Almost lost my MPP

[chriselliott]

Had a small roof inspection to do today and the wind profile in UAV Forecast was 22mph up to 200 ft. Figured I'd fly my MPP well below that. Well here's the plan, and the eventual flight track and Airdata info. During the mission looking up, I couldn't understand why the aircraft seemed to be out of place for such a small area, and the live image on my S7 Edge didn't match what I was expecting - My MPP was being carried away by the wind. I was just about to go Sport mode when I saw it recovering to the correct waypoint.

Moral of the story is that you never know till you know, regarding wind at altitudes... safe flying all.

 

[Kazzaaz]

That's some serious wind...

The more I fly, the less I trust UAV Forecast's wind predictions, particularly above ground level.
I too have had some close calls putting too much trust into the forecast, flying out with the wind, and realizing how wrong it was on the way back...

I'd say to use caution with AGL winds at 15mph or so, and at that point is about where waypoint missions lose path accuracy quite severely.
26mph average winds at ground level would be a no-go for me, no matter what. You can expect to at least be dealing with double the ground level wind once you're in the air.

These days if I do any sort of long-range flying, I like to make sure I am always flying into the wind / ascending on the way out, and flying with the wind / descending on the way home.
I will usually put my M2Z into Atti mode, clear the flight path on the map and allow it to drift for a while at 200, and again at 400+ if need be. This gives me an accurate reading of exactly how much the wind is acting on my AC at that altitude and from which direction. It can and will vary considerably from UAV forecast's measurements.

 

[macoman]

I never fly any of my drones above 12mph wind. I flew in 15mph and my drones always struggled to maintain balance.

 

[Amarand]

Had a small roof inspection to do today and the wind profile in UAV Forecast was 22mph up to 200 ft. Figured I'd fly my MPP well below that. Well here's the plan, and the eventual flight track and Airdata info. During the mission looking up, I couldn't understand why the aircraft seemed to be out of place for such a small area, and the live image on my S7 Edge didn't match what I was expecting - My MPP was being carried away by the wind. I was just about to go Sport mode when I saw it recovering to the correct waypoint.

Moral of the story is that you never know till you know, regarding wind at altitudes... safe flying all.View attachment 78782View attachment 78783View attachment 78784View attachment 78785

Lots of great information in the replies....

Wanted to add something I learned in the Part 107 training courses: there can be a lot of random turbulence close to buildings. Flying near buildings adds an extra level of oddness. Also, flying over a slanted, hot (?) roof might have caused your downward sensors to freak out a little? I’m sure you had rock-solid GPS, right? That’s the nice thing about in-flight GPS, is that the aircraft can correct if it gets pushed around. But higher winds are no joke. Glad you got her home safely!

 

[chriselliott]

That's some serious wind...

The more I fly, the less I trust UAV Forecast's wind predictions, particularly above ground level.
I too have had some close calls putting too much trust into the forecast, flying out with the wind, and realizing how wrong it was on the way back...

I'd say to use caution with AGL winds at 15mph or so, and at that point is about where waypoint missions lose path accuracy quite severely.
26mph average winds at ground level would be a no-go for me, no matter what. You can expect to at least be dealing with double the ground level wind once you're in the air.

These days if I do any sort of long-range flying, I like to make sure I am always flying into the wind / ascending on the way out, and flying with the wind / descending on the way home.
I will usually put my M2Z into Atti mode, clear the flight path on the map and allow it to drift for a while at 200, and again at 400+ if need be. This gives me an accurate reading of exactly how much the wind is acting on my AC at that altitude and from which direction. It can and will vary considerably from UAV forecast's measurements.

I use the app as a guide.. my post should have read 22mph at 200ft. The increments below that it were in the teens, 13 to 15mph. I get your advice tho. Based on my experience now, I would be a little more than cautious to even try 200' or 400' AGL unless it's a calm day. The 26 mph average wind speed was derived from Airdata after the flight log was uploaded. On the ground there was no more than a gentle gust from time to time, and there are no tall buildings in the area, the tallest being 2 storey for at least a 2 mile radius.

I've seen videos with the high wind warning in the go4 app. I'm wondering if any of the mapping apps will also display those warnings during a mission. I saw nothing on the screen to indicate the aircraft was struggling.

Which other app or service can we use get more accurate wind, weather readings? I'm sure using several different sources would give a truer picture.. I'm thinking along the lines that we use several GPS satellites to get 'triangulated' location accuracy.

 

[chriselliott]

Lots of great information in the replies....

Wanted to add something I learned in the Part 107 training courses: there can be a lot of random turbulence close to buildings. Flying near buildings adds an extra level of oddness. Also, flying over a slanted, hot (?) roof might have caused your downward sensors to freak out a little? I’m sure you had rock-solid GPS, right? That’s the nice thing about in-flight GPS, is that the aircraft can correct if it gets pushed around. But higher winds are no joke. Glad you got her home safely!

The roof would have been hot and it is slanted.. metal, standing seam. Didn't realize the downward sensors would be affected at ~125ft AGL. I had 16-17 satellites locked.

I'm happy she got home safe too, could have been much worse. From my training, I was prepared to go sport mode had the drift continued. Thanks for the input.

 

[WAXMAN]

I use and follow the app called Ventusky. It works for me.

 

[Kazzaaz]

I use the app as a guide.. my post should have read 22mph at 200ft. The increments below that it were in the teens, 13 to 15mph. I get your advice tho. Based on my experience now, I would be a little more than cautious to even try 200' or 400' AGL unless it's a calm day. The 26 mph average wind speed was derived from Airdata after the flight log was uploaded. On the ground there was no more than a gentle gust from time to time, and there are no tall buildings in the area, the tallest being 2 storey for at least a 2 mile radius.

I've seen videos with the high wind warning in the go4 app. I'm wondering if any of the mapping apps will also display those warnings during a mission. I saw nothing on the screen to indicate the aircraft was struggling.

Which other app or service can we use get more accurate wind, weather readings? I'm sure using several different sources would give a truer picture.. I'm thinking along the lines that we use several GPS satellites to get 'triangulated' location accuracy.

I never fly any of my drones above 12mph wind. I flew in 15mph and my drones always struggled to maintain balance.

What I was trying to sum up was that the wind you feel on the ground is very deceiving and the height increments in UAV Forecast can't be trusted.
I remember one incident not too long ago, showing off for some friends behind his apartment building which was blocking all wind on the ground.
Flew out about a mile, and on the way home had some serious concerns that I wouldn't make it back.
I was topping out at 6mph into the headwind. My buddies thought it was BS - they all laughed not realizing the non-existent wind where we were standing was probably 30-40mph 200 feet up.
That's when I started to religiously test wind speed for myself any time I fly as mentioned previously.

I should add that, three Mavic accidents later, I pretty much exclusively fly in wide-open airspace and give myself what many would consider a huge height buffer over the tallest obsticles.
I guess in this situation the AC maintaining balance / super-accurate GPS locks isn't quite as important. So I would definitely lower my wind-safety threshold if I had planned to fly in tighter spaces.

One more thing you can do if you aren't comfortable with ATTI mode:
The radar / attitude widget in the DJI Go app is great for keeping tabs on wind. (really grinds my gears how DJI only shows the power output when in sport mode - this is useful information for all flights!!!)
Yaw very slowly until the blue fill indicator is completely level. If it is above the center line at that point, the AC is pitched forward and you are facing the wind. Opposite if the blue fill is below the center line.

Good luck and respect the

 

[nomad53]

take a look a windy.com also available in IOS app store not sure about Android but a very good weather app

 

[mogulsmoke]

I was flying my new MPP this week, at low altitude of 5 feet or so, just getting ready to land it, when, apparently, a ground level gust of wind blew it eastward from the landing pad, about 10 feet and it started to land behind some 3 foot high shrubs, disappearing behind the shrubs. Due to a disability, I have to sit in a chair when I fly, but I was getting up when the MPP popped back up, above the shrubs, it had not crashed. I then flew it manually to the landing pad. What really got me, was the camera was aimed directly at me when it popped up, like it was saying "gotcha". Just goes to show, "don't trust the wind" at any level.

 

[Bekanne]

Lots of great information in the replies....

Wanted to add something I learned in the Part 107 training courses: there can be a lot of random turbulence close to buildings. Flying near buildings adds an extra level of oddness. Also, flying over a slanted, hot (?) roof might have caused your downward sensors to freak out a little? I’m sure you had rock-solid GPS, right? That’s the nice thing about in-flight GPS, is that the aircraft can correct if it gets pushed around. But higher winds are no joke. Glad you got her home safely!

Yes. Between structures creating a breezeway.