Too hot to fly?

[DronePastor]

OK, admittedly I am kind of new to the whole LiPo scene. Used to NiCad or NimH types and less intimidated by the older types.

I live in Alabama where it can stay 90*F for days, sometimes weeks, on end. I hear about the LiPo batteries being heat sensitive, and thermal runaways.

My question is this. Is there a temperature that I should refrain from flying in? Is there such a thing as "too hot to fly" for a drone. . .

 

[Dustoff]

i live in texas , been 98 to 103 for the last three weeks . rey little good days to fly . i don’t fly if it’s above 90 or so but that’s just me .

 

[DronePastor]

That is kind of where I was thinking as my battery temps come back at the 140-150*F range. . .Just seemed REALLY hot to me. . .Maybe Ron or Pat can chime in and let us know from a veteran perspective

 

[PatR]

I've flown in temperatures ranging from +5*F to +107*F but the extremes have impacted flight time considerably. When flying is hot, sunny weather there's also the affects of sun and heat on a heat absorbent, black aircraft to consider. When it's hot and sunny outside it's not a bad idea to bring along a white hand towel or similar to drape over the aircraft (and the controller!) while it's sitting on the ground.

As for what the best battery temps are, please go to the provided link for a considerably better explanation and description that I would provide. The info provided is accurate and informative. Discharging at High and Low Temperatures

 

[DronePastor]

Thanks Pat. . .I'll be checking out the link

 

[FlushVision]

The temperatures in the U.K. rarely get above 30c (86F) and such temperatures, when reached, are looked upon as a heat wave. Interestingly, though, that is exactly the sort of temperatures we are currently experiencing, and have been consistently like that this last 3 weeks...unusual for the U.K.

So, this last couple of weeks I've been careful not to leave the batteries exposed to direct sunlight: covering the batteries that are waiting to be used with my field log book. I have no problem with flying any of my aircraft in such temperatures: Although I consider 30c (86F) to be uncomfortably hot, it's me that doesn't do too well in that heat...the aircraft seems to be just fine so long as I've kept the sun off the batteries before flight.

My main problem in the U.K., particularly in the North of England where I live, is the cold. Here in the Pennines we have a greater number of days where the temperature is at freezing or below than the number of days where the temperatures get past the mid 20s c.

 

[PatR]

You’d be sweating like a pedophile in front of a playground at my house right now[emoji15]. It’s been running between 94 and 104 for a couple weeks.

 

[rdonson]

Its not been much cooler here in the Carolinas. 90-96 F for few couple of weeks now although a real Canadian cold front came down yesterday with cool air and today was near bliss with temps in the low 80s and low humidity. Tomorrow we start climbing back into the 90s and I doubt we'll see much respite until October.

A heartfelt thank you to the Canadians and the polar regions.

 

[Dustoff]

You’d be sweating like a pedophile in front of a playground at my house right now[emoji15]. It’s been running between 94 and 104 for a couple weeks.

Same here , hot and windy .. dying to get some flying in but I like sitting in the ac ...

 

[FlushVision]

You’d be sweating like a pedophile in front of a playground at my house right now[emoji15]. It’s been running between 94 and 104 for a couple weeks.

Well, it's a bit cooler today so says UAV Weather Forecast. One o'clock this afternoon it says 22c (71.6F) but I gotta say that it feels a lot warmer than that coz I'm still sweating like a bloody old pig...or even a pedophile in front of a playground. BBC says it's gonna be a bit cooler tomorrow but the temps are gonna rocket up for weekend. I was going to go out with an aircraft tomorrow but I'm thinking of taking my motorbike for a spin instead while it's a bit cooler. Not ridden that for over three weeks because of the heat.

 

[DronePastor]

a pedophile in front of a playground

Now there is a vivid picture of torment. . .Just sayin.

 

[FlushVision]

Now there is a vivid picture of torment. . .Just sayin.

Probably different spelling in the U.S. but in England they are 'Paedophiles'. Not sure why because I think the american spelling is more natural.

 

[PatR]

You folks spell “color” wrong and pronounce aluminum like it’s spelled “aluminium” too[emoji56]

 

[FlushVision]

You folks spell “color” wrong and pronounce aluminum like it’s spelled “aluminium” too[emoji56]

If it's good enough for our Queen...

 

[AH-1G]

If it's good enough for our Queen...

You can't tell the queen she's wrong, or else your head becomes someones trophy, by the way, who was the Queen who had a terrible temper?

 

[PatR]

Couldn't have been any that were married to Henry VIII. Those that didn't learn early didn't last long.

 

[FlushVision]

You can't tell the queen she's wrong, or else your head becomes someones trophy, by the way, who was the Queen who had a terrible temper?

Could have been Queen Victoria but could have been a few others too. Queen Victoria was supposed to like saying things like: 'We are not amused'...she used the 'royal we' a lot. I know of one story that goes like this: Queen Victoria was supposed to have farted quite loudly in the company of others and in an effort to save face she turned to one of her footmen and said: 'Stop that Jeeves' (I'll call him Jeeves coz I've no idea what his real name was). To which he replied: 'Certainly ma'am, which way did it go?

 

[rdonson]

ROTFLMAO

 

[Eagle's Eye Video]

Could have been Queen Victoria but could have been a few others too. Queen Victoria was supposed to like saying things like: 'We are not amused'...

Are you sure that was Queen Victoria? Could have sworn that was Benny Hill...

 

[Dustoff]

Y’all still drive on the wrong side of the road ....lol