Wind.....it's always windy?, and landing pad

[mreco99]

Hi Guys,
Had a second little fly. I guess as Im new at this im cautious but, man, it's often too windy. Checking UAV forecast right now (UK East Anglia, near me)
33ft 16mph gusts 29
100ft 19mph gusts 32
250ft 21mph gusts 33
400ft 22mph gusts 34
So if I look at the gusts, and it's over 22 i'm defo not going to use it.

With your mini 4 pro, what is your skill level and what are your own rules for wind and flying?

Also I went out, forgot the landing mat (I know lots of you dont use one). I was surprised how flat and level the ground needs to be (and sand and dusty dirt free). Any grass needs to be soooooo perfectly short. Anyway I found a tiny patch of ground (actually a squashed mole hill) and use that, but not doing that again, it was sketchy!! On my list now is practice hand takeoff and hand catching lol, ive watched the theory, need to try it. Also I think I will leave the landing mat in the car permanently.

One other point, I find im staring at the drone and forget to look at the screen, great fun practising though, will go out again near sunset as the wind drops as the 100ft gusts are down to 22

 

[Mrktn]

Hi Guys,
Had a second little fly. I guess as Im new at this im cautious but, man, it's often too windy. Checking UAV forecast right now (UK East Anglia, near me)
33ft 16mph gusts 29
100ft 19mph gusts 32
250ft 21mph gusts 33
400ft 22mph gusts 34
So if I look at the gusts, and it's over 22 i'm defo not going to use it.

With your mini 4 pro, what is your skill level and what are your own rules for wind and flying?

Also I went out, forgot the landing mat (I know lots of you dont use one). I was surprised how flat and level the ground needs to be (and sand and dusty dirt free). Any grass needs to be soooooo perfectly short. Anyway I found a tiny patch of ground (actually a squashed mole hill) and use that, but not doing that again, it was sketchy!! On my list now is practice hand takeoff and hand catching lol, ive watched the theory, need to try it. Also I think I will leave the landing mat in the car permanently.

One other point, I find im staring at the drone and forget to look at the screen, great fun practising though, will go out again near sunset as the wind drops as the 100ft gusts are down to 22

Nice having a mini 4 pro. I’m from the east too and yep, pretty gusty right now.

Would be interested to know what range you’re getting with the bird.

 

[hansenn]

The wind quickly blows too hard for a mini especially near open water. For landing it is best to find a wind-free spot. And try to learn yourself landing your drone on your hand. It makes you less dependant on your landing mat or a flat surface.

 

[mreco99]

Nice having a mini 4 pro. I’m from the east too and yep, pretty gusty right now.

Would be interested to know what range you’re getting with the bird.

Hi, Gusts are less sunrise and sunset which is handy as thats when im going out. range? im literally keeping it tight right now, practicing control.

 

[Cafguy]

Minis are great BUT they don't like the wind thats for sure One thing about the landing pad: They will keep the dirt and grass trimmings from flying up into the drone when you start it up SO while you really don't need it all the time-Keep it handy.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

A few suggestions,
1} consider hand catching and launching but read up on those before you attempt either. Obviously you need to keep your fingers away from the props but I hand launch and catch mini 1 & 2s 99% of the time. The mini 3 & 4 may have quirks especially with regards to launching so read up on them.
2} going high is not compulsory and comes with a number of risks. For one and as you have seen, the wind speed generally increases with height. Setting high height limits opens the door to the possibility of an RTH sending the drone up into strong wind. My height limit is generally well under 200ft.
3) if you think the wind strength borders on the risky, don't fly, simple as that.
Learn to understand the attitude indicator, it shows you the wind the drone is encountering.
As you gain experience you will inevitably encounter gusts that approach or exceed the drone's capabilities, learn how to deal with them without panicking, panic is a killer just as inadvisable use of RTH is. Many people have triggered RTH during blow away and it often a death sentence, it is an 'energy efficient speed' flight mode not designed to fight strong headwinds.
Descend and switch to sports mode.
If the drone survives you will gain a better feel for what the drone can do and 'cope' with.
4) If the drone does get caught in sustained wind, get it on the ground somewhere that is safe for others BEFORE it is blown out of control range, I would go so far as to say even if that means using the CSC to stop the motors in mid air.

As you may have noted, I have a mavic mini and they are susceptible to wind and indeed I have seen it whipped away by a gust but I still have it and haven't needed to recover it from some distant spot.

The only drone I have come close to ditching is a Phantom 3, that was some gust.

 

[Mrktn]

Minis are great BUT they don't like the wind thats for sure One thing about the landing pad: They will keep the dirt and grass trimmings from flying up into the drone when you start it up SO while you really don't need it all the time-Keep it handy.

They can be a pain, I have one and they are valuable for the above reason especially if you don’t hand catch, like myself. Landing in dust and debris can be detrimental to the innards of the rotors and coils and have been told they can be hard to remove.

 

[Murph66]

I toyed with the Idea of those motor covers to put on top but someone said they're left open deliberately for ventilation / cooling, anyone fitted them ?

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

In an emergency, you can use your car's floor mat as a takeoff and landing pad.

 

[mreco99]

In an emergency, you can use your car's floor mat as a takeoff and landing pad.

Car floor mat, brilliant!! didnt think of that one.

 

[mreco99]

Does the Controller tell you the wind speed the drone is dealing with?

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Does the Controller tell you the wind speed the drone is dealing with?

No or, if you are talking about a controller with a built in screen, not directly. The screen can show you the attitude indicator and if you understand that it does give you an idea about the wind speed.

 

[hansenn]

Does the Controller tell you the wind speed the drone is dealing with?

With my mavic 3 classic the controller gives me on a regular base warnings about strong wind. Most of the time I ignore them because I know the M3 can handle pretty strong wind. If the drone can hold its position there is nothing to worry about.

 

[Felix le Chat]

Hi Guys,
Had a second little fly. I guess as Im new at this im cautious but, man, it's often too windy. Checking UAV forecast right now (UK East Anglia, near me)
33ft 16mph gusts 29
100ft 19mph gusts 32
250ft 21mph gusts 33
400ft 22mph gusts 34
So if I look at the gusts, and it's over 22 i'm defo not going to use it.

With your mini 4 pro, what is your skill level and what are your own rules for wind and flying?

Also I went out, forgot the landing mat (I know lots of you dont use one). I was surprised how flat and level the ground needs to be (and sand and dusty dirt free). Any grass needs to be soooooo perfectly short. Anyway I found a tiny patch of ground (actually a squashed mole hill) and use that, but not doing that again, it was sketchy!! On my list now is practice hand takeoff and hand catching lol, ive watched the theory, need to try it. Also I think I will leave the landing mat in the car permanently.

One other point, I find im staring at the drone and forget to look at the screen, great fun practising though, will go out again near sunset as the wind drops as the 100ft gusts are down to 22

I'm in the midlands here... and I suffer with terrible wind

 

[JimSteadman]

Hi Guys,
Had a second little fly. I guess as Im new at this im cautious but, man, it's often too windy. Checking UAV forecast right now (UK East Anglia, near me)
33ft 16mph gusts 29
100ft 19mph gusts 32
250ft 21mph gusts 33
400ft 22mph gusts 34
So if I look at the gusts, and it's over 22 i'm defo not going to use it.

With your mini 4 pro, what is your skill level and what are your own rules for wind and flying?

Also I went out, forgot the landing mat (I know lots of you dont use one). I was surprised how flat and level the ground needs to be (and sand and dusty dirt free). Any grass needs to be soooooo perfectly short. Anyway I found a tiny patch of ground (actually a squashed mole hill) and use that, but not doing that again, it was sketchy!! On my list now is practice hand takeoff and hand catching lol, ive watched the theory, need to try it. Also I think I will leave the landing mat in the car permanently.

One other point, I find im staring at the drone and forget to look at the screen, great fun practising though, will go out again near sunset as the wind drops as the 100ft gusts are down to 22

You might want to delay hand catching until the wind dies down. It can be bloody tricky to hand catch on a gusty day. Bloody... literally.

 

[Droning on and on...]

You might want to delay hand catching until the wind dies down. It can be bloody tricky to hand catch on a gusty day. Bloody... literally.

Wear a soft, pliable, thin (calfskin) well-fitted leather glove. I just started doing this. Man what a difference it makes in confidence. I just snatch the **** thing with absolute confidence.

 

[AeroJ]

Surprised that in a thread called what this one is nobody has mentioned the other trap you can fall into on the windy days - that of forgetting to peg the landing pad down, and it blowing away once the drone has taken off ! That happened to me when I was flying from the top of a big hill once, and it kited quite some distance down the hill and away from where we launched before the wind dropped it again. And of course landed at some 45 degree angle against a shrub where it remained useless for landing on. As there was tall grass everywhere I didn't want to land on that with props spinning, and I considered it too windy for hand catch, so defaulted to plan C, which is manoeuvre the drone very low to the ground over some thick, bouncy grass, and kill motors so it drops only the last foot into a nice springy soft surface that can't really damage it.

The maximum I expose my M4P to is 20 mph (gusting) at 400 ft. Unless the scenery is particularly spectacular and I'm not gonna get to come back to that location, in which case I'll risk it up to about 25/30 mph.

I have seen video of M4P dealing with winds up to 40/50mph, and it is admirably resilient and persistent in its attempts to stay where it is told, but you can tell it is REALLY struggling, and at that point the gimbal can't move enough to compensate craft movement, so footage is largely compromised too, making the whole endeavour merely an unnecessary risk !

 

[Meta4]

I have seen video of M4P dealing with winds up to 40/50mph, and it is admirably resilient and persistent in its attempts to stay where it is told, but you can tell it is REALLY struggling

The M4 Pro has a max speed of 36 mph, so if the wind was actually blowing at 50 mph, the drone isn't struggling, it's going backwards.
The stated wind speed was probably from something like UAV forecast.
The actual wind speed where the drone is flying could be significantly different from the forecast for several of reasons.
You should always treat that sort of reported wind speed with (at least) a grain of salt.

 

[mreco99]

My landing pad came with pegs but never needed them, it’s the folding landing pad and fairly sturdy , if that blew away , I shouldn’t be flying

 

[AeroJ]

The M4 Pro has a max speed of 36 mph, so if the wind was actually blowing at 50 mph, the drone isn't struggling, it's going backwards.

That's true of course, but if it's only gusting past those limits, it's very good at getting back to intended position as soon as it can, which means it can survive flights if it's only the gusts surpassing the maximums. Still not worth the risk for me tho, but nice to know what is possible in an emergency.

The actual wind speed where the drone is flying could be significantly different from the forecast for several of reasons.
You should always treat that sort of reported wind speed with (at least) a grain of salt.

Definitely true. Gauging wind speed is quite difficult, and the direction changes it might make later downright impossible.

Even an anemometer can only give you a vague idea of what it's averaging at ground level at the time of the flight. So we quickly learn to watch the ground level grass movement, water wave patterns, treetops, clouds and birds to try and get an idea of what the wind might be doing at the various 'levels'.

I suppose at the end of the day it comes down to experience and knowing your machine to gauge whether you can get away with the circumstances at hand...

What I hate is those days when the forecast, and weather outside at home seems fine, and then you spend some time and effort getting to your intended fly-site only to find the wind there radically different (and it's ALWAYS more !) than what was reported. I can see how avoiding the disappointment of an aborted session might prompt people to try and push the limits and see what they can get, but if we are lucky will remember in time that the drive home without a lost UAV is a ****-ton worse than a merely cancelled flight !