Winter Heli Flying. You in?

[Sleepyc]

If you live in a part of the world that has winter, this post is for you.
If you live in an area that has nice warm weather all year round, then ignore this thread, and get outside and fly! I'm jealous!

For me, (and many others in the colder regions) the temperature outside is freezing. Snow is falling and the urge to fly is stumped by the urge to stay warm. There is something about the thought of frozen fingers that keeps me inside in the winter.

But the urge to fly is a strong one, and because of this I recently started to research the "transmitter mitts" and this seems to be a viable option to get out in the cold and fly.

So my question to any of you guys who still fly in the winter... do the mitts work? Are there any other adjustments needed to a rig to keep it air worthy during the cold months?
Lets hear it!

Drop some winter flying knowledge!

[anatoly]

I got a Raydiowarm mitt last winter, and flew with it quite a bit, both planks and my one heli. It took a little getting used to, because with a warm jacket on I couldn't get my hands far enough into it to hold the sticks in a good position, so I really had to push my jacket sleeves up my arms so I could get into a comfortable position on the sticks. I also had to put a block of foam under the transmitter to keep it from sliding toward me, and a couple of those reusable hand warmers inside to keep my fingers from going numb.

Overall, it works great as a wind blocker and it did help keep the chill out, but it's hard to feel 100% comfortable with it because it does restrict movement quite a bit.

A less expensive (and less restrictive) alternative may be fingerless fleece gloves. I'm actually tempted to get a pair myself and sell the Raydiowarm.

[theKM]

heck yes the mitts work!

...especially with 2.4ghz, you no longer need the hole for the antenna. Don't need anything too fancy, the wife sewed one up for it and it works like a champ. Was out yesterday in 20F temps with nice and cozy thumbs on the sticks.

If your packs are well vented, put a thin-ish wrap on them to protect from the air blast and will allow them to chemically generate their internal heat... in general, no reduced power or flight times unless it's stupid cold (in which case you can up the protection a little too).

[HeliFlightCenter]

I use a mitt and it works. I agree you need to get comfortable with the restriction of movement. An it helps to make sure your hands are well warmed before since they do not have heat. The hand warmer idea sounds good.

LiPos in the radio help - NiCads don't do well in the cold. Not to get into the Lipo in radio debate but I use them in my 9303 with no issues. I hope the manufacturers step up and convert.

[Richord]

Originally Posted by theKM

heck yes the mitts work!

...especially with 2.4ghz, you no longer need the hole for the antenna. Don't need anything too fancy, the wife sewed one up for it and it works like a champ. Was out yesterday in 20F temps with nice and cozy thumbs on the sticks.

If your packs are well vented, put a thin-ish wrap on them to protect from the air blast and will allow them to chemically generate their internal heat... in general, no reduced power or flight times unless it's stupid cold (in which case you can up the protection a little too).

Are you talking about wrapping some foam or other material around the lipo? Kind of like a water heater insulator?

I don't fly much in the cold, but many have been reporting as much as half the usual flight time on Lipo's in temps. below 40*F.

[anatoly]

Originally Posted by Richord

I don't fly much in the cold, but many have been reporting as much as half the usual flight time on Lipo's in temps. below 40*F.

I usually leave the packs in the car until right before I'm ready to fly, and only take out one pack at a time. If I must take them out of the car, then I throw a heat pack or two in the lipo carrying box to keep the temperature up. With smaller packs I might tuck them under my clothes until right before use, but that gets a little silly with larger packs.

[trex]

So, pilots and batteries should be kept warm. Are there other challenges that face the heli when flying in the winter? Are the moving parts affected?

[Heli FU]

I got one and I love it thank Aaronredbaron, it works great.
No more playing musical trim in the rain!

[Heavy Chevy]

Hey all,

I live in the Yukon where the winter is cold. Sometimes the urge to fly out weighs the urge to stay warm so I go and fly my Big Lama, it does alright in the cold. I don't let it get too far from me in the cold but still tons of fun. It is so beautiful to go out and fly in a winter wonderland with no wind, truly peaceful and fun!

I have 3 blade CX3s and they are not flyable in the cold. They sway and become unctrollable just so you all know

A great winter Toy, (and I mean toy), is the Storm Launcher but good luck finding one anymore. It speeds over packed snow and flies really high. It's fairly durable too so you don't feel so bad when you crash it because your fingers were getting cold

Another fun winter toy is the 'interactive toys' vamp. It's a remote controlled flying bat, (ornithopter). It does well in the cold but make sure there is no wind.

These toys are a good option for the winter because many parts on hobby grade helis become a lot more brittle in the cold and I hate breaking things due to winter flying conditions. I try to save the best toys for the summer; and oh yeah, though it's cold in the Yukon, the summer is hot and gives me full day light from 4am until 12 am "The Midnight Sun"

Also in the winter, I use these gloves that have rubber over the fingers, they are thin too. Over these gloves, I wear fingerless cheapy gloves. I got them at 'Mark's work warehouse'. This is do-able but I still prefer no gloves.

[Flyinfool]

The SWARM club is still quite active in the Wisconsin winter.
There are many in our club that have tried various radio mitts and just simply went back to bare hands.
You can fly with bare hands down to around 5-10F.
Colder than that and I stand in front of an IR heater mounted to a 20lb propane tank to keep the TX and my fingers warm.

As far as equipment goes, most all of the electric stuff goes up on a shelf for winter, in the cold nitro rules hands down.
Always leave the heli out in the cold for at least 15-20 minutes before flying to allow all of the electronics to stabilize in temp. Failure to do this can cause weird responses from gyros and govs with drifting centers and end points.

If you have a belt drive tail you must watch blade tension, a 50 size boom can shrink up to 1/8 inch (yes 0.125) and remember to release tension before coming back to the warm.

Engines will need to richened up in the cold.

Avoid crashing since everything will be more brittle and break easier.

Hang on since the the heli will fly way better than it ever has in the summer.

[exit44rc]

I'm a newbie so please excuse my enthusiasm. this is a great idea... i'll have to look into this. I've been dying to fly even though it's cold outside in Ohio.

[edge_pilot]

Sorry, there no way i'm going flying in Ohio in the middle of winter!

[Flyinfool]

Originally Posted by edge_pilot

Sorry, there no way i'm going flying in Ohio in the middle of winter!

Why not, try it you might just like it. Down south in Ohio is not all that cold.

You would be amazed at how much better the heli flies in the nice cool crisp air.

[edge_pilot]

I have this problem of not being able to feel my thumbs makes it hard to fly. For all the advantage I get wish the crisp air I will loose from freezing to death. I guess I could do a mean crackroll with all the jittering going on!