Strong Winds Question

[MavicFT1P]

In a strong wind, *perhaps as high as 500m, you suddenly notice your mavic is drifting away...

Is it...
A- Just Drifting with the wind engines idle?
or
B- (with hands off controller in P-mode) Using ALL it's Power/Ability to Return to the GPS point, where you left it?

And if Answer is:
A: Then that sucks, no?
and if it's
B: How much is too much wind in one direction is too much for Mavic to hold its GPS position?
( it can't be blowing 55km/h up there, can it??)

*Hypothetical capability of Aircraft

 

[Olav van Gerven]

I asume, that if the wind is stronger then the max. speed in sportsmode, you lost. The only thing to do would be to descend to an altitude you are legal to fly to see if there is less wind so you'ld have a chance of at least getting the drone to a safe spot to land (and to recover).

 

[msinger]

B- (with hands off controller in P-mode) Using ALL it's Power/Ability to Return to the GPS point, where you left it?

This one.

 

[zocalo]

This one.

+1. It's almost certainly B, and yes, you can absolutely have 55km/h winds at 500m AGL when it feels like a slightly breezy day on the ground.

What you need to do in this situation is descend while you still have battery power and control over the aircraft to a point where the air current drop to a more management level. If possible, try and put something like a hill or building between the drone and the wind if it's suddenly picked up, or can be attributed to a specific cause like entering an updraft from a cliff.

Engaging sport mode and trying to fight it is just going to drain your battery faster and, if the wind speed really is more than the drone can handle and it's moving away from you regardless, is not going to improve the situation either.

 

[Meta4]

In a strong wind, *perhaps as high as 500m, you suddenly notice your mavic is drifting away...

Or ... don't get caught out.
You know the strength and direction of the wind down below.
Up high it will be going in the same direction but stronger so you shouldn't ever be surprised by it.
Since you know the direction, it's a simple matter to fly into the wind rather than away with the wind.
It might be slow but it's going to be an easy ride home, which is much better than the opposite alternative.

 

[BossBob]

Or ... don't get caught out.
You know the strength and direction of the wind down below.
Up high it will be going in the same direction but stronger so you shouldn't ever be surprised by it.
Since you know the direction, it's a simple matter to fly into the wind rather than away with the wind.
It might be slow but it's going to be an easy ride home, which is much better than the opposite alternative.

The wind does not always blow in the same direction at all altitudes as you'd know if you've ever watched hot air balloons. Pilots of these aircraft use this phenomina to steer their rudderless craft around the sky. Pilots taking off from the same spot within minutes of each other can end up miles apart in different directions.

 

[Meta4]

The wind does not always blow in the same direction at all altitudes as you'd know if you've ever watched hot air balloons.

From flying real planes, I'm well aware of how the Coriolis force twists the wind and how it can be at 90 degrees to the angle on the ground.
But that's up much higher than the levels we fly drones and shouldn't be a significant issue.
If you estimate the wind up therfe is blowing the same direction, you'll be close enough.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

OP to answer your question, I wouldn't fly winds gusting > 30mph. I don't think it's a stretch to say that could flip the UAS over.

To add further info regarding winds at greater altitudes definitely take a look at winds aloft. It's not uncommon for winds to be 2-5x higher as low as 1500'. Plenty of websites and apps that show winds aloft, tag it with aviation. Here's a url to play with Winds and Temperatures Aloft

My advice on altitudes, if you're < 400', winds aloft are negligible; if you fly past that and into the thousandths digits, you should absolutely be checking the wind speeds at your destined altitude.

There are plenty of UAS apps that allow you to configure thresholds for winds, gusts, rain, cloud cover, sat reception, etc and quickly provide you a simple "Good or not good to fly" Highly recommend as a preflight before launching.

 

[okw]

From flying real planes, I'm well aware of how the Coriolis force twists the wind and how it can be at 90 degrees to the angle on the ground.
But that's up much higher than the levels we fly drones and shouldn't be a significant issue.
If you estimate the wind up therfe is blowing the same direction, you'll be close enough.

The terrain will play a big part in the wind direction in our airspace (below 400'). As @BossBob mentioned, hot air balloon pilots use this to steer the balloon. Back when I was part of the chase crew for a hot air balloon, I watched another balloon fly multiple circles around our landing spot on the side of a hill by changing altitude, but never going over about 200' AGL.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

The terrain will play a big part in the wind direction in our airspace (below 400'). As @BossBob mentioned, hot air balloon pilots use this to steer the balloon. Back when I was part of the chase crew for a hot air balloon, I watched another balloon fly multiple circles around our landing spot on the side of a hill by changing altitude, but never going over about 200' AGL.

Valid argument for hot air balloons, but lets state the obvious, UAS limitations are much higher than that of air balloons. Unless you're in a terrain like the rockies, winds aloft from AGL-400' don't vary to wildly in the 100' increments. Your average UAS pilot does not really need to check winds aloft in that flight range, if you start hitting > 800', then yeah probably good to check winds at 1000'.

 

[okw]

Valid argument for hot air balloons, but lets state the obvious, UAS limitations are much higher than that of air balloons. Unless you're in a terrain like the rockies, winds aloft from AGL-400' don't vary to wildly in the 100' increments. Your average UAS pilot does not really need to check winds aloft in that flight range, if you start hitting > 800', then yeah probably good to check winds at 1000'.

That is quite true for wind velocities. I was just stating that the winds can, even at our low altitudes, be moving up to a full 180 degrees from where they are on the ground. Strictly talking about direction.

 

[MavicFT1P]

+1. It's almost certainly B, and yes, you can absolutely have 55km/h winds at 500m AGL when it feels like a slightly breezy day on the ground.

What you need to do in this situation is descend while you still have battery power and control over the aircraft to a point where the air current drop to a more management level. If possible, try and put something like a hill or building between the drone and the wind if it's suddenly picked up, or can be attributed to a specific cause like entering an updraft from a cliff.

Engaging sport mode and trying to fight it is just going to drain your battery faster and, if the wind speed really is more than the drone can handle and it's moving away from you regardless, is not going to improve the situation either.

Thanks for all the answers guys. Glad to get confirmation.

For a minute there i thought you said put a Building between me and the drone Meta4.
Im like ? I thought Meta4 was a good guy. But i think you meant something else


The Wind is spooky sometimes, almost like someone is controlling your drone.
mostly because if you are below 120m, you get power back due to the lower wind

 

[Rattydude77]

I can't fly in high winds the smart controller tells me the wind is a a certain speed and makes u land or recommends u land

 

[Meta4]

I can't fly in high winds the smart controller tells me the wind is a a certain speed and makes u land or recommends u land

The recommendation is very conservative.
There's no need to land, just be aware of the wind and factor that into your flying.
The warning shows if the wind exceeds 7 metres/sec.
Your drone can fly at 16 m/s (with obstacle avoidance disabled) so unless your drone is far away downwind, a 7 m/s wind isn't going to be a serious issue.

 

[Thomas B]

The recommendation is very conservative.
There's no need to land, just be aware of the wind and factor that into your flying.
The warning shows if the wind exceeds 7 metres/sec.
Your drone can fly at 16 m/s (with obstacle avoidance disabled) so unless your drone is far away downwind, a 7 m/s wind isn't going to be a serious issue.

Agree with @Meta4 ... That’s my key! When wind is up always fly y out against and back with it.

 

[brett8883]

In a strong wind, *perhaps as high as 500m, you suddenly notice your mavic is drifting away...

Is it...
A- Just Drifting with the wind engines idle?
or
B- (with hands off controller in P-mode) Using ALL it's Power/Ability to Return to the GPS point, where you left it?

And if Answer is:
A: Then that sucks, no?
and if it's
B: How much is too much wind in one direction is too much for Mavic to hold its GPS position?
( it can't be blowing 55km/h up there, can it??)

*Hypothetical capability of Aircraft

Remember that high the drone won’t be able to use any visual points of reference to hold position so you are relying solely on GPS which can be fluctuate by up to 1.5m. So there’s that.

Then drone has what called a “position gain.” Let’s call it “GPS location gain” for this situation. This is how aggressively the drone holds is position. You want a happy medium between what I like to call the “drunken sailor drone” (drone tried to hold position but over shoots it and then has to go back the other way and over shoots it, repeat repeat till finally come to position) and what I call “drone on crack” (fast spastic hyperactive movements to stay in position).

You want something in the middle of those two. Some drift is just fine

 

[Phantomrain.org]

In a strong wind, *perhaps as high as 500m, you suddenly notice your mavic is drifting away...

Is it...
A- Just Drifting with the wind engines idle?
or
B- (with hands off controller in P-mode) Using ALL it's Power/Ability to Return to the GPS point, where you left it?

And if Answer is:
A: Then that sucks, no?
and if it's
B: How much is too much wind in one direction is too much for Mavic to hold its GPS position?
( it can't be blowing 55km/h up there, can it??)

*Hypothetical capability of Aircraft

Something to consider when flying in the wind , if that gimbal is flipping your risking damage to the camera, What we do if the winds are heavy is place a small piece of foam behind it so it wont flip this allows us to play in some stronger winds. The mavic cannot really hold position well with a steady wind of 10 mph which it is why its tricky to hand catch at that pont. A steady wind is a dangerous wind no matter.

Part of the reason why I developed the Lunar Landing Pad was for a much easier time landing the drone in the wind.

Phantomrain.org
Coal

 

[MavicFT1P]

Once again, thanks for the replies.
Re: Brett. Lucky i have those extra Galleleoi Sats to work with now (it worked )
Flight test, when the frikkin weather lets up.

Id buy a suit Phantomrain, but I just put on a sexy (i think) Wrapgrade Skin.
that and rain comes with wind here, so yeh..

Out of interest what does your whole kit weigh for the M1P/X?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Once again, thanks for the replies.
Re: Brett. Lucky i have those extra Galleleoi Sats to work with now (it worked )
Flight test, when the frikkin weather lets up.

Id buy a suit Phantomrain, but I just put on a sexy (i think) Wrapgrade Skin.
that and rain comes with wind here, so yeh..

Out of interest what does your whole kit weigh for the M1P/X?

0.3 ounces, and wraps look really nice with the wetsuit over top. When your ready to take on Mother Nature because you cannot escape her , you will know where to find me. lol