Suggestions for a winter flyer

Deadjester404

New member
Hey all, still fairly new to flying, and with living up in the northern states the ground is covered in snow what seems like half of the year. I'm looking for good builds that would be good for flying on a frozen lake or something, or is winter flying even a possibility? Any tips and suggestions also welcome.
 

jaredstrees

Well-known member
Put floats on just about anything and it'll do fine on snow and ice. If you've got some flight and build experience try the simple cub. There is a set of float plans for that. You could probably adapt those floats to just about anything. Or you could build a sea duct, or other similar design. If you've got a 3D printer there are files for skis which you could use instead of wheels.
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
Yes, it's possible to fly in the winter. I fly 12 months of the year in central IL. Anything above 20F (-7C) is flying weather for me. The winter can open new flying sights. We have a park that they keep plowed but not many use in the winter. So I'll fly off the parking lot when no one else is there.

Tips

Keep you batteries warm, I have a vest with pockets that I keep mine in. Wear the vest under all other coats. In cold weather, your batteries will not last as long. If you normally fly 10 min in the summer, cut the flight time down to 7. If you don't keep the batteries warm, cut flight time down to 5 min.

Wear gloves. I'm a thumb flyer. So I will cut a small slit (3/4" or 20mm) in the thumbs of a pair of gloves. Just poke the Tx sticks through the slits and fly with warm hands.

Prop up. Your motor & ESC will cool much better, you can use a larger or higher pitch prop than in the summer.

Your plane will fly better/faster in the colder, denser, low humidity air.

Keep your setup simple. Everything is more difficult in cold weather.
 
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