove them, whether it is summer or winter! Is this just me or a design fault with this drone that does not allow for expansion? Interested to hear any similar stories from dronies on here ;-)
Does wind chill factor need to be taken into account when air temperature is 0°C and thus within DJI specifications? Also the higher you fly the lower the temperature.
Wind chill only affects creatures- it’s the concept that wind steals energy from warm skin. Because a drone has a cold plastic exterior they aren’t really affected
all for beginners
Great stuff as always! I was expecting to do some cold weather flying while in Iowa over the holidays but it was strangely warm in the 50's (f) . I went ahead and filmed a bunch of brown sticks, and the river that is normally at least partially frozen: th-cam.com/video/PHUuFvwrWlo/w-d-xo.html
I saw one guy do a video and he sits in his car and launches the drone using his sunroof as a landing pad when it is cold. I guess if you can drive to where you are flying from that's ok but I've had issues with satellite acquisition when too close to the car.
1st like
Flew my mini 2 in -6f 4500 feet out recording bowhead whales