HeliStyle

My Feedback: (2)

I was wondering can you fly rc helicopters in the winter, when its like 32 degrees or less, just got into helicopters like 3 months ago and im having a blast, but I was wondering if you can fly in low temps, or is helicopters seasonal, because I might invest in a walkera 4#3 for indoor flying

Bugzilla

You can definitly fly in winter, but you have to be a little more careful because any plastic parts on the heli will become more brittle in the cold.

rcroll

do you mean walkera 4#3B . You certainly can fly in winter,I tried it

hi2nr

IMO wouldnt the heat generated from the motor, esc, battery cause moisture condensation and cause a short circuit or even fry the vital electrical components?

Bugzilla

Not really. But if you are worried about something like that you can always coat the circuits and boards and stuff with dialectric grease to moistureproof them.

MaxAdventure

My Feedback: (7)

cooler objects placed in a warmer humid environment cause condensation. Warmer objects in a cool environment do not.

depends on what YOUR winter is like, but in Colorado:

In the winter; PROs:
motor, ESC, batteries don't have as much problems overheating
cooler air is denser air, (more lift)
no annoying insects, especially mosquitoes!
less people show up at flying fields, so more air time!

CONs:
LiPo batteries need to be kept warm, too cold they can't deliver the juice
plastics can become quite brittle
snow can get into electronics, melt and cause a short (read about a guy having fun with a heli in the snow until he lost all control!)
keeping fingers on the sticks warm can be an issue.

I personally LOVE flying in the winter. The biggest problem I've had on planes was shattering the monokote on a rough landing, because it was so cold. I've not experiance much with Helis, just a little more damage on plastic parts in a crash.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

If your location is accurate, winter flying means pulling on a sweat shirt unless you're flying in the middle of the one or two nights a year the temp acutally drops below freezing

nick2bad4u

My friend said that his battery actually froze while flying on christmas day xD

chris6414

My Feedback: (10)

I saw a couple guys with floats on their nitro helos for winter flying. Looked cool, as did the sliding landings and taxiingh[X(] I have flown many a Nitro plane in the winter. Just have to richen things up a bit and watch out for temp change with the gyros. Hot car to cold field etc. I used to fly my Belt CP with a TRex motor and 11T pinion which kept things a little warmer. I call it my winter motor. In the warmer months I throw the ESky motor with the 9 T back on.

cenracer1

flew quite a bit in the winter months here as well.. less wind in the mornings.. biggest problem for me was keeping the batteries (lipo's) warm and my hands warm.. Heli flew fine but definately had a bit less power due to the cold.. really try hard to avoid rough landings as the plastic becomes more brittle.. I don't run my r/c cars when its below 32 nor the Heli either.. thats my cutoff temp...

dooleyje

Yep used floats and/or pool noodles my self when flying in the Conneticut snow with Nitros. I never have with electrics Here in NC no problem winter flying. It hardly ever snows anymore it almost hardly rains here anymore either. Big time drought going.

Jim

AZheli

I can't wait until I can begin my winter flying - it was 116ΒΊ across town this afternoon. I get a little freezing winter weather - enough to kill some frost sensitive shrubs - but I never fly at nite, & that's when the temps drop

chris6414

My Feedback: (10)

Get you some glow wire, LEDs and blades and do some night ops![>:] It is a whole new challange. You need some bright LEDS for spots so you can see where the ground is on approach though.