Drone Accessories - Winter Edition

Drone Accessories - Winter Edition

Flying your drone during the winter months can present several challenges. Proper preparation of your equipment, a solid understanding of flight conditions, and the use of appropriate accessories are all essential for ensuring a safe flight and capturing high-quality content.

Before flying in colder climates, you should consider the following:

Does your drone meet the right specifications? 

• It should have an IP rating of at least IP43. This ensures you can land the drone safely and quickly if the weather is unpredictable.

• Your drone should have multiple redundant systems including batteries and flight control units (FCU). This reduces the risk of a single point of failure causing the drone to crash.

• Your drone should be fitted with high-visibility LED lighting or a beacon. This allows you to easily keep sight of your drone in bad weather or when the light begins to fail.

This Season’s Must-Have Accessories

• Spare (LiPo) batteries 

Batteries generally perform poorly in cold weather conditions. To avoid short flight times and restricted time filming, bring spare batteries with you. 

• Warm jacket or thermal bag

Keeping your LiPo batteries warm will do the world of good when filming in colder climates. Similarly, warming the drone's motors for a few seconds before takeoff to help warm the battery.

• Landing pads 

To avoid unwanted contact with moisture or snow, use a landing pad to take off and land. 

• Propeller guards

Propeller guards are useful in cold weather to prevent damage from small impacts and to keep snow and ice from accumulating on the blades.

• DJI Flight App or similar 

Flight apps help you to plan for shorter distances. The drone may not travel as far or return as quickly in cold weather. Cold conditions may also reduce your range and signal stability.

When Not to Fly

• When you feel your own safety is at risk (above all else)

• Avoid flying in snow, hail, heavy winds, rain, or fog.

• Do not fly in temperatures below 0ºC.

• Monitor temperature and stop flying if it drops below 0ºC.

• Ensure a strong GPS signal; avoid ATTI mode, as sudden wind gusts can be challenging.

Stay Protected

Make sure you have the correct level of protection and insurance coverage in place should something happen when flying your drone in the winter months. Our recommended insurer is Coverdrone.