Windy Conditions

[Bret Lucas]

You are right to an extent but it depends on the airspace you are flying in. I'm a flight planner for Air New Zealand, have had a commercial pilot licence, multi engine instrument rated etc, and flown commercially for a small airline. Drone pilots should educate themselves about the rules and regs of the air. Some danger areas are set up for drone operations up to 1600ft and maybe higher. I get your point, but a broad brush response like this isn't helping the drone community. Whenever I operate my drone in controlled airspace I'll file a flight plan and call ATC to get clearance before getting airborne. It's not about common sense, it's about education.

 

[acherman]

It's not uncommon to see helicopters flying very low around here - usually with large bags of heavy seismic gear hanging below them. Luckily they are loud and you can hear them coming for a long distance away.

@brett Lucas, what kind of info do you put in your flight plan for a P3? Do you need detail like "150m this way, etc"? Just curious what they ask for.

 

[herby]

15-20mph while doing this video and no issues.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bret Lucas]

It's not uncommon to see helicopters flying very low around here - usually with large bags of heavy seismic gear hanging below them. Luckily they are loud and you can hear them coming for a long distance away.

@brett Lucas, what kind of info do you put in your flight plan for a P3? Do you need detail like "150m this way, etc"? Just curious what they ask for.

Below is a copy of the flight plan.

Who

Business Name:Fstop Studios Ltd
Account Contact:Bret Lucas, 021576337
Pilot:Bret Lucas, 021576337
What

Vehicle Type:UAV/RPAS/UAS, Rotary wing, Phantom 3
Vehicle Weight:<15kg
Measure Altitude:GPS, VPS (Visual Positioning System), Barometer
Transponder:N
VHF Radio Contact:N
Where

Control Zone:Auckland
Street Address:Mangere Domain Soccer Field
Radius of Operation:150m
Operating Area:Within the confines of the Main Soccer Field at Mangere Mountain.
Max. Altitude AGL (ft):100
Launch Elevation MSL (ft):100
Open map
When

Start:14:45 04/07/15
Finish:16:15 04/07/15
Duration (hh:mm):01:30
Multi-day:
Additional Information

Purpose:Aerial Photography and Video Capture of Mangere Domain's First Soccer Team
Emergency Procedure:If drone reception fails, it will climb to 100 ft and return to autoland at its take-off point on the western side line.
Other Info:I have approval from the President OMUAFC. Steven Mateljan. Email: [email protected]
Status

Status of Request: Prov. Auth.

 

[Steve Moore]

That works to ANY altitude following a few guidelines. After its approved its just another flight. ATC knows its there and other traffic is advised as need. Its not rocket science people. There are rules, but in those rules are solutions for the problems rules cause.

 

[SteveMann]

This type of flying is why the FAA will probable end up banning drones completely. A drone has no business being at 1600' AGL, the only thing at that height should be an airplane with a transponder.

I am a private pilot, I also have several drones,,,when I hear someone make a statement like "I am fairly new and was at 1600 feet " I realize it only takes a few hundred dollars, but no common sense, to buy a drone

Until Congress joins the fear-mongers, the FAA is prohibited by law from making rules for hobby aircraft.
You're new here, so welcome, and don't let old curmudgeons like me scare you away.
I am a retired pilot, Commercial cert, CFI, Instrument, and 1200 hours in my own Cessna. Drones at 1600 ft don't scare me one bit.
There has been about 1 million hours of flight time from personal drones, and there has not been a single contact between a personal drone and a manned aircraft. The military has had collision experience (and their drones are a lot bigger and heavier than the Phantom), and in all cases the aircraft received little to no damage and the drone was smashed to smithereens. I'll look up the quote if you insist.

Also, over most of the US, a transponder is not required for aircraft below 18,000 ft MSL. So, what good is served by putting ten pounds of transponder hardware on a three pound Phantom that would likely be in uncontrolled airspace and not seen by ATC? Assuming it could even get off the ground.

 

[probonic]

UAVforcast give no useful info for winds off the ground, which are NEVER the same as winds on the ground! Even at 100 feet you can see opposing winds, or 30 mph variance!

You can put in "Wind altitude" at the top to tell it what altitude to show the wind speeds for.

 

[Steve Moore]

You can put in "Wind altitude" at the top to tell it what altitude to show the wind speeds for.

Checking into that.. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

[snerd]

You can put in "Wind altitude" at the top to tell it what altitude to show the wind speeds for.

Of course you can. I use 400ft and it will show the winds increasing at that altitude.

 

[Steve Moore]

I missed that box.. Saw a bunch of options to set "limitations" and ignored them. I dont need a red box to tell me a 50 kt wind is too much. I simply missed the option. Wish I had seen that before my 1600 flight. Had to use other sources that arent so easy to navigate.

 

[Bret Lucas]

You mean upwind I would think.

No I mean downwind. With a 15-20kt wind the phantom banks into wind and presents its landing gear to you for an easy smooth "grab landing". So in essence, I'll put it into a hover at a foot above and in front of me and walk to the P3 and take hold of the landing gear presented to me. Be interesting to get other views on my and your technique. The main point is I'm taking advantage of the P3 banking into wind.

 

[snowghost]

No I mean downwind. With a 15-20kt wind the phantom banks into wind and presents its landing gear to you for an easy smooth "grab landing". So in essence, I'll put it into a hover at a foot above and in front of me and walk to the P3 and take hold of the landing gear presented to me. Be interesting to get other views on my and your technique. The main point is I'm taking advantage of the P3 banking into wind.

Interesting. I do it upwind so it won't blow toward me if it suddenly lost GPS or something. But as long as it's above your head, should be okay.

 

[F6Rider]

25kts is max for me which is 29mph. Takeoff works fine but I don't attempt landing, in these conditions, instead I'll do a hand catch from the downwind position.

Don't you mean the upwind position, downwind a gust could blow it into you when you are not ready.

 

[Bret Lucas]

Don't you mean the upwind position, downwind a gust could blow it into you when you are not ready.

No I mean downwind.
As expressed earlier... think about it. [emoji4]
With a 15-20kt wind the phantom banks into wind and presents its landing gear to you for an easy smooth "grab landing". So in essence, I'll put it into a hover at a foot above and in front of me and walk to the P3 and take hold of the landing gear presented to me. Be interesting to get other views on my and your technique. The main point is I'm taking advantage of the P3 banking into wind.

 

[Steve Moore]

I see the downwind being far less dangerous. It would be absurd to try to do a hand catch at face level! Getting the props as far away from you as possible is an obvious win. And there should be no drift in the case of a gust of wind. Only a better presentation of the landing gear!

 

[F6Rider]

No I mean downwind.
As expressed earlier... think about it. [emoji4]
With a 15-20kt wind the phantom banks into wind and presents its landing gear to you for an easy smooth "grab landing". So in essence, I'll put it into a hover at a foot above and in front of me and walk to the P3 and take hold of the landing gear presented to me. Be interesting to get other views on my and your technique. The main point is I'm taking advantage of the P3 banking into wind.

I finally read thru the posts, I see your point, but would still rather be upwind. but i don't flt in anything over about 15-20 MPH in any case. I could see where in a 30 mph wind being up wind would tilt the props closest to you down, making it harder to get a clean grab without getting a sliced wrist in the process.

 

[Bret Lucas]

Either way, position the P3 above your head so you have to reach up.

 

[Andy Collins]

Until Congress joins the fear-mongers, the FAA is prohibited by law from making rules for hobby aircraft.
You're new here, so welcome, and don't let old curmudgeons like me scare you away.
I am a retired pilot, Commercial cert, CFI, Instrument, and 1200 hours in my own Cessna. Drones at 1600 ft don't scare me one bit.
There has been about 1 million hours of flight time from personal drones, and there has not been a single contact between a personal drone and a manned aircraft. The military has had collision experience (and their drones are a lot bigger and heavier than the Phantom), and in all cases the aircraft received little to no damage and the drone was smashed to smithereens. I'll look up the quote if you insist.

Also, over most of the US, a transponder is not required for aircraft below 18,000 ft MSL. So, what good is served by putting ten pounds of transponder hardware on a three pound Phantom that would likely be in uncontrolled airspace and not seen by ATC? Assuming it could even get off the ground.

I'm in North Texas, with DFW being right between Dallas and Ft. Worth, the area requiring a transponder is big (figure 30 miles each direction from a point in the middle of the area.

Drones don't scare me, what scares me is people that don't know or care to follow FAA rules,,,,people brag about how high they took their drone.

I have heard people compare flying too high to driving too fast, ,,I think flying a drone over 400' is more comparable to driving drunk on a freeway,,your putting what you want to do ahead of the safety of others.

Your a pilot, you know the last thing you want to worry about is something flying around in airspace it shouldn't be,let the pilots unions start raising red flags about drones and the FAA will listen..

The number of drones is increasing very, very fast,,if the number of issues of drones being sited by pilots increases at the same rate, we will have a problem.

 

[Steve Moore]

I'm just guessing, but I would imagine there are more drone owners than there are pilots. That could be an interesting battle. Just sayin..

 

[Atom1234]

I found out yesterday if your gonna fly in the wind , you need to launch and land by hand . I launched off the ground and upon takeoff it Almost hit the ground because it was tilting from wind and would off crashed if I didn't gun it and correct on stick . It was 23 miles an hour and in on direction it fly at 10-11 miles and the other I hit the 50's . I will say one thing it flew great and I felt safe with it once in the air . Dji good stuff.