Winter Flying…

 

 

 

 

 

One of the biggest problems of flying a drone in winter months is battery management, with this in mind I was keen to do a few trials (nothing too scientific) with the recent cold and snowy weather. During these tests it was very obvious that the cold temperatures significantly reduced the battery life of batteries that had not been kept warm in my pockets compared with batteries that had been kept warm in my pocket. I would say battery life was reduced by about 20% on a cold day off 0C. Remember if the temperature drops to below 0C you should stop flying immediately. I encountered no other problems but I was extremely cautious as I have heard stories of drones falling out of the sky with little or no warning. Some drones nowadays have self heating batteries like the Magic 2 Enterprise for example.

It is also important to dress correctly…wrap up warm and wear gloves (flying with cold hands could result in loosing control) and a hat, being exposed to the cold can make you feel tired and loose concentration.

 

Middle Peak Quarry, Derbyshire.

There is long a history of quarrying and mining on this site in Wirksworth Derbyshire . Lead was mined here for about 2000 years, until the lead began to run out when the site changed to a limestone quarry. In the summer time  the lagoons are popular with bathers, however at some point in 2015 the water was dyed black to deter people from swimming there. This was also the case at The Blue Lagoon at Buxton, however on a recent visit the colour has returned to blue.

They call it the Blue Lagoon, and people come from far and wide to cool off in its clear waters.
Yet the flooded former quarry is so polluted that its contents are almost as toxic as bleach.
Signs close to the shoreline warn that not only is the water known to contain abandoned cars, dead animals and human waste, but it has a pH level of 11.3 – compared with 12.6 for bleach and 11.5 for ammonia.

These images make up part of a project about abandoned quarries in the midlands.