Flawless in Heavy Wind

Have been using Phantom 4 in pretty brisk breezes here on the big Island of Hawaii, with good results. I'm curious as to how going to the carbon fiber blades might affect performance.
 
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flying in s mode in heavy ish wind today and had a 'return to home battery critically low' message come up, still had 30% so backed off the throttle a tad and bought it back, i guess it was voltage sag from fighting the headwind for so long.
 
Have been using Phantom 4 in pretty brisk breezes here on the big Island of Hawaii, with good results. I'm curious as to how going to the carbon fiber blades might affect performance.
Did some flying on the north shore last year and found the winds pretty manageable . . doubt so in Feb Mar but at least, if the wind is on shore you just have to be mindful of the updrafts around cliffs and shoreline. I think carbon blades would not make a significant improvement in performance since the turbulence there is the greater impact. . . especially if you are trying to fly around slopes like Haleakala on Maui. Worth studying mountain flying techniques like the helicopter guys do. Could save your a** . . .sorry drone . . .someday . . some good info here http://essi.easa.europa.eu/ehest/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/HE7.pdf if you have a look through sections 2 and 3.
 
In heavy winds like that I always hand catch on landings.
 
Did some flying on the north shore last year and found the winds pretty manageable . . doubt so in Feb Mar but at least, if the wind is on shore you just have to be mindful of the updrafts around cliffs and shoreline. I think carbon blades would not make a significant improvement in performance since the turbulence there is the greater impact. . . especially if you are trying to fly around slopes like Haleakala on Maui. Worth studying mountain flying techniques like the helicopter guys do. Could save your a** . . .sorry drone . . .someday . . some good info here http://essi.easa.europa.eu/ehest/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/HE7.pdf if you have a look through sections 2 and 3.
Thanks! Helicopter pdf very interesting and helpful!
 
Yes, I've flown in that kind of wind several times. I'm amazed how well the P4 handles it. I was at Independence Pass, 12,000' MSL, in Colorado last month getting 40mph gusts with a pretty constant 25-30mph wind.

was the P4 blowing around at all with the large gusts? any concerns getting back down for a landing?
 
I was doing some sunrise pictures a few days ago. The wind was gusting to 25 near the ground. I parked at 300 feet and started taking still shots as the sun peeked over the horizon. Several times, watching the location map in the lower right corner of my screen, the P4 would be blown about 15 or 20 feet, very quickly. It would then stop and slowly fly back to where it was parked. Happened several times during that flight. Need to download the flight log and see how it is noted in the log.
Was an interesting situation to watch. Got some great pictures and hand caught it when bringing ti home.
 

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