Mini wind resistance - ok for coast flying?

[Drony_Drone]

I’m wondering how good the Mini is for wind resistance. I’ve been reading a lot about it, and obviously as it’s small and light, it’s more prone to getting blown about. I’ve read about a lot of flyaways/crashes which sound like this could be the problem.

I’m wanting to fly on coast a lot, along cliffs etc and worried it won’t cope. I have a Parrot Bebop 2 at moment, and deciding between Mini and the Anafi.

The Mini combo is a great price, and has everything, whereas would need the Anafi and then extra battery and bag so looking at £200 more.

So how does it cope? Any UK flyers use it on coastal areas etc? How is it’s wind resistance? Anafi says 50 whereas Mini is 28 so almost 1/2 the resistance.

Thanks

 

[aokusman]

The specs will state the max winds it can fly in. Use a weather app to find out the wind and gusts speed at different feet.

 

[Tasos GR]

UAV Forecast
best app for your smartphone.!

 

[Drony_Drone]

UAV Forecast
best app for your smartphone.!

Already have it! Good app, obviously higher it goes worse, which people forget.

Was just wondering on user experience as I’ve read a lot on flyways/wind warnings etc.

Better always to fly out against and back with, but on coast it’s difficult with winds

 

[Tasos GR]

you can set it to show wind power at the height you fly..
"Wind Altitude (m)"

 

[FoxhallGH]

No need to wonder ... The Mavic Mini's manual states its 'Max wind speed resistance' at 8 metres/sec (approx 18 mph).

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www.dji.com

From what we have been seeing so far about Mini's being blown away in the wind, I'd take that figure as meaning that if you tried to fly into a 18mph wind, it would pretty much stop it in its tracks ...

 

[Lastrexking]

The evidence on this forum suggests the Mini doesn't cope with wind well. Have a poke around the lost mvic section, and the Mini section and you'll get a good idea of the issues.

 

[Ian in London]

I’m wondering how good the Mini is for wind resistance. I’ve been reading a lot about it, and obviously as it’s small and light, it’s more prone to getting blown about. I’ve read about a lot of flyaways/crashes which sound like this could be the problem.

I’m wanting to fly on coast a lot, along cliffs etc and worried it won’t cope. I have a Parrot Bebop 2 at moment, and deciding between Mini and the Anafi.

The Mini combo is a great price, and has everything, whereas would need the Anafi and then extra battery and bag so looking at £200 more.

So how does it cope? Any UK flyers use it on coastal areas etc? How is it’s wind resistance? Anafi says 50 whereas Mini is 28 so almost 1/2 the resistance.

Thanks

If the wind is blowing on-shore, ie from the ocean towards the land, then you're in a better place for flying as if it does get blown beyond its power, it will at least blow away from the water.
I did a video on how to stop it from being blown away and what to do if that's happening.
Make no mistake, it's not like the Pro or the Air; the Mini is very easily blown off course or refuses to RTH if there's a moderate wind as it's often far windier up high than on the ground.
Cheers
Ian

 

[Drony_Drone]

If the wind is blowing on-shore, ie from the ocean towards the land, then you're in a better place for flying as if it does get blown beyond its power, it will at least blow away from the water.

Thanks, I’ve read a lot, and it’s obvious really with a small light drone it’s going to suffer in wind.

Agree I suppose if I can find the direction then at least it should back to me on-shore as you say.

I did a video on how to stop it from being blown away and what to do if that's happening.
Make no mistake, it's not like the Pro or the Air; the Mini is very easily blown off course

can you link to the video please I’ll have a watch.

...or refuses to RTH if there's a moderate wind as it's often far windier up high than on the ground.
Cheers
Ian

So does RTH just not activate, Mini stops in flight if it can’t RTH? Is this indicated somewhere so you would know, could then hopefully lower to get out of gusts if possible or land.

I’m thinking of Mini or Anafi for next drone. Anafi has lot better wind resistance, but a lot more expensive with extra batteries, bag I would want as well

Thanks

 

[TDZHDTV]

I got some great footage of Banford Edge in the Peak District, plus 22mph winds, I just made sure I flew out into the wind and maintained VLOS at all times.

 

[netsonic]

So does RTH just not activate, Mini stops in flight if it can’t RTH? Is this indicated somewhere so you would know, could then hopefully lower to get out of gusts if possible or land.

The RTH works, however it lacks power if you are in high winds. The solution is to switch to sports (S) mode and then fly it manually to safety. If you are inexperienced as you have not flown it in this windy situation before, when panic hits, you press RTH and then watch it drift further away until it's gone.

I strongly advise that you fly somewhere else first in quiet environment, before attempting something more advanced. Learn on the job.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Thanks, I’ve read a lot, and it’s obvious really with a small light drone it’s going to suffer in wind.

Agree I suppose if I can find the direction then at least it should back to me on-shore as you say.

can you link to the video please I’ll have a watch.


So does RTH just not activate, Mini stops in flight if it can’t RTH? Is this indicated somewhere so you would know, could then hopefully lower to get out of gusts if possible or land.

Oh it can be activated, if not blown out of wifi range too fast.
If the wind is too strong for it to actually fly into a decent wind, then it will simply blow backwards at a relative speed to wind strength / gusts.

The mini is spec’d at 8mps, or 18mph / 29kph.
Without owning one (but the general to wind plan should be the same as other aircraft), I believe the best plan is to drop altitude fast and try to get out of higher wind speeds, but then connection issues may happen in the brief time the mini is descending (decreasing LOS accentuated by the surroundings and ever increasing distance from the home point).
If your head is not panicking, there may be time to ‘look’ down and find a place to land before too late.

Much better (with all aircraft) to be proactive to wind rather than reactive.
It’s far better to be looking up wishing you could fly, than to be looking down wishing your aircraft was on the ground.

 

[Ian in London]

can you link to the video please I’ll have a watch.


So does RTH just not activate, Mini stops in flight if it can’t RTH? Is this indicated somewhere so you would know, could then hopefully lower to get out of gusts if possible or land.

I’m thinking of Mini or Anafi for next drone. Anafi has lot better wind resistance, but a lot more expensive with extra batteries, bag I would want as well

Thanks

The RTH isn't strong enough to overcome strong winds. This is the video and should tell you everything to help you decide if it's a good idea to fly...

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[Meta4]

it’s obvious really with a small light drone it’s going to suffer in wind.

It's not that it's small and light.
It's that it has a low top speed.

 

[GerdS]

Just one more comment to RTH and sports mode:
If the MM gets blown away the best you can do is switching to sports mode, lowering altitude as much as possible and flying home manually, as stated before.
However, at low altitude the risk for connection loss is increasing dramatically and the worst case would be loosing the connection. Same problem is in case you get aware that you cannot reach your location (e.g. because battery is empty) and you decide for intentionally landing at a foreign but easy to find place. Risk is extremely high that the connection will break prior to landing.
In such cases the MM will automatically initate a RTH, increase altitude again up to the pre-programmed level and therefore get blown away again. I have actually no solution on how to prevent this. For the bigger Mavics there is a GO4 option for connection loss handling, where you can slelect between landing in place or issuing RTH. This could save your MM in such situations, too.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

It's not that it's small and light.
It's that it has a low top speed.

And seemingly other problematic bugs or downfalls that contribute to blow aways.
Attitude problem where it won’t pitch far enough.
Battery chemistry that doesn’t like to be pushed (at all really).

 

[Drony_Drone]

Thanks some good info....

Maybe like the other Mavic the app will be updated in time to allow to change RTH or land option? On other Mavic can you do this on the fly, or set before take off? If you can’t change on the fly then that’s a problem.

Still unsure how it will cope, watching videos on YT seems decent. I like it for coast and mouth of river when cruise ships come in, wonder if would cope in these. Also for bridges etc where wind probably again an issue?

Think I’ll take a punt, looks great and small and can do most things.

Think I’ll order combo off Amazon (UK) when back in stock. Does everyone get DJI refresh? Is £35 for UK so seems worth it?

What about UK drone insurance, does anyone have this for loss/crash? Any recommendations and prices?

Thanks

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Worth getting care refresh I’m sure for that price.
Refresh vs insurance ?
Pros and cons.
If you get a mini and it blows away and is not recoverable (especially if it goes down in the ocean / river), refresh won’t generally cover you without a ‘body’.

 

[RogerDH]

It's not that it's small and light.
It's that it has a low top speed.

Yep, that seems to be a common misconception. If you had a Mini and a Mavic Pro sitting on a table and it got windy, it's intuitively obvious that the Mini will get blown off the table first. However, applying that intuition to what happens in the air is fallacious. Sitting on the table, the resistance to the force of the wind is the friction with the table, which is directly proportional to the weight of the drone. However, when it's in the air flying, the only resistance to wind drag is thrust, i.e. the same two forces that limit top speed. Any drone with a higher thrust-to-drag ratio than the Mini will handle higher winds than the Mini, regardless of weight.

 

[netsonic]

Maybe like the other Mavic the app will be updated in time to allow to change RTH or land option? On other Mavic can you do this on the fly, or set before take off? If you can’t change on the fly then that’s a problem.

You can do it on the fly from the app, but not from the rth button on the remote. Just try it out, or check this video out

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