Top Tips for Drone Filming and Flying in Winter in the Cold and Snow

Drone pilot Stefanie Williams of Aerialworx has over 30 years flying experience. She has a passion for flying drones and has been flying these wonderful aircraft for almost six years now. She has a natural skill for flying a variety of drones and complex aircraft in adverse weather conditions. She has flown drones in sub zero temperatures (down to -30’C) in some wonderful locations around the world including Sweden, Norway, Iceland and the most beautiful native North Wales and South Wales.

Read Stef’s top tips for flying a drone in winter, in the cold and snow.

Introduction to Drone Operations in the Cold

Operating a drone in the cold, in winter, in quite often sub zero temperatures comes with its own challenges and is totally different to operating a drone in the height of summer on a lovely warm day.

Batteries

One of the most popular failures and pitfalls with flying in winter is underestimating the affect the cold has on battery life. Cold temperatures (and when I say cold, I mean anything below 10’C) will start having a major effect on your drone batteries and reduce the flight time drastically.

Heating

Make sure that you’ve given consideration to how you will light up the drone and the control transmitter. Most drones have built in lighting, so make sure this is enabled and that the colours you choose aid with orientation. Head torches are also a great idea and there are some very powerful ones which are easy to turn on and off with a swipe of the hand.

Pilot and Drone DOP Safety and Comfort

Make sure that you as the drone pilot and your drone DOP have plenty of space to work and that you have a comfortable and secure place to operate the drone. It does also get very cold at night even in the warmest of countries, so don’t forget a good warm jacket.

Failsafe

Make sure that your fail safe is set to “Return to Home” as opposed to “Hover” or “Land”, this will ensure that your drone will automatically return to the operating area in the event of a problem.

Landing Power

Make sure you land with plenty of power in reserve. I would always recommend landing your drone with at least 3.7v per cell of power. This gives plenty of scope for an emergency or go around if required.

Enjoy!

Above everything, be confident, calm and professional at all times and capture those amazing shots that you didn’t think were possible. Enjoy and I hope this check list has been helpful.

If you have any comments or feel I have left something out, please feel free to send me an email.

You can also read more about our Creative Drone with Mega Lighting System.

Stef x