TOP WIND speed that is Safe

Until you become proficient flying in ATTI mode it would be recommended 10mph or so. Especially in area with obstacles like trees and buildings. The only reason I say this, is because you could lose enough satellites and P2 could switch into that mode.

I was flying in high 20's (possibly 30) a few days ago and the P2 was lucky to fly at 3 meters per second into the wind. This was in ATTI which flies a lot faster than GPS mode. With no input on sticks it was being drug at (11.2 m/s or 25mph!)
 
If I can't land or hand catch it safely, I wont consider flying. I know a few meters up, means higher gusts/wind speeds.
 
How fast can your Phantom fly? It can fight a wind of a little less than that.
It has a slippery shape, so unless you have prop guards it doesn't catch much wind.
I have been surprised at how well the Phantom deals with wind and have had it out in gusty conditions above than 25 knots.
 
All pilots should learn a little about how wind can dictate a flight. A constant 10mph wind while in a open area can be tuff for anyone to land, regardless of the skill level. I use a wind break as much as possible. And the sooner you can get to that 6-8ft height the better when wind is concerned.

As for 25-30mph I have only flown in such wind that has gusted to those numbers. I do not live where there is such wind like that that blows constant. It would be the Chicago area or along the coast line some where I would think to experience 30mph constant wind. You wont be able to fly in a straight line with 25-30mph wind, unless going directly into it, or with it of coarse. And know now that the quad will not hover in one spot with such wind. You can expect to be drift-blown nearly 8-10mph while hovering, and even while in gps mode.

Speaking of wind, I'm putting together a video right now that shows where I broke my personal speed record last night. I managed a 69.68mph. Needless to say I was in a good mood last night after accomplishing that speed.
 
This is in a Summary Guide put together by another forum member:
"Don't fly when wind speed is >13-17mph. DJI is explicit about this in the manual. Beaufort scale 4 for those of
you who prefer that sort of thing. Remember that winds aloft can differ greatly from wind speed on the ground.
A quick flip to ATTI mode aloft and observing drift or observing the OSD horizon line in GPS mode can help
gauge wind speed and direction at your flight altitude."
 
flyNfrank said:
You wont be able to fly in a straight line with 25-30mph wind, unless going directly into it, or with it of coarse. And know now that the quad will not hover in one spot with such wind. You can expect to be drift-blown nearly 8-10mph while hovering, and even while in gps mode.
You would be surprised at how the Phantom acts in those conditions. I was.
It flew like there was only a gentle breeze.
In gusty 25-30 knot winds GPS hold makes it look like the bird is stapled to the sky.

flyingtim said:
"Don't fly when wind speed is >13-17mph. DJI is explicit about this in the manual.
DJI are being quite over conservative.

Here is a picture I took on a very gusty (25-30 knot) day. I thought I might be able to launch and fly in the lee of a rocky headland to get some protection from the winds. As I launched, expecting the bird to be buffetted, my Phantom just sat there so I gradually put it up a little and out a little to see how the Phantom would handle things until I got to where I took this pic. I was quite surprised at the ability of my flying machine.
The amount of foam that the wind is making on the backs of the waves in this pic is an indication of the wind strength.
DJI00312a-XL.jpg
 
I was flying about 55 mph (ATTI mode) with a strong onshore strong tail wind in this video (see 0:05 and 0:30). It was fun but I doubt I will try that again.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S3elV5jUSA[/youtube]
 
Here's a video where I was flying around I think the wind was blowing somewhere between 30-35 mph. Flying in ATTI mode hit 69 Mph you can see the phantom struggling flying in the wind.
http://youtu.be/DuYjkv4D0iE
 
lobazid said:
I shot this vid at 20-22 knots . landing was tricky
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/99934982[/vimeo]
http://vimeo.com/99934982

Great clip. Good to see that the Phantom can take on a stiff breeze. Given the sizes of the kites there, I saw some 12m and 14m, perhaps it wasn't quite 20+ knots. But it was certainly enough for our windsurfers to get up to 30+ knot board speed and hence spectacular aerial footage.

Cheers for that.
 
Meta4 said:
flyNfrank said:
You wont be able to fly in a straight line with 25-30mph wind, unless going directly into it, or with it of coarse. And know now that the quad will not hover in one spot with such wind. You can expect to be drift-blown nearly 8-10mph while hovering, and even while in gps mode.
You would be surprised at how the Phantom acts in those conditions. I was.
It flew like there was only a gentle breeze.
In gusty 25-30 knot winds GPS hold makes it look like the bird is stapled to the sky.

There is positively noway the GPS will hold the quad like it is stapled in the sky with 25-30mph wind gust. If you watch the video I posted in the Sub 70mph Vision Plus, right before I take off I have the quad in gps mode. I watch the mph gauge on the monitor, as the wind is pushing the quad at the highest speed, I flip to atti mode and take off when I see it reach 1.5-2mph.
 
Took it up to the mountains today. So nice. Perfect day.
I think I found the problem to be 'Me' instead of the wind. After doing some researching, I noticed a phrase that had slipped by me... "NOSE of the ..." when calibrating. It said if you calibrate anywhere but the NOSE, then it can lift and suddenly shoot to the left. That is what mine did.
1. Calibrate calibrate.. 360 around, then point the NOSE to the ground and 360 degree that way.
2. Do not do it on a driveway with METAL. I am certain the concrete one I used was filled with it.
3. Do not let your CELLPHONE be anywhere near it when calibrating.
4. Give it a couple minutes to really LOCK IN on the GPS. Then calibrate.
5. Always do it in the grass or 'earth' ground.

All said, I did that today on the mountain. I used the SOFTWARE to calibrate. It wobbled, but did ok, BUT would not set stationary in the air on its own.
So, .. I recalibrated by flipping the S1 Switch forward/backward 5 times, then did the 360 stuff.
Worked perfect.

From then on it did great. You could see it wobble, then settle when the winds hit it up above the trees. But it did great.

So I will agree, in working GPS mode, the Quad will make itself stay in proper position with the wind. The gimbal does the rest.

There is some drift, especially if rotating the Quad left or right in a slow manner. But that is not really a wind issue.

Great Autumn Day. Great Quad.
 
I just replaced an ESC in my P2V+ last night.

First thing this morning I went out to my test-fly field, expecting the light variable winds the wx channel had said the night before.

Instead it was 10 gusting 20 (mph).

I flew 3 batterries, and flew agressively so if the new ESC job was gonna fail, itd do so close by.

I swear I must have hit the low 60s in atti mode wiht the wind, right into a pull-stop. If it can handle that G/Electrical load, then I could count my esc fix a success.

I thought the P2V+ handled the gusty breeze very well. Its even fun just sitting it in front of you and watching it work. Most surprising to me, was how little the wind effected it in atti mode, in a hover - it was easy to counter the pressure, and keep control - even in the gusts.

I did think the motors were gonna spin themselves into oblivion on the downwind speed-runs though - they were wound up.

Oh - no SD card (yeah sure - that was planned. yeah ;-))

Good times.
 

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