Anemometer

[SW_Drone_Guy]

Yesterday, after driving 2 hours to visit a new destination, I found myself sitting on the shore of a scenic lake. The wind was gusty and I was a little hesitant to fly, so I took out my new anemometer and found the wind gusts only reaching 14 to 18 mph. Less than I had estimated!
I flew for an hour with several "strong wind" warnings, but only one instance where the drone couldn't maintain its (hovering) position. At that point I descended and flew back - and waited until the wind died down a bit. I know the wind is usually stronger at altitude and that's where the drone is. I was at 200ft when I met the overpowering gusts...
My point is, having the anemometer gave me a factual wind speed - albeit at ground level - that was more reliable than my own, somewhat nervous, estimation. I'm glad I got it. It gave the confidence to fly - with caution.
Happy flying.

 

[Alex Baxter]

UAV forecast app would be a good thing to have, it'll give you wind speed at altitude too. It also is of course indicative only..

 

[Lurch003]

UAV Forec... Darn, @Alex Baxter beat to it !

 

[Alex Baxter]

UAV Forec... Darn, @Alex Baxter beat to it !

I'm just so impressed with it, I'll sing it's praises to anyone, I'm love to be able to afford the subscription, but I'm saving for the Mavic 3

 

[svenmarbles]

The problem with it is that the wind readings that you’ll get at ground level will be drastically different from even just 100ft higher.

 

[Motorcycle Rider]

It would be interesting to mount one on a drone, then go fly it, hover at 200 feet, and see the wind speeds remotely.

 

[Dronernator]

There's an app on Android for wind speed, Zephyr Windmeter. Uses the phones mic to try and work out wind speed.

 

[SW_Drone_Guy]

It would be interesting to mount one on a drone, then go fly it, hover at 200 feet, and see the wind speeds remotely.

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[Starz]

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Along the lines of that video comes to mind the beachfront property I have available for sale in Yuma, Arizona. Pm for account info to transfer funds!

 

[Bxr532001]

Yesterday, after driving 2 hours to visit a new destination, I found myself sitting on the shore of a scenic lake. The wind was gusty and I was a little hesitant to fly, so I took out my new anemometer and found the wind gusts only reaching 14 to 18 mph. Less than I had estimated!
I flew for an hour with several "strong wind" warnings, but only one instance where the drone couldn't maintain its (hovering) position. At that point I descended and flew back - and waited until the wind died down a bit. I know the wind is usually stronger at altitude and that's where the drone is. I was at 200ft when I met the overpowering gusts...
My point is, having the anemometer gave me a factual wind speed - albeit at ground level - that was more reliable than my own, somewhat nervous, estimation. I'm glad I got it. It gave the confidence to fly - with caution.
Happy flying.

I’ll look at the weather app which displays wind speed. Before using my anemometer I try to estimate wind speed. What I guess and what the actual speed is usually very different. I know the wind speed varies from ground to a higher altitude, at least I can get a good idea of what to expect. Buying an anemometer in my case was a good investmen.

 

[Dave Maine]

Using real wind speed data as provided by a real wind speed indicator is far better than any forecast. There are many available to sailers in marine supply stores for obvious reasons.

They rarely agree with the forecasts, either in velocity or direction. They aren’t necessarily off by a lot, but they are different, and those differences can mean a lot to sailers or pilots. This problem is compounded by flying at altitude where wind velocity can only be derived from the esc system in the drone.

 

[Motorcycle Rider]

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Yes, that would be great if it could be read remotely on a tablet or something.

 

[Motorcycle Rider]

Using real wind speed data as provided by a real wind speed indicator is far better than any forecast. There are many available to sailers in marine supply stores for obvious reasons.

They rarely agree with the forecasts, either in velocity or direction. They aren’t necessarily off by a lot, but they are different, and those differences can mean a lot to sailers or pilots. This problem is compounded by flying at altitude where wind velocity can only be derived from the esc system in the drone.

Correct.
As a pilot, I very rarely find forecast winds, and true winds to be the same.

 

[usaken]

Yesterday, after driving 2 hours to visit a new destination, I found myself sitting on the shore of a scenic lake. The wind was gusty and I was a little hesitant to fly, so I took out my new anemometer and found the wind gusts only reaching 14 to 18 mph. Less than I had estimated!
I flew for an hour with several "strong wind" warnings, but only one instance where the drone couldn't maintain its (hovering) position. At that point I descended and flew back - and waited until the wind died down a bit. I know the wind is usually stronger at altitude and that's where the drone is. I was at 200ft when I met the overpowering gusts...
My point is, having the anemometer gave me a factual wind speed - albeit at ground level - that was more reliable than my own, somewhat nervous, estimation. I'm glad I got it. It gave the confidence to fly - with caution.
Happy flying.

I have a Kestril Meter. gives wind, temp the works. For those concerned with density altitude all the data you need

 

[dronerdave]

I also have a couple of Kestrel's. I find the wind apps are usually slightly higher than what is on the ground. Hard to say if UAV forecast is accurate at altitude but I still use it. Ventusky, and dark sky are pretty good too for ground wind info.

 

[SW_Drone_Guy]

Ventusky, and dark sky are pretty good too for ground wind info.

Hey Dave, thanks for the tip. I really like Ventusky and added it to my bookmarks. Dark Sky wouldn't let me see any weather until I added a browser extension. I'll stick with Ventusky, thanks! Happy flying