Flying in the rain?
 

Have you flown in the rain?
Float fly this weekend with a chance of rain...

Just wondering???? May be giving it a try.... Unless its pouring...

we have to be there as entertainment for the Hopedale, ma Oktoberfest



Steve

Flown in light rain several times with no problems. Always thought the engine would flame out but never had a missed beat at all. We have good shelter for set up and starting and it would be a lot different without that in terms of comfort.

I never have, intentionally, anyway. I wear glasses and if I look up in the rain, it doesn't, take long before I can't see. And, I just don't like the idea of having my radio getting wet.

Have done it in light rain, but lightning is a risk I won't take if there is heavy storms in the area.


David

rain and radio gear dont mix. I have seen rain ruin a prop delamination from smacking rain drops.

Here is my Tiger 2 sitting out in the rain after a flight..... Sure you have to guard your radio and other things, but there is a neat quality about flying in the rain.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1926877

Flown in sunny skies, rain, fog (scary), snow, sleet. Never had an issue with the engines. My fingers got cold. I had the Tx under my jacket with the old 72 antenna sticking out. I was up having a good time and the fog rolled in fast. Now you see it, now you don't. I got down in a hurry.


Buzz.

If you are float flying then you have already "waterproofed" the airplane, so just hold the TX inside a plastic store bag to keep it dry while flying. Let the antenna stick out if your on 72mh. Ok to do, but only in light rain with no lighting in sight.

I've flown in light rain. I flew my very familiar Four Star. It started stalling at a higher speed on final. I didn't know why till I picked it up. It had gained noticeable weight from the water droplets on the monokote. The airfoil could have been compromised due to the droplets too. My experience was lower visibility, higher stall speed and the bottom of wing was muddy :-P I need some mud flaps I guess.

Peace,
J

I have done it, fired the engine up and it started raining as I was walking to the runway. Said what the heck and flew anyway, not a single problem except my radio got wet. Can I? Yes,Would I do it again, no for that reason.

I raise the rear hatch of my Cherokee and use that for cover.

Range on 2.4GHz can be severly reduced in the rain. The higher frequencies do not penetrate water very well.

I have flown in heavy rain before..Not a good idea..because my 60 size trainer couldnt climb and I have to fly full power to keep from stalling.

Yep. Flew in light to moderate rain on two occasions. It was a 60 size cub on floats so the plane was already fairly water resistant. Generally the covering will protect the wood so your radio, lightning, and comfort are the main concern. I fly 2.4 and did not have any difficulty with range and the three other guys flying didn't either. It's true that 2.4 does not penetrate vary far into water but light to moderate rain is not that dense IMHO. Someone mentioned their wood prop coming apart. Water will do this so any float flyer should have plastic or composite prop anyhow.

I fly .60-sized and 1.20-sized electric airplanes. The electric motor on my 4Star 60 is exposed to the elements. What's gonna happen if I fly it in the rain? Nothing?

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1926995

The electronics in the plane are fairly well protected, what you want to avoid is getting water in the transmitter.

HI Gus,
Yep...I've flown in light rain with out any issues...but only on our older frequencies. I flew on Ch. 38...now I'm flying 2.4 gig radio's.

I have flown in freezing rain up in Homer, Alaska and that was a trip. No issues with the radio, but my biplane ended up with several pounds of ice on the wings and that almost cost me the model. The prop, wing and tail feathers picked up a bit of ice and I needed almost full power to get her down. I landed ok, but that was the last flight of the day.

Soft Landings Always,
Bobby of Maui

We used to do it off and on years ago. But the radios at the time were 72mhz FM and it has better range in the rain than 2.4ghz radios do. Then most of the radios had ball joint closed gimbals that tended to resist water getting inside more than the open gimbals do. You do have to use plastic propellers as the rain acts like coarse sandpaper on the wood propellers and will prompty tear them up. If the rain intensity increases past a certain point then the engine tends to have problems as it is now ingesting water droplets and that affects how it runs. But where I live and fly now, rain seldom comes without lightning, and it is most unwise to be standing out in a open field with lightning about.

Bob Severance and I saved someone's annual fly in that was being rained out by flying in the heavy rain one morning. Touch and goes in my intrepid Kougar were. . interesting! After we put on our demonstration of how easy it was, others joined us and the fly in became a success. A pop up was raised on the flight line and we began to have some serious fun. By the afternoon the rain had left.

Wear a poncho and put your transmitter under that and go forth and aviate, I carry 2 as emergency items in my trailer and car.

The comments about engine runs might be of note if it is a toad strangler of a downpour and your carb is facing up and out in the open, but our stuff was all 90 degree installs.

I've never done it, mostly because where I lived before there was no such thing as "light" rain. Gully washers, yes. Frog chokers, yes. Torrential downpours, you betcha!

Where I live now I wouldn't grace what we get with the name drizzle, much less rain. Still don't fly in it. Don't like to be wet, I guess.

Got caught in a light shower using my JR 10X radio. A few droops of water got into the touch screen and shorted it out. Cost me over $100 repair bill.

I call BS on range problems in the rain on 2.4-Been to several fly-in's -hard rain still flyin 2.4. Not just me-everyone that was flying from 1/3rd scale to trainers-Never had one glitch. There was never a lack of radio reception from any radio -We were all flying at the Jim Rice event four or five years ago and it was a hard rain most of the day and we all kept flying without any issues-if rain causes range problems I have never seen it-but I have heard several guys state that 2.4 will not work in the rain and that is nonsense!!!!

QFT!

I am pretty sure I was at that one also.

I know of one person that told the entire world that we could not fly in the rain on 2.4 because that was the same frequency microwave ovens used and all our transmitter energy would be absorbed by the rain. But I guess everyone knows my opinion of THAT source by now.

Attenuation of 2.4 Ghz signals in heavy rains is measured in the hundredths of dB per kilometer. It simply isn't an issue you you are flying in line-of-sight. Vegitation and structures can change that figure however.

Flown in Monsoon rains and snow storms, no problems with the plane at all but it sure boogered up the radio. Tried to fly after the rain passed but the radio was glitching like crazy. I didn't have a radio baggie with me at the time.Got home and used my neighbors vacuum oven to dry out the radio and it was good as new.