UAV Forecast and wind gusts

[Abic]

When setting up UAV Forecast, do you guys check the Wind Gusts box?

As an example, if I set the maximum wind speed at 22 MPH at 400 feet and check the Wind Gusts box, the app will turn the wind forecast to red if the gusts exceed that speed. I do that to be on the safe side.

It would be great if we could set the wind speed and the wind gust speed separately since a gust of wind is usually temporary.

 

[PhantomFandom]

When setting up UAV Forecast, do you guys check the Wind Gust box?

As an example, if I set the maximum wind speed at 22 MPH and check the Wind Gusts box, the app will turn the wind forecast to red if the gusts exceed that speed. I do that to be on the safe side.

It would be great if we could set the wind speed and the wind gust speed separately since a gust of wind is usually temporary.

I generally do. However I manually check the sustained wind and gust speed just prior to flying. I carry an anemometer as well, just in case the wind feels different than what the app says.

Yes of course a gust is "temporary" by definition. However that usually would be the most dangerous type of wind, specifically for takeoff and landing. I look at the difference between sustained and gust speeds. If it is a small difference like 12 wind/15 gusts then no problem. If it something like 10 wind/25 gusts then we have an issue. It is those sudden and strong gusts that can topple your drone when it is taking off or landing.

 

[mov_pilot]

Wind gusts are the main threat in my experience. Especially urbanity induced gusts between tall buildings..

 

[Abic]

Let's say that winds are 15MPH at 400 feet , but gusts are 28MPH, would you stay down?

 

[PhantomFandom]

Let's say that winds are 15MPH at 400 feet , but gusts are 28MPH, would you stay down?

That depends on many things including wind and gusts at ground level and which drone I was flying.

 

[mov_pilot]

I'd also specify where you are flying, what risks are in the area?

 

[CanadaDrone]

I've found UAV forecast to be wildly inaccurate, especially with wind and available satellites. Half the time it also tells me it's cloudy when it's sunny or vise versa but that doesn't affect my flying. I don't know where it gets it's data from but everywhere I have used it (Canada and various countries abroad including the USA, Japan, UK) it has been 100% useless. I know lots of people like to use it though so I don't know what's up. I'm not sure it's ever told me there are enough satellites to fly, but when I fire up the M2P I get 18 right away.

Wind scares me more than just about anything else, but I have much better luck making an on-site judgement and checking local forecasts, and also just generally assuming wind is a lot worse 100-200' up (which it usually is). I used to have a handheld wind meter, but after the first couple times it's really easy to judge for yourself. DJI does not recommend flying in any wind above Level 4, which is 13-18 mph / 20-28 kph - I just stick to that and have never had any scares (knock on wood). Maximum wind speed resistance for something like a Mavic 2 or P4P is 29-38 kph, so any temporary gusts above that is a no-go for me.

28 MPH is around 45 km/h and I definitely would not fly in that, and DJI does not recommend you fly in anything near that - but I can only speak for myself. You will find videos of drones fighting leaf blowers, so to some degree you need to find your own comfort zone, but pushing the carefully arrived upon recommendations is often how people lose drones.

Flying around the coast, especially cliffs, can have huge unexpected wind gusts so I am also extra careful around those. Same with hills/valleys, between buildings, etc. I work in a downtown core with lots of tall buildings and on some days the wind gusts are enough that I can feel my whole building move even though it's not that windy elsewhere.

 

[MichiganMavic]

I flew mine in the soccer field at around 40’ hovering to get my batteries down to storage %, and it held its own.
Here’s the UAV forecast for today