Wind/Gusty flight conditions

[KevinDC5]

Hello, First post, and have had my Mini2 for a few weeks now. Can someone please tell me how much wind the Mini2 can endure before you call for “NoFlight”? I’m at the beach this weekend and winds are at 10-20 mph currently and tomorrow forecast to be 20-30mph. Just wondering what experiences have been with pilots here and gusty conditions. Thanks

 

[old man mavic]

@KevinDC5 the issue with wind is its not the same at different height levels ,with regards to flying from the beach ,be very careful if the wind is blowing off shore ,as the drone will struggle to return home against the wind,a simple test to help see if the wind is to much for the drone to handle ,is to take off, go up about 10ft and watch the drones attitude as it hovers, and listen to the sound of the props, are they constant, or changing up and down as the drone fights the wind
if the drone shows any drift with the wind then its probably a good idea to abandon the flight and try again when things have calmed down ,

 

[Meta4]

Hello, First post, and have had my Mini2 for a few weeks now. Can someone please tell me how much wind the Mini2 can endure before you call for “NoFlight”? I’m at the beach this weekend and winds are at 10-20 mph currently and tomorrow forecast to be 20-30mph. Just wondering what experiences have been with pilots here and gusty conditions. Thanks

There's a lot more to dealing with wind than a single number to define go/no go conditions.
The direction of the wind relative to where you fly is most important.
It's a good idea to make sure that you don't fly off downwind and force a fight against a headwind to come home.
If you start the flight into a headwind, it might be slow going but the flight home will be easy.
That's much better than doing it the other way around.

 

[FLDave]

I use a portable hand-held anemometer to evaluate questionable windy conditions. It's not just immediate wind but also understanding how wind impacts flight conditions. It also means understand weather conditions and forecasts and comparing to current conditions. Evaluate current wind and gusts, including direction for 5 or 10 minutes to make sure you understand the wind. Wind at higher levels will be different, and often higher. If birds are flying, evaluate their actions against the wind.
If all is acceptable then do a short straight up flight with and emergency landing plan in place if too windy.
With AirData you can evaluate winds aloft so you can get an idea how your past flights handled wind.
It's a lot more than simple wind max numbers from manufacturer.
I've flown my Air 2s with altitude winds estimated at 15 mph and low level in-flight at 12 mph. Forecast local wind was 10-15 mph. Before takeoff measured wind was gusty from about 5 to 12 mph. I wouldn't fly over a large body of water at those conditions. I also watched the drone carefully as it made some quick attitude changes to the wind.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Some things to remember,
1) Wind speed generally increase with height and conversely decreases as the drone descends so if the drone gets caught in high wind reduce its height, if that is possible. This has 'saved' my Mavic Mini and Mini 2 when they have been caught in gusts.
2) DO NOT set unnecessairly high RTH heights, you may send the drone up into wind.
3) Automated RTH is not a life saver if the drone is fighting wind, entirely automated RTH limits the drones air speed. If you need the direction to home use the map and or start an RTH but, once the drone is pointed towards home, cancel the RTH and or switch to sports mode. Then, if the drone is losing ground i.e. being blown away, use sports mode maximum speed and get down a low as is safe to do.
4) Don't 'ignore' low battery RTH warnings etc. "just to capture one last shot", if you do it may be the last shot in more ways than intended, though bear in mind the above about the limitations of RTH.

As posted above by others don't fly an outbound leg of a flight down wind in high wind.

As with regards to checking wind.
If it is windy enough to give you cause for concern, switch the gimbal to FPV mode and when you get the drone 'to height' let the drone 'hover' and slowly make it do a 180deg or 360deg spin, you will see the tilt of the image reach a maximum at respectively 1 or 2 points. This represents the tilt the drone needs to use to fight the wind, if that tilt is near the maximum of the flight mode then you are pushing the limits for that flight mode, if that tilt is near the maximum for sports mode you are pushing the limits of the drone full stop.

 

[KevinDC5]

Thank You all very much for your feedback! Using these flight tips I had a successful flight, but definitely kept it upwind and nowhere near the altitudes I usually prefer. Tbh I had been concerned that perhaps a high gust would overturn the craft altogether. Thanks again for taking your time to respond to my concerns!
I look forward to spending more time in these forums and building my knowledge from the experienced!

 

[Meta4]

I had been concerned that perhaps a high gust would overturn the craft altogether.

Wind doesn't do that to drones.
At worst, it would just blow the drone horizontally, further downwind.

 

[JimSteadman]

I agree with all of the above. One thing you might find both useful and will make good images is to fly at sunrise or sundown as the wind seems more moderate at those times. The added bonus is that the sky is often interesting at those times of the day.

 

[Tofino]

I use an app called UAV Forecast. It shows the winds at different altitudes. Some may be amazed at how fast the winds are at 100 feet then at 200 feet. It also shows the no fly zones.

 

[EpicFlight]

I use a portable hand-held anemometer to evaluate questionable windy conditions.

I use my eyes.

Have never failed me.

If conditions are questionable, an anemometer adds no useful information.

 

[orionshooter]

I use my eyes.

Have never failed me.

If conditions are questionable, an anemometer adds no useful information.

An anemometer may be useful in at least confirming what you think your eyes see. Like Ronald Regan once said, “Trust, but verify.”

 

[EpicFlight]

An anemometer may be useful in at least confirming what you think your eyes see. Like Ronald Regan once said, “Trust, but verify.”

If that's the case you need glasses, not an anemometer

If my eyes are telling me, "too windy to fly" I simply don't fly. I don't need a momentary instance of a number to validate my judgment.

 

[DSRT_VLTR]

Forecast 10-15mph max to fly my Mini 2. I have enough tasks to take care of while flying without having to worry about a high wind warning popping up on my screen.