WHAT IS THE REAL TRUTH REGARDING WIND RESISTANCE - M2P

[Joe Herrera]

I have a Mavic 2 Pro. The manual says 22 MPH is the maximum wind the drone can handle. I downloaded a drone weather app that is constantly saying I can't fly. I'm asking those with long experience in drone flying, what is the real maximum wind speed my drone should be able to handle? Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[Starz]

There are a few ways to find out what the wind is doing via the app.
Lower left on the screen will indicate the angle position that the aircraft is trying to hold. The strong wind warning at the top left will appear when the app feels you need that information. Wind speed can vary greatly at elevations above ground level, so I tend to pay attention to the angle indicator. The wind app I trust most is the gray matter one between my ears.
There is a wind limit on anything that flys and you should follow the guidelines per that aircraft. The”real maximum wind speed” is proportional to the real amount of risk you want to endure.
If it’s blowing, I don’t(risk)fly.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I have a Mavic 2 Pro. The manual says 22 MPH is the maximum wind the drone can handle. I downloaded a drone weather app that is constantly saying I can't fly. I'm asking those with long experience in drone flying, what is the real maximum wind speed my drone should be able to handle? Thanks in advance for any input.

30 mph is your number , if you are not seasoned with flying in the wind.

Check out this video so you can see the limits of your camera and the drone.

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Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic 2 in the Rain. Land on the Water

 

[VenomXts]

I don't own a Mavic 2 pro, but I think the real answer depends on what you are trying to do. Grab a pic in high wind is pretty easy....... anything else (video time-lapse etc depends). Also, apps are apps ground speed wind vs 50, 100, 400 ft in the air are way different.

 

[slup]

...what is the real maximum wind speed my drone should be able to handle?

That's a way too complex question to get answered by only give a number for the wind velocity ... unfortunately.

You have 2 distinct figures out from your crafts specs ...

-Maximum Air velocity (for a M2P in Sport = 72km/h, 45MPH or 20m/s)
Which means that if you go full Sport head on into a 20m/s wind you will not make any ground speed at all.

-Max wind speed resistance (for a M2P they say 29-38km/h)
It's unclear what DJI means by this ... it's been speculations about that it can be max wind where the craft can maintain position in a hover.

All outside this will be on you, in what direction relative the wind do you fly, an understanding that an app only contains forecasts not the actual conditions where your craft happens to be flying, an understanding that it's usually higher winds the higher you fly, a proper battery management ... and your experience as an UAV pilot.

This is usually a good advice ... "better skip flying a windy day & fly more another".

 

[Meta4]

The manual says 22 MPH is the maximum wind the drone can handle. ... I'm asking those with long experience in drone flying, what is the real maximum wind speed my drone should be able to handle?

Your problem comes from misunderstanding the (mostly) useless wind resistance that DJI show in their specs.
It's the max speed that the drone is able to hover and hold position without being pushed away by the wind.
That's only useful if you just want to go straight up and hover, but doesn't help you at all if you want to fly away somewhere and come back.

A 22 mph wind could be no problem for some flights, and a 12 mph wind could be too much for another.
You need to think about what you want to do with the drone.
Where you want to fly, how far away, what the wind direction is and what that will mean to your proposed flight, particularly the return part.
You don't want to run the battery down and then face a hard fight against a strong wind.

 

[Drone_Pilot]

I have a Mavic 2 Pro. The manual says 22 MPH is the maximum wind the drone can handle. I downloaded a drone weather app that is constantly saying I can't fly. I'm asking those with long experience in drone flying, what is the real maximum wind speed my drone should be able to handle? Thanks in advance for any input.

Here where I live in South Florida we just had a very strong cold front pass by on Saturday. Winds were gusting between 25 and 32 miles per hour and flew my mavic zoom without any issues.

 

[Joe Herrera]

I rarely use my M2P for photography. I bought it for motion video. The wind in the area where I wanted to fly was in the safe range, but the gusts were about 30mph between 150 to 200 feet AGL. I flew it up briefly but noticed the gusts would have made me constantly re-adjust and not allowed me to get the shot I wanted. The UAV forecast app seems to be a useful tool. Thanks for all the feedback. Any further suggestions regarding this subject would be appreciated.

 

[Meta4]

Any further suggestions regarding this subject would be appreciated.

Your drone can fly faster and deal with stronger winds if you disable obstacle avoidance.

 

[Dave Maine]

The physics underlying this question is pretty clear. Drones fly in some direction by tilting in that direction. The horizontal component of the thrust force moves the drone in that direction. The drone’s tilt angle is limited by the flight control system such that the drone’ s height doesn’t change.

The horizontal speed is determined by the balance between the force and the air resistance to that force. In the case where there is no air movement, the drone will move at this speed over the ground below.

If the air the drone is flying in is moving, the drone will still fly at that speed through the air. However, the ground speed will be different. If the wind is moving in the same direction as the air, the drone’s speed over ground will be the combined speed of the wind and the drone through air. If the wind is in the opposite direction, the drone’s speed over ground will it’s speed through air minus the wind’s speed. If the wind’s speed is greater than the drone’s top speed, the drone will go in the the direction of the wind over ground and never come back unless the conditions change.

My guess is that DJI publishes a speed that maximum tilt provides with some safety margin built in.

 

[Peterson]

Okay, all of the information on wind is correct and spot on but also remember one thing I do not remember seeing anywhere and in my experience throws everything in a question yet again and that is altitude. My wind app will show wind speeds at different altitudes and it can be calm, at take off, and as soon as you are up a few hundred feet it can be blowing 20 plus miles an hour and have seen it just the opposite as well. My MP2 does not fly above 10 miles per hour wind speed, for my flying experience. It will affect battery life, flight time, and are you flying in the direction of the wind and then returning you have to figure out battery life to get you back to take off point. It is way more complicated then I would want to chance for a relaxing hobby. Can the MP2 fly at stronger winds, off course, the question for me is will my stress level for my hobby fly at 20 plus miles per hour wind speed. For me the answer is no.

 

[Dave Maine]

The speeds shown by most apps are FORECASTS. They don't necessarily match the current conditions. They are also generalizations about location, which may or may not help you where you are actually flying. The actual location speeds are heavily impacted by the surround of the location - trees, buildings, open plains etc.

The pilot in command of the drone needs to take all of this into account while planning and flying the mission.

 

[macfawlty]

I have a Mavic 2 Pro. The manual says 22 MPH is the maximum wind the drone can handle. I downloaded a drone weather app that is constantly saying I can't fly. I'm asking those with long experience in drone flying, what is the real maximum wind speed my drone should be able to handle? Thanks in advance for any input.

I’ve flown my M2P in some pretty serious wind on the North shore of Maui. 25-35 mph, gusty. It performed magnificently and didn’t have any problem with a headwind return. I could see it bouncing around a lot, but the video clips were rock solid. No way I wasn’t gonna fly in Hawaii and it’s ALWAYS windy, so…

If you’re concerned about wind velocity, avoid the headwind return. All of the more current model DJI drones seem to be quite stable in the wind. One model that didn’t do well was the original Mavic Mini, which drifted like crazy.

 

[BobbyBob]

Hi Joe, I'm also exploring this question. For now, I am adopting this practical approach: "if I can fly upwind in P mode, then I'm good to go, and if it is windy or gusty, I am careful to fly upwind first!" I like this approach, because it tests the reality on the day, which, as others have mentioned can differ hugely from the forecast, and between altitudes. I have been able to fly upwind and automatically hold position fine in P mode in winds purporting to be gusting to 30mph. On the one occasion (so far - as I'm not massively experienced compared to some) that I immediately started to get sent backwards by the wind - I just switched to S mode, flew myself home, and gave up for the day.

I'm not inclined to carry on flying when I need to place reliance on the extra wind-fighting power of Sport mode: that's because, (if I have understood correctly) the RTH functionality (by whichever means it is engaged) will only fly the drone to P-mode performance levels.

 

[Dushash]

I have a Mavic 2 Pro. The manual says 22 MPH is the maximum wind the drone can handle. I downloaded a drone weather app that is constantly saying I can't fly. I'm asking those with long experience in drone flying, what is the real maximum wind speed my drone should be able to handle? Thanks in advance for any input.

Just wanted to say that app that constantly says you can't fly is most of the time also using satellite acquisition number and if it's lower than set it will say you can't fly. I'm just saying it's not only wind speed that is often the reason why that app is saying you can't fly. I adjusted number of sats down to 10 and now app says I can fly much more often.
That been said wind does matter and I don't fly in winds above 20mph. You still can in Sport mode and only if you are not going far, so to be able to bring it home quickly. Fighting wind drains battery a lot, even when just hovering to keep drone stable.

 

[Meta4]

Just wanted to say that app that constantly says you can't fly is most of the time also using satellite acquisition number and if it's lower than set it will say you can't fly. I'm just saying it's not only wind speed that is often the reason why that app is saying you can't fly. I adjusted number of sats down to 10 and now app says I can fly much more often.

At default settings, UAV forecast only shows a fraction of the sats that are visible in your sky.
There will always be many more than needed.
Ignore UAV forecast for satellites.

 

[RogerDH]

Just wanted to say that app that constantly says you can't fly is most of the time also using satellite acquisition number and if it's lower than set it will say you can't fly. I'm just saying it's not only wind speed that is often the reason why that app is saying you can't fly. I adjusted number of sats down to 10 and now app says I can fly much more often.
That been said wind does matter and I don't fly in winds above 20mph. You still can in Sport mode and only if you are not going far, so to be able to bring it home quickly. Fighting wind drains battery a lot, even when just hovering to keep drone stable.

I'm not sure what app you're using, but UAV Forecast shows any problem conditions (e.g. "Wind" or "Sats Locked") in a red box instead of green.

 

[Faster]

I'm not sure what app you're using, but UAV Forecast shows any problem conditions (e.g. "Wind" or "Sats Locked") in a red box instead of green.

Agree but those boxes color changes according the threshold settings you input on the app, like the number of satellites (GLONASS+GALILEO+Beidou) or the wind speed at any specific height, temperature, etc.

 

[RogerDH]

Agree but those boxes color changes according the threshold settings you input on the app, like the number of satellites (GLONASS+GALILEO+Beidou) or the wind speed at any specific height, temperature, etc.

Well, yes; my only point was that it's easy to tell why it's saying "not good to fly."