How Much Wind?

[stealthbomber]

Just wondering how much wind the bird can normally handle before keeping it in the hanger?

 

[msinger]

Physically? The Phantom manual recommends not flying in winds greater than 10 m/s. It also depends on your skill level though.

 

[Wibble]

I would say 20 to 25mph. You will need to launch from a sheltered spot and hand catch.
The P3 will cope with higher winds but remember in a 25mph wind speed over ground will only be about 10mph upwind!

 

[Patrick]

Typically if its over 20 MPH i don't fly unless there's a really amazing shot i must get. when i first got my phantom i flew in gusts ~40 and it was scary . also hand catching is a necessity in high wind, it alleviated quite a bit of my anxiety with the wind. its pretty hard to land with the phantom being blown around.

 

[Evel_Knievel]

Also remember that wind increases and changes directions with altitude...20 mph on the ground (no problem) 40 mph at 250' (big problem).

 

[RedHotPoker]

I flew in very windy conditions at the local RC heli flying field yesterday.
Surprising how much it could handle. ;-)

You really get to see the stuff these Phantom 3 Pro's are made of.
Even more so, if we crash. ;-) my knuckles are raw. Knock knock!

RedHotPoker

 

[Nstrong48]

after healthy drones added the wind feature i went back over some logs and saw that ive flown in 40 - 43 MPH gusts. It was about 20 MPH on the ground that day.

 

[RoyVa]

Just remember under normal flying you can do approx 27 mph. With a head wind of 25 mph and depends on how far away you are.... A 2 mph gain with the battery dropping is not good. 10-15 max is a good rule of thumb. But be aware of flight path and wind direction. Winds higher are exactly that. They are higher!

 

[jephoto]

The other night I flew at dusk shooting a commercial bakery. There was a strong wind coming from the west- directly behind me. Got some excellent shots- very sharp- in what I later learned were 21mph winds.
1/20 second and sharp. F---ing amazing.
Then I zoomed a block east for a few closer shots of a lighted sign- and almost couldn't return.
When I got to 45% battery I decided to RTH- forgetting that I'd set the RTH at 75 meters- 225', and when it went up the wind pushed it another block away and I had to really fight my way back.
Got to 24% by the time I got it back. I was sweating it.

My error was just hitting the RTH. I should have kept it lower & just flown back manually.
Don't think I'll try that again in the city when high wind.

 

[Meta4]

Your

My error was just hitting the RTH. I should have kept it lower & just flown back manually.
Don't think I'll try that again in the city when high wind.

You can fly at 15 m/sec in still air - but RTH just cruises along at about 10 m/sec.
In a strong wind situation you don't want to let RTH do the driving.
Use it to turn your Phantom around if you like but take over and push the right stick down and get home rather than watch your Phantom drift away.
And consider coming down to possibly get out of the stronger winds up high.

 

[jephoto]

Yep. I realized my mistake right away but it went high and caught the wind before I could stop it.
Then I just tried to speed it up with the stick down hard. But I finally cancelled the RTH and fought my way home.
Next time I'll just fly it manually.
RTH is great in normal conditions, but not in high wind.
Always learning....