With Winter moisture upon much of the Northern Hemisphere, this seems like an appropriate subject. "Can we fly electrics in the rain?", I get asked this by many of my 16 readers. It appears the answer is a resounding "YES"! 

At our all electric field we have a very powerful sprinkler system. It used to come on while we flew. In ERC we just landed, no problem. In ECL, well you know the story.... I have flown my E-P40 through this system with no apparent problems, but this was not much of a real test. Well, as you will see below, we now have a "real" test!

      When you get to the site below, look at the "Video" section just below the photos, scroll down in the Video section until you come to the selection along the right side showing one of the guys holding a RED umbrella, CLICK on this and enjoy!

          http://www.precisionaerobatics.com/product_details.php?pid=52

I know this is ERC, but it still applies directly to our ECL planes. I fly the same plane in this video, and I can tell you it is not set up in a special way for rain, inside it is very much like our ECL planes as far as having the components unprotected from the incoming airflow. It is about the size of a Nobler. WS 48", Area 500, mine weighs only 35 oz RTF, this is with all the RC gear and battery. This ARF is the very latest generation in ARF development. It uses CF everywhere, it has the ailerons moulded into the wing so there is no gap, and it is perfectly engineered for strength and light weight. And it flies great! 

Anyway .... I don't recommend flying in heavy rain, but it is nice to know that our systems can handle it if we are overcome with extreme "cabin fever" and just have to get our ECL fix before next MAY!    ........ of course, your milage may vary?

Regards, 

Thanks Igor,

I agree, the ESC is vulnerable to direct hits of raindrops. I just looked at my ERC Extra 260 and the ESC is NOT in a direct line from the rain. Air comes in from the side and the bottom to the ESC after it bounces off a few baffales. I'm sure this helps a lot in protecting the ESC. In our RC float flying we wrap our RC Receivers in a plastic bag and tape it shut. I have had them submerge and still be OK. Maybe we can do the same with our ESCs for flying ECL in the RAIN. In the top half of our spaceship in winter we would not need to worry about ESC cooling if it is raining or snowing! 

Maybe Paul in the NW or some of those in the SE that have flown ECL in the rain can give us some input. I'm not much of a help down here. It only rains 13"/year in LA, and 4"/year in LV. And in both places the Chamber of Commerce only allows it to rain at night! So I don't have a chance to test fly any experiments! ..... But I can give you a lot of input on how our E systems perform in the Sun and heat! 

Thanks again for your help.

Maybe Paul in the NW or some of those in the SE that have flown ECL in the rain can give us some input.


I have flown in the rain. My ESC is NOT in the direct path of the incoming "rain drops". It does get cooling air though. It is also wrapped in shrink wrap plastic to keep most of the moisture away from the sensitive electronics.  I think its really there to attach the heat sink though!.

Having flown in the rain, I have had no issues to date. Flying in the rain isn't my first choice whether I fly IC or E.

Paul