anyone attempt this ?


what if its just drizzling ..is it still a no no ??


what would your engine do if you got a few drops of water in the carb..would it stall out ?
Felix

Are you kidding? Just get a plastic bag to cover your radio (with the antenna sticking out) and go for it. Won't let a little rain spoil a flying day!

Hi Felix, There can be some problems by flying in the rain.............so it is not exactly an "are you kidding?"type response. As the other gentleman said, make SURE your transmitter is covered. MAKE SURE there is no lightning in the area before you step out in the open with that lightning rod in your hands. I would fly in a light drizzle but that is about it. I saw a young man have RX problems after a flight in fairly heavy "drizzle". He got the plane down, but his LT-25 does not have a good seal
above the windshield at the wing. Moisture got in and got his RX wet, he could not fly again that day because of problems. So, YES you can....... but follow some common sense restrictions.......lownslo......

PS..... as an edited footnote....... At the Internet Fly In last year, the weather was good for the main show Sat and most of Sun. But late Fri afternoon it was a constant rain.....light to medium. (I'm sure some will remember [] ) Anyway..... there were some VERY big and expensive planes being flown in that rain. I was amazed !!!

LOL... right right... make sure you should be out there at all!

My advice is: don't!

Usually you will encounter no problems but they you can't take it for granted.
A couple of years ago I was flying in in light rain after putting my Tx in a plastic bag. When taxiing out for a flight the radio simply ceased operating. I couldn't see any water on the Tx but apparently some moisture had found its way into the radio, causing it to malfunction. After leaving the TX inside my house for a couple of hours everything was back to normal.
After that incident I avoid flying in the rain.

/Red B.

I've flown in reain, snow , sleet, freezing rain, fog...... If you can take it, your model can.

That TX that failed for a bit: Send it in for service NOW! you have some sort of intermittant failure and it will come back to bite you. If it was shorted by water enough to quit working... it wouldn't have recovered on its own, it would have needed parts.

Isn't rain water non-conductive because there's no minerals in it? Unless you live in a highly poluted area where the rain can pickup crap on the way down.

You'd think so, but in reality, no, it always seems to collect just enough dirt, pollen, whatever from the air in the clouds or on the way down. Certainly, I wouldn't count on it.

Along a simular vein, I've seen TX's let the smoke out after being taken out of an air conditioned car and switched on. The TX was cold, the air was hot and humid, and water condensed inside the TX and the smoke got out. So, when you are in any weather that is "condensing", be sure the electronics have temperature stabalized enough that there isn't condensation inside before turning anything on.

On the other hand, a lot of our gear is more water (and oil and gunk) resitant than you might think. All you really need to do is wrap the RX in a plastic baggie, keep water out of the TX, and you're good to go. I've flown in rain a few times, never had a problem with it, and I haven't done anything special. (though I did usually stand under the shelter at the field while flying).

Rain water is not pure H2O. It already contains dust particles. (the water molecules collect on the dust to form the initial raindroplets Then more water collects on the droplets)

The water will contain dissloved gasses... all kinds of stuff in there!

Also, all water contains HO and another ionized molecule (I can't remember which one... HOH?) Its just in the chemical nature of water to have these floating around. These molucules ARE conductive. Pure H2O would be non-conductive (darn near inert) but you won't ever find it.

I have flown in every possible weather element. When I flew on the glider circut we had to fly in pouring rain often. Keep the transmitter dry and you will not have a problem. Get it wet and its a mess. Hate trying to find thermals in the rain. [:-]

Try this site for more on conductivity of water.

I've tested freshly deionized water n a nuclear power plant (that's as pure as it gets...) as part of my job when I was in the in the US Navy. (been 12 years since I dealt with it... is why I forgot the second ion, but its covered at this site)

http://www.gvsu.edu/wri/education/ma...nductivity.htm

Put you tranmitter in a bag or stand under a shelter and put your receiver in a baggy then you will be OK.