How do you judge "too windy"?

[TwoSticks]

So much for me being the Dare Devil : 25 mph with the Mini 2 is preposterous lol

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

Its not clear to me which way your comment is going. Higher or lower than your personal preference?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Its not clear to me which way your comment is going. Higher or lower than your personal preference?

I have not been able to do 25 mph with the mini 2 , its pretty good piloting skills.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

 

[Clintoops]

I do know they make hand held wind indicators we used them for ultralights. Only a few of my buddy's had there air craft cart wheeling down the air field.
In to much wind we could not get it in the hangar.

 

[Bodkin's Best Photography]

Was out flying yesterday with a friend. Both our drones were moving at all of 5kmph in sport mode. That's too windy.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Was out flying yesterday with a friend. Both our drones were moving at all of 5kmph in sport mode. That's too windy.

That is flying at the edge of the Envelope . Very tricky and you need to be little lucky therefore to windy , I agree.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

 

[Niku]

For your information:
For all commercially manufactured drones, the manufacturer has stated the maximum recommended wind intensity at which the drone can fly. The remote controller must determine and follow the manufacturer's instructions to ensure a safe flight. If the wind is too strong, the drone may drift away with the wind, or control may be lost.

 

[spamgnome]

I live not far from an airport that reports actual wind speed hourly (in addition to forecast). I use the Avia Weather app as a convenient way to view that data. Then if I decide to go out, I look at the trees and observe the hover as described by previous posters.

Many airports report winds every 60 seconds. I find these METARS are superior to UAV forecast, which often seems to exaggerate wind speed.

 

[PVilardi]

@edfrombama very similar to yourself check first using UAV forecast and then when i get to the place where i am going to fly look at trees to give me an idea of wind velocity ,
also the terrain you are flying over can have a big part to play in wind strength and direction,
and although most of the time the wind tends to be stronger the higher you go ,that is not a guarantee that it will always be so, the wind can change direction and speed at different heights
a good way to assess the drones ability to handle a given wind is to take off and observe it in the hover if it goes straight up and sits fairly level ,then it should be ok to fly
if on the other hand it drifts with the wind on take off and then leans into the wind as it fights it ,then probably best to wait for better conditions
one other thing if you get a high wind warning on the screen while you are flying ,dont ignore it
react by reducing altitude and also look at the attitude indicator to see how much the drone is having to adjust to hold its position
a steady wind is much better than sudden gusts ,as these can catch you out and cause the drone to become unstable

Good morning to all-
Being an old sailboat person, I am very sensitive to wind strength and wind behavior. I've been knocked down many times when I misjudged wind or the wind strength changed on me.

Anyway, I wonder how you all make judgements on fly/no fly when it comes to the Mini 2.

I look at the trees and the flag down at my flying field. If the main body of the trees is moving with the wind, I don't fly. If the flag is blowing out straight, I don't fly. And I pay particular attention to irregular wind gusts and calms, These are the conditions that present the most challenge to me- either flying my drone or sailing.

Interested in seeing how you make your decisions.

good day to all- Ed

Wind speed max for the mini 2 is listed at 37.8kph or 25mph I use a cheap wind meter to get a base but also you can use UVA Forecast app and adjust the values of certain data to whatever your drone requires. For example number of satillites needed for a good lock, max wind speed at a given altitude and max gusts. Then the app will tell you when it's good to fly or not.

 

[Don Testme]

On a windy day, in sport mode, I will fly in the direction of my subject for a few seconds, then turn around and fly back to my home point for a few seconds. If the drone is going slower to my subject and faster to my home point, I can figure out how much battery power I can use in total going and coming.

 

[hiflyer201]

Experience is the best teacher however..... Number one rule ...don't fly downwind with the mini

 

[peterc4]

when the controoler says land asap

 

[Meta4]

For your information:
For all commercially manufactured drones, the manufacturer has stated the maximum recommended wind intensity at which the drone can fly.

They don't.
They give a figure for wind resistance, which is the maximum wind speed in which the drone can hold position without being blown away.
That's only good for going straight up and coming straight back down again.
But it's not saying that you can fly wherever you like in winds up to that speed.

Flying in wind is a lot more complex than that.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

The wind is too unpredictable for having a set max wind speed, it boils down to common sense combined with experience.
Hopefully not getting into trouble in the meantime while learning the drones parameters and capabilities, all in relation to the outside factors that can affect a flight.

Reading this forum is probably the best way to get educated quickly on the dangers of wind, gusts, how the wind behaves around buildings, trees, and terrain, near the coast, at altitude, etc.

I've rarely flown in winds that would concern me, once I recall.
I'm simply not usually bothered trying to get some video or photos in wind that may affect them, as good as the DJI gimbals are.

 

[Rockgrip]

You may not much high-rise terrain or many mountains in South Alabama but something to be aware of when flying close to either is a condition known as mountain wave turbulence. Bottom line-if it’s windy and you’re flying on the downwind side of high terrain it’s going to be a bit choppy and hard to control a small drone. Used to get jarred quite a bit flying single engine aircraft around the hills and mountains of E TN on windy days and what those conditions can quickly do to a drone may have financially painful consequences.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

mountain wave turbulence

Funnels through buildings and other such structures, almost always stronger around hilltops, and lee side, updrafts to consider.

I'm sure members here with glider / hang glider etc experience have posted about this here before.

An example.

 

[MA2 317]

Just throwing it out there...

WINDY.COM is a wind app that I check.

It shows the direction of the wind on a map with a flowing graphic of arrows.

‎Windy.com - Weather & Radar

‎A UNIQUE WEATHER FORECAST VISUALISATION While most weather forecasting apps rely only on free global models, Windy has gone a few steps further and invested heavily in the most accurate models available, always at the highest possible resolution, to ensure accurate weather forecasts...

apps.apple.com

Windy.com - Weather Forecast - Apps on Google Play

Weather radar, satellite, wind, waves, marine and hurricanes forecast.

play.google.com

.

 

[Drone-dude]

The first guidance you get is the info regarding maximum air speed for the different modes & max wind speed resistance you get from the specification ... regarding the Mini 2 they are:

View attachment 141737

It's not fully clear what DJI means by the "Max Wind Speed Resistance" ... but it can be the wind limits where the drone no longer can hover in place without drifting.

Out from the "Max Speed" you easily see what a remaining ground speed will be for the different modes if the drone have a head wind slowing the ground speed down ... if in S-mode with full forward into a head wind velocity of 16m/s ... the drone will not do any progress at all as the remaining ground speed will be 0m/s.

Then you have to judge what wind speed you actually face in reality ... including gusts. You can get a indication from various apps that not only give forecasts for ground level (you rarely fly on ground level) ... instead on higher altitudes where your drone actually will be during a flight.

One popular app is UAV Forecast ... get it here:

Android: UAV Forecast for DJI Quadcopter & UAV Drone Pilots - Apps on Google Play
IOS: ‎UAV Forecast

But note that various apps only give forecasts ... not real values from where you actually fly. To come around this you either test the winds out by going up on the height you will fly on & fly against the wind with full speed & take note of which ground speed you achieve ... getting 10m/s ground speed in S-mode, then you have winds+gusts up to 6m/s.

And to all this you will over time learn what your drone model can handle & what you're willing to risk ... & what that correlates to regarding trees, flags & so on.

Furthermore ... you should also get the habit to always fly out against the wind when in doubt ... if you have misjudged the wind speed then it will be easy to get your drone home as it will have a tail wind on the return leg.

Regarding this last paragraph of this post, I used the same technique when I go out for a bike ride. After a few hours in the saddle, I'm looking for any help I can get on the return leg of my ride, to get this tired old man home. :>)

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Regarding this last paragraph of this post, I used the same technique when I go out for a bike ride. After a few hours in the saddle, I'm looking for any help I can get on the return leg of my ride, to get this tired old man home. :>)

Similarly too here in Australia, our ‘grey nomads’, retirees with caravans, motor homes, etc, often plan their sometimes years long travels to circumnavigate the country using seasonal wind to assist the fuel economy benefit, and that can be significant.
Much like preserving a drone battery for the homeward leg.

 

[SpitFire]

Welcome to the forum from Chicago the Windy City.
One way not to check for wind is wetting your finger and checking the wind.
More accurate would be to check wind forecast, before flying.
I have the MP and the M2, and never fly when its above 15 mile an hour winds.
Been flying 5 years now, still have not lost a drone to the wind.

 

[jonthecourier]

Not being a mathematician It's all down to me, I go to stand somewhere that's not sheltered and stand for a minute and say to myself do you want to risk problems of your making and of course I don't so I turn around and walk home, no flying today much too windy.