Mavic Mini windy day flyaway and recovery

[skiptv]

Good thing it didn't "fly away" into an airport, $20K fine if that would have happened. Stupid can cost now and I am fine with that.

 

[Mavic Air Head]

Just a tidbit of worthless information, a friend of mine who was a professional balloon pilot showed me the tricks of precise positioning and contour flying a balloon. The air can be moving in all kinds of directions at different altitudes. You may or may not note the changes as you ascend, perhaps a little drift to the left or right, etc., even a rapid increase or decrease in ascent rate. Could be useful if you can recall it when you need it if things get sketchy. I've used it flying canyons where winds can get unpredictable.
When I say was a balloon pilot, he died in a spectacular balloon crash at an Albuquerque Balloon Festival. CNN played it over and over and over and over, complete with his last words by radio to his wife asking her to get people out of his way so he wouldn't hurt anyone. At least it's harder to die as UAV pilot.

 

[Drgnfli]

I like to use an app called Kittyhawk. If you open up the weather forecast, and select "By Height"
you can see the temp. and wind speed from 0 Ft. too 3000 Ft.
This is a very handy app. I use it every time as part of my pre-flight check list.

I prefer UAV Forecast app for my wind checks - simple, free app!

 

[Drgnfli]

Quick story of my first flyaway. I chanced a windy day, here in Georgia. Thought I would fly low, sheltered by a building and trees. Got careless and gained altitude, wind warnings ignored and off she went. Tried to control it, RTH and she turned briefly, but wind carried her off, with intermitent connections, I watched her path in camera. I thought all was lost

She remained connected up until, low battery. forced to land. I activated the "locate my drone" feature and high tailed it to the location, 3.1km away. Airdata mapped with last altitude of 177ft. GPS placed her in a private gated school, closed on Sunday. I google mapped it with last known GPS, placing it on roof of the school, near HVAC. Was not too hopeful of survival, but recovery was important for report, piece of mind and DJI refresh.
Stopped by the office this morning. Staff was interested, curious and very helpful. Security and I checked last known location and...WE FOUND it on the ground, about 50 feet from GPS location. NO visible damage, and time to share the marvels of the MM and DJI with Security. Got it home; gimbal test, test flight, connections, battery to one light (charging now). All OK. Lesson learned, careful in the (high) wind. BTW: I found out later that gusts were up to 26mph.

After almost crashing into my neighbors tall tree on a windy day (22ish mph) & barely recovering & returning my MP to a safe landing, I've found a foolproof way of determining if it is too windy to fly our drones. Those pop open blue & gold landing pads with the large "H" on each side - if I place it on the ground without nails or rocks holding it down and it blows over or shifts around from the wind - IT IS TOO WINDY TO FLY MY $1,000 TOY! Really, really quite simple to figure out... LOL!... IMHO...