Wind..?

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How much wind is to much ..?
Would like to here about it...!
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DJI recommends not flying in winds exceeding 22 MPH.
 
0 to 15 = no issue
15 to 20 = doable, but only fly into the wind, not with it.
20+ = fly at your own risk
 
Me personally If its forecast for 15mph I wont fly, even 10mph I won't.
That's being way to conservative. Fling a Phantom 3 in winds up to 15 mph is a piece of cake.
 
I like being conservative. The more wind you have to fight the more battery you use. If I can fly in calmer winds I can get better flight times.
If I waited for the winds to only be in the single digits, that would cut down my flying days way to much.
The Phantom can fly at 35 mph, that's 20 over a wind of 15 mph. Believe me that's not an issue, I do it every day, and most do.
 
If I waited for the winds to only be in the single digits, that would cut down my flying days way to much.
The Phantom can fly at 35 mph, that's 20 over a wind of 15 mph. Believe me that's not an issue, I do it every day, and most do.
That's cool but I play it safe, id rather not deal with 8-10 minute flights and have to fight the wind to stay in one place. And up higher wind tends to be faster. I live in South Dakota, Its windy **** near every day here but I choose to play it safe because id rather not deal with it.
 
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I won't be flying in anything above a breeze. Remember if you gain altitude winds will pick up and can take your drone away. I just watched a YouTube video showing it happen to somebody. If you must fly in wind keep it low and please use a larger flying area than usual.

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That's cool but I play it safe, id rather not deal with 8-10 minute flights and have to fight the wind to stay in one place. And up higher wind tends to be faster. I live in South Dakota, Its windy **** near every day here but I choose to play it safe because id rather not deal with it.
Not sure what your experience level is but, something just doesn't add up. I fly in that 10 to 15 mph all the time and go out up to 2 km, sometimes more. And the length of your flight has very little to do with it being a slight breeze out. It has more to do with how low of a battery percent that you're willing to bring it down to before landing. And just as long as you're flying into the wind when it's in the teens so that your rth will be with the wind you're totally safe.

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Not sure what your experience level is but, something just doesn't add up. I fly in that 10 to 15 mph all the time and go out up to 2 km, sometimes more. And the length of your flight has very little to do with it being a slight breeze out. It has more to do with how low of a battery percent that you're willing to bring it down to before landing. And just as long as you're flying into the wind when it's in the teens so that your rth will be with the wind you're totally safe.

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Ive been flying quads for about 5 years. Not DJI's granted but 15mph to me isn't a slight breeze. I have had quads drift away at a fast rate in 15+ winds. Either way it doesn't really matter, If I don't feel comfortable flying in 15+ winds I wont. I'm all about being safe and not trying to crash. If something doesn't sit right with me I wont fly. You and me may have different standards to fly and that's fine.
 
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Ive been flying quads for about 5 years. Not DJI's granted but 15mph to me isn't a slight breeze. I have had quads drift away at a fast rate in 15+ winds. Either way it doesn't really matter, If I don't feel comfortable flying in 15+ winds I wont. I'm all about being safe and not trying to crash. If something doesn't sit right with me I wont fly. You and me may have different standards to fly and that's fine.
I completely agree with you on someone's comfort level, if you're not comfortable then definitely that's not something you should do, because then something could go sideways. As I live in the farm lands of Lancaster County it's just not feasible to only fly in winds under 10 miles an hour. I'd be letting many beautiful days pass by because the wind was 12 or 14 mph that day. I just see which way the wind is blowing and go to a location where I would be flying up wind at that particular locale. But definitely agree on your main point that you should and everyone should stay within their comfort zone.

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I completely agree with you on someone's comfort level, if you're not comfortable then definitely that's not something you should do, because then something could go sideways. As I live in the farm lands of Lancaster County it's just not feasible to only fly in winds under 10 miles an hour. I'd be letting many beautiful days pass by because the wind was 12 or 14 mph that day. I just see which way the wind is blowing and go to a location where I would be flying up wind at that particular locale. But definitely agree on your main point that you should and everyone should stay within their comfort zone.

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I grew up in lititz.
 
When I first got it few weeks back - P3S - I flew it repeatedly in moderate / strong wind of 8 - 10 m/s.

This is wind that I seriously do not consider flying my fixed wing models unless of the large fuel powered variety.

I was amazed how steady in hover it was even with it gusting a lot.

I have no qualms of going out in wind with now .... even flew over the river in strong winds and never noticed any problems.

Nigel
 
Other day was flying and the AC had a lean of over 10 degrees countering the wind to remain in position ... when a gust hit it - it would move it ... when gust finished ... AC would slide back to position again ...

I was amazed how well she handled it.

But the advice to fly INTO wind if doing distance is good ... other day I thought wind was moderate - so flew my usual river route testing Go / FW .... coming back - she was making hard work of it ... lesson learnt !

I felt foolish in fact having been RC'g for so many decades and KNOW about this !!

Nigel
 
There is an increased risk the higher the wind speed, but it's easy to oversimplify the issue:

- GUSTS. The average wind speed may be reported as 10 MPH, for example, but there may be gusts much higher than that. Some days you just have a constant wind speed without much fluctuation, while other days you may have gusts that blow much higher than the average. The risks here are obvious, such as a gust blowing your bird into an obstacle.

- ALTITUDE. Wind speed can vary depending on altitude as well. The wind speed is typically faster the higher you go, and you could easily get into trouble if you aren't prepared for it. Again, this can vary widely depending on the day, location, and weather pattern.

- GPS, ATTI and RTH. If you are in P mode with a good GPS signal, the bird will most likely be able to remain fairly steady even in moderate winds (as others have attested to). And as long as everything is stable with your GPS signal, you'll most likely be fine. However, if it loses GPS signal and goes into ATTI mode, you could get into big trouble if you aren't quick to react and are able to adjust your orientation. And in ATTI mode, the wind could easily blow your bird into an obstacle if you aren't careful. On the other hand, if your bird goes into RTH mode and isn't making progress coming home (RTH uses lower power than normal), then you may have to cancel RTH and fly manually.

- DIRECTION. If you fly with the wind to a pretty far distance and get low battery, you may not have enough battery to get back home even though the bird thought you would. In most cases, you'll likely be fine, but there's a chance that it could just land somewhere else if it gets to critical battery before returning home.

So it's not like you can't fly in the wind, but be smart and take extra precaution:

- Stay further away from obstacles
- Keep an extra eye on battery level
- Be aware of both wind speed and wind direction
- Be aware wind changes as you climb higher
- Be prepared to fly manually
 
I like being conservative. The more wind you have to fight the more battery you use. If I can fly in calmer winds I can get better flight times.
Me too, more than 15 is no go and usually I wait for a sunny 6 mph day. Also, I use the Uav forecast app to extrapolate what it is at 200 ft too.
 

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