Too overcautious about wind conditions?

[Deleted member 114292]

We've all heard about fly-aways and other incidents because of ignoring conditions. I know how to do the math, but don't have much practical experience flying yet. I've been very conservative when it comes to wind conditions, perhaps overcautious, causing me not to fly on days when I might have. I live about 3 miles from Lake Michigan, which has a few good scenic opportunities.

I have a Mini and a M2 Pro, the latter of which I bought because I thought the wind gusts kept me out of the air too many days. But now with the M2, I feel like I may still be too overcautious of the conditions. I need some common sense imparted from you more experienced guys. It may be important to know that right now I don't fly very far, I think 3600 feet has been my distance threshhold and am not ready to test range. I guess I need a shot of encouragement and common sense to help me understand when it's safe to fly and when it become "iffy".
I'm attaching a screen shot of today's conditions.... Would you go flying today? Times to avoid, if any?

View attachment 112584

FWIW With my MP2 I would fly on this day. At least up until 19:00 hours.
To be honest I really don't like flying in higher winds.
If you want to be a great drone pilot practice maneuvers instead of just flying around.
Learn to fly smooth circles, figure 8's, V's and W's etc. All in a safe contexts.
Great pilots are NOT test pilots and there is no need to push any limits, other that that of your skills by perfecting your maneuvers.

 

[vindibona1]

@old man mavic
I really like your response. In terms of "quite a financial investment", as you imply, the impact varies from person to person. In this time as we all plod through this pandemic, while it provides a lot of time to learn new things, it can also has implications as to one's stream of income. I also tend to meticulously care for my gear, whether it be cameras, musical instruments or sports gear. Flying a drone requires a lot of letting go, learning to trust the technology, learning how far you can test Mother Nature and avoiding doing "stupid stuff". It's also another dimension of care and responsibility when you aren't holding something in your hand or more challenging yet- not in plain view.

Perhaps I need to see higher winds as a learning experience to experiment with my drones in more adverse conditions (incrementally) to see where the envelope of risk lies. To be honest, I still get nervous when I put my drones up in the air, and I'm sure that it's because my inexperience doesn't quite know what to expect in other than perfect conditions. Hopefully over time, perhaps when the newness of my drones wears off, I'll be less nervous, but yet retain the sense of caution. To once again use my Dad's words that ring in my ears as he taught me to drive a car: "Never do anything you're not 100% sure you can do". Successive approximations (baby steps) are probably required going forward, I suppose.

 

[Deleted member 114292]

@old man mavic
I really like your response. In terms of "quite a financial investment", as you imply, the impact varies from person to person. In this time as we all plod through this pandemic, while it provides a lot of time to learn new things, it can also has implications as to one's stream of income. I also tend to meticulously care for my gear, whether it be cameras, musical instruments or sports gear. Flying a drone requires a lot of letting go, learning to trust the technology, learning how far you can test Mother Nature and avoiding doing "stupid stuff". It's also another dimension of care and responsibility when you aren't holding something in your hand or more challenging yet- not in plain view.

Perhaps I need to see higher winds as a learning experience to experiment with my drones in more adverse conditions (incrementally) to see where the envelope of risk lies. To be honest, I still get nervous when I put my drones up in the air, and I'm sure that it's because my inexperience doesn't quite know what to expect in other than perfect conditions. Hopefully over time, perhaps when the newness of my drones wears off, I'll be less nervous, but yet retain the sense of caution. To once again use my Dad's words that ring in my ears as he taught me to drive a car: "Never do anything you're not 100% sure you can do". Successive approximations (baby steps) are probably required going forward, I suppose.

When it is an elevated risk nervous is a good thing. When you stop being nervous is when the bad things will happen.

 

[old man mavic]

@vindibona1 i can assure you my friend that even after nearly 600 flights with my various DJI drones, i am still very relieved after a days flying, some 8 batteries sometimes,
to finish the day pack up and go home with all my gear undamaged just go at your own speed ,build that confidence and most of all enjoy the experience

 

[diver dave]

I am finding that the drones handle wind far better than i would expect, and the conditions in post 1 would be fine in the environment i fly, open moorland hills and very few trees. I generally have a good bit of height and almost always fly into or across the wind initially, so return home with the wind. I would not fly in strong wind in clutterred conditions, forests where the wind is not slowed by the trees, or places with loads of cables, buildings and obstructions. I guess it also depends what you are doing, flying for the emergency services or simply pottering about, the importance of the flight will alter the decision balance. I was flying with a pal today, he has a MM and is timid about flying it. Conditions were not perfect, it was windy, but fairly steady and not too gusty. He flew his right to limit of VLOS, had a great time and learned that the unit is actually quite capable. We were over open park land and if it had gone wrong he could have landed, or flown home super low, so gained a load of confidence. We had wind warnings, but dropped down out of them and learned what sport mode would do, and how the wee drone manages more difficult conditions. We then threw the inspire up, and it simply battered threw the wind, it flew basically not noticing the wind and he learned a lot from this. All in, we had a great days flying, trying all the drones and testing the limits of his experience, but in what was really quite basic flying for my more experienced pals.

 

[vindibona1]

When it is an elevated risk nervous is a good thing. When you stop being nervous is when the bad things will happen.

I agree. I've always been consciencious, sometimes too much.

 

[LA 2020]

We've all heard about fly-aways and other incidents because of ignoring conditions. I know how to do the math, but don't have much practical experience flying yet. I've been very conservative when it comes to wind conditions, perhaps overcautious, causing me not to fly on days when I might have. I live about 3 miles from Lake Michigan, which has a few good scenic opportunities.

I have a Mini and a M2 Pro, the latter of which I bought because I thought the wind gusts kept me out of the air too many days. But now with the M2, I feel like I may still be too overcautious of the conditions. I need some common sense imparted from you more experienced guys. It may be important to know that right now I don't fly very far, I think 3600 feet has been my distance threshhold and am not ready to test range. I guess I need a shot of encouragement and common sense to help me understand when it's safe to fly and when it become "iffy".
I'm attaching a screen shot of today's conditions.... Would you go flying today? Times to avoid, if any?

View attachment 112584

If you study for the FAA Part 107 license a lot of the material is based on weather and hazardous weather. It is very good and teaches you about weather conditions with relation to flying. I am using the Flight Ready Ground School and it's only $85 to prepare for the FAA test. It is well worth it just to learn about weather vs. flight and a lot more. It will answer a lot of your questions and get you ready for the FAA Part 107 if you ever decide to go commercial

 

[brett8883]

If you study for the FAA Part 107 license a lot of the material is based on weather and hazardous weather. It is very good and teaches you about weather conditions with relation to flying. I am using the Flight Ready Ground School and it's only $85 to prepare for the FAA test. It is well worth it just to learn about weather vs. flight and a lot more. It will answer a lot of your questions and get you ready for the FAA Part 107 if you ever decide to go commercial

I don’t believe one side is 2.4 and the other 5.8. No I do not advise.

 

[BirdzEyeView2020]

@vindibona1 your post is quite interesting ,in a way because all the answers that get given ,are really personal opinions that others have
how you fly your drone is really down to each individual pilot to do what they feel happy and confident with,
the drones we fly are for many quite a large financial investment ,and people's circumstances will vary on what that investment means in terms of loss
every time your take to the air, you do so having weighed up the pros and cons of the flight,the risks involved and the chances of a successful outcome
thats all anyone can do ,mitigate risk as much as possible ,but no matter how much you do that ,you have to be prepared for the unexpected happening
and deal with it to the best of your ability ,and that ability comes with practice and airtime ,and learning your crafts capabilities
the real trick here is not to become complacent and think that it will never happen to me ,because thats when it will

Well said!! ? ?

 

[BirdzEyeView2020]

I was at Silver Springs State Park a week ago. There had been high winds for days straight. On this day, I had 16mph winds with 30mph gusts. I watched numerous wind test videos, for the MA2, ranging from 20, 30, and even one at 40mph. All being successful tests, this somewhat built my confidence, even though the MA2 is technically rated at a level 5 / *19-24 mph (Beaufort Wind Scale).
I took a calculated risk and went straight up, no distance covered except vertically. She wobbled a bit, but I managed to get some decent footage. Long story short, I did a bit of homework and made a decision based on my confidence and research rather than a 'gamble', and it paid off successfully. Every pilot's experience and confidence is different and should be treated as such.

(*seems to vary depending on which version of the scale you find/use)

 

[Rchawks]

@vindibona1 your post is quite interesting ,in a way because all the answers that get given ,are really personal opinions that others have
how you fly your drone is really down to each individual pilot to do what they feel happy and confident with,
the drones we fly are for many quite a large financial investment ,and people's circumstances will vary on what that investment means in terms of loss
every time your take to the air, you do so having weighed up the pros and cons of the flight,the risks involved and the chances of a successful outcome
thats all anyone can do ,mitigate risk as much as possible ,but no matter how much you do that ,you have to be prepared for the unexpected happening
and deal with it to the best of your ability ,and that ability comes with practice and airtime ,and learning your crafts capabilities
the real trick here is not to become complacent and think that it will never happen to me ,because thats when it will

What he said (excellent answer)

 

[Rchawks]

As in running machinery your worst enemy is overconfidence. On the other hand I too have been on the very overcautious list for the reasons given above. I would like to push my limits more than I have, but my gut instinct tells me I'm not there yet. The eye hand coordination takes some time to develop. I may be one of those who isn't willing to venture BVLOS. Time will tell ( I do have a very good VLOS ability btw)

 

[fullbore]

time = distance/speed

A->B time = 100/50
B->A time = 100/150

Total time = 100/50 + 100/150 = ~2.67.

(Time unit not known. As battery life is 2 hours, time unit above must me less than an hour - or drone crashes before making it back to point A. If time unit is an hour, then drone crashes at/near point B.)

 

[Rchawks]

time = distance/speed

A->B time = 100/50
B->A time = 100/150

Total time = 100/50 + 100/150 = ~2.67.

(Time unit not known. As battery life is 2 hours, time unit above must me less than an hour - or drone crashes before making it back to point A. If time unit is an hour, then drone crashes at/near point B.)

What he said, lol

 

[vindibona1]

I think my eyes just glazed over.

 

[Meta4]

Sharp crowd !

What kind of drone are you talking about?
Your answer would not be correct for any DJI consumer drone.

From about five years ago, DJI implemented GPS braking to keep groundspeed at or about the max speed in the specs, even with a tailwind.
With a very strong tailwind, it's possible to go only a little faster.
But if GPS is not acting on the drone's speed (you are flying in atti mode, you can achieve much greater tailwind speeds.

Try it yourself and you'll see that you get very little speed boost flying with a tailwind.

 

[DanMan32]

I believe it was theoretical. The goal also seemed to try to demonstrate a speed boost doesn't cancel the loss from the other direction, to better budget your energy.

Since energy planning seems to be the goal, although you won't get the expected speed boost because of the FC governing the max ground speed, I believe you will reduce energy consumption.

But in this example, you ran out of flight time and energy arriving at point B.

 

[Thmoore]

That’s not what I said and you know that. Don’t twist my words around.

Personally, I like this interpretation, because it makes me the dang Chuck Yeager of drone pilots.