I want to know the answer to the question that no Drone Pilot wants to know the answer to! How much moisture will a flying Phantom/Drone tolerate? This is the type of question, that no one really wants to know the answer to. Think about it. If you are asking yourself this question, your probably in an emergency! In Florida, the weather changes frequently, rather abruptly at times. We were at the beach and I had my Phantom 3 Pro with me. Actually, the point of the whole excursion was to film the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas as it left Port Everglades. I've Droned many ships and the OotS is thee newest, most beautiful Cruise Ship currently running through PortMiami or Port Everglades. Maybe with the Exception of the Norwegian Escape/Getaway class of Ships. At any rate, earlier in the day, I took it up to try and shadow this parasail boat that had a nice orange and blue sail. I sat directly in the 90 degree sun as I flew towards it. 3-4 minutes into the flight the IPAD Air 2 overheated and shut down. The Drone flew back to home and I caught it about 4-5ft away from where it took off. Later in the day, there was more cloud cover, but nothing like what encountered. The video tells it all, but I'm really curious. How much moisture can a Phantom tolerate before going down. I was more than a mile and a quarter over the Atlantic Ocean when I started to feel rain. I was .8 miles away when I started to see real rain on the Drone Camera. Thankfully, the heavy stuff didn't come down until I was just of the beach, Since I had made it through such a hair-raising experience, unscathed. I even had thoughts of chasing the OotS for a quarter mile or two. Silly me, Silly day. I hand caught in an absolute downpour. I estimate that over the water it was exposed to the random drop, the stray drop for only a 1-2 minutes. As I made my way down for catching it was really coming down. in real-time, the drone was exposed to heavy rains for another minute to 90 seconds. I have a theory about how the spinning props form a type of spinning umbrella by shielding the prop axles from moisture by spinning so fast and pushing moisture outwards due to centrifugal force. How much danger was my Drone really in? How close was I to losing my extra my baby? Any thoughts? YoutTube: @Miami Drone Flights
Well, this is one of those questions there is really no answer to....except... 1. I predict you will lose one or more drones to the water and/or rain. 2. They can take more moisture that we generally think they can. It's always a matter of the odds. Maybe 1 in 5,000 flights in perfect weather with a perfectly maintained Phantom results in an unplanned landing. But add rain, moisture and heat and maybe the number is 1 in 1,000. (numbers are made up - just as an example)... It's like asking what the chances are of getting into a car accident if I drive in a blinding snowstorm. They are larger than on a perfect day - on the other hand, I have driven in that weather and never got into an accident. If your fun and photos/videos are worth the risk- then have at it! I'm not sure of the other risks in the area - I know coast guard copters fly quite low so you need to check carefully about any restrictions which could apply in the area.
In reply. I think your reasoning and your advice is spot on. Take this drone for example, it is perfectly maintained. Out of my hundreds of flights (With this Drone and with others), lets say I have 50 hours of un-disastrous flight. Covering that time and amount of flights. There have been unplanned landings, there has been prop over-rotation caused by high winds for a drone still on the ground, or just having gotten there (Tip-over), there have been near misses. The first Drone video I ever watched, had a pilot in it saying - "If your not crashing, your not flying". By shoving the battery in the back and turning it on and taking off and flying. I am explicitly accepting the risk of it crashing. Things that go up in the air, sometimes come down too fast. The base point of my question was to solicit accounts of other similar experiences and their results. And to contribute to the community the accounts of my experience. I realize that not everyone lives in Florida, that the weather patterns they experience would be and are quite different from mine. Someone in the Midwest (I don't know the general weather patterns in the Midwest \wrt Summer storms), couldn't envision taking off under similar conditions. I understand that. In the Summer, in most of Florida (Around water) a pop-up storm or rain in a place where you are not is quite common. Rain from higher altitude (less visible) clouds, Rain at night (from unseen clouds) are possible, if we think statistically, that potentially could contribute to a disaster. While not exactly the situation on that day, I think it helps pilots to be exposed to 'situations' and maybe gain some insight about how to be able to fly another day. Electronic devices do not interact well with water, I always fly in avoidance of, as everyone should. I thoroughly enjoy flying and wish to continue to do so. I have seen, with my own eyes, too many accidents. That specific area is high traffic with FTL Hollywood Airport about 2 miles away. I study all flight areas before taking off. The restriction area is 1 mile away. I keep to a strict limit below 400 in the vicinity. There are parasails and banner towing planes flying under that ceiling in the area also. Your advice is spot on and to be followed. I always follow personal flight conduct rules exactly like that. I try to govern my own conduct, even though I know that new further restrictions are on the way. Youtube: @Miami Drone Flights
I would think you would want to fly as little as possible in the rain. After all, if you think about electronics, they never appreciate any type of moisture. Please be careful as it can have a strong effect on your unit. If you can avoid flying in the rain, please do so.
