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Wind speed

deepanshus

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i own a Mini 2 and new to drone flying. How much ground speed of wind is acceptable to take the drone out? Currently BB weather is showing a local forecast as windy at 15mph.

What would you recommend?

Deepanshu
 
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i own a Mini 2 and new to drone flying. How much ground speed of wind is acceptable to take the drone out? Currently BB weather is showing a local forecast as windy at 15mph.
It's not that simple, there's no single number that's OK/not OK for flying.
It depends on what you are wanting to do - how far you want to fly and in what direction relative to the wind.
 
...a Mini 2...How much ground speed of wind is acceptable to take the drone out?
As already said ... it's no definitive answer to that, it depends.

You get the first clues out from the manual ... (15mph=6,7m/s)

1616857665097.png
It's not fully clear what DJI means by "max wind speed resistance" ... you could make the assumption that it would be 16m/s as that is the fastest the Mini2 can fly (air speed wise). But above will at least give you guidance to what happens if you face a headwind stronger than 16m/s ... the Mini2 will not be able to make headway anymore, instead it will most probably start to blow away.

Then it also depends of your skills:

-planning for the extra battery consumption on the way back home if flying out with the wind
-know that the actual ground speed will be less fighting a headwind
-know that you should descend if risking to be blown away
-know that winds up on height can be a lot different than on ground level
-& that gusts & shifting wind directions can mess it up for you, especially if you're far from home or close to obstacles.
 
I flew my Mini 2 today in winds of 25kmph/15.5mph/7mps as indicated by UAV Forecast and I could barely bring the drone back home from 500 meters distance. It literally hovered in place with the stick at full throttle against the wind.

I had to bring it back into a big half circle.

So my advice, don't even think about flying this thing in winds upwards of 20kmph. Or if you do, make sure you start back with a lot of battery juice. Don't wait until the drone decides it is time to come back.

I definitely need something more powerful. I will buy the first thing that comes into the market with CE marking.
 
So my advice, don't even think about flying this thing in winds upwards of 20kmph. Or if you do, make sure you start back with a lot of battery juice. Don't wait until the drone decides it is time to come back.
Plan ahead and don't let your drone get into a position where it has to fight a significant headwind coming home.
Don't fly off into the distance with the wind behind the drone.
Fly upwind .. it might be slow but the return to home will always be easy.
 
All the technical limitations are in the manual, I believe its 22mph max wind speed. Bear in mind windspeed at ground level may not be the same at altitude. I use UAV forecast which gives speeds at different altitudes.
 
As already said ... it's no definitive answer to that, it depends.

You get the first clues out from the manual ... (15mph=6,7m/s)

View attachment 126316
It's not fully clear what DJI means by "max wind speed resistance" ... you could make the assumption that it would be 16m/s as that is the fastest the Mini2 can fly (air speed wise). But above will at least give you guidance to what happens if you face a headwind stronger than 16m/s ... the Mini2 will not be able to make headway anymore, instead it will most probably start to blow away.

Then it also depends of your skills:

-planning for the extra battery consumption on the way back home if flying out with the wind
-know that the actual ground speed will be less fighting a headwind
-know that you should descend if risking to be blown away
-know that winds up on height can be a lot different than on ground level
-& that gusts & shifting wind directions can mess it up for you, especially if you're far from home or close to obstacles.
Very helpful. Thanks
 
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i own a Mini 2 and new to drone flying. How much ground speed of wind is acceptable to take the drone out? Currently BB weather is showing a local forecast as windy at 15mph.

What would you recommend?

Deepanshu
I recommend you learn more about wind and aviation. Wind at surface level speed and direction is not going to be the same, necessarily, at different altitudes. Just use a basic rule of thumb that the wind speed will increase with altitude and sometimes significantly plus the wind direction can and will be different at altitude.

There is a lot to think about and take into account, when flying in windy conditions. There is no standard formula, just like asking how long is a piece of string, there is no available answer.
 
the wind direction can and will be different at altitude.
That sounds most unlikely within the limited heights at which drones are flown.
Unless flying in mountains or cliffs where extreme terrain might deflect winds, drone flyers aren't going to see wind direction changing at altitude.
 
That sounds most unlikely within the limited heights at which drones are flown.
Unless flying in mountains or cliffs where extreme terrain might deflect winds, drone flyers aren't going to see wind direction changing at altitude.
I
While in general that is usually true, it is not always true. I wanted to let the OP know that there is more to think about regarding the wind. I have sometimes let off a helium balloon from the back yard with my children and it can be quite surprising to see the change in wind direction as that balloon begins to climb and I am speaking of well below 400ft. Try it sometime, you might be surprised at what you see in direction change, as it climbs through the altitudes.
 
i own a Mini 2 and new to drone flying. How much ground speed of wind is acceptable to take the drone out? Currently BB weather is showing a local forecast as windy at 15mph.

What would you recommend?

Deepanshu
The should be recommended wind limitations from DJI

I found this online: "
  • Max Wind Speed Resistance: 8.5-10.5 m/s (Scale 5) = ~ 19 to 23 MPH​

"
 
I'd recommend you use this site (UAV Forecast) and use 400ft (120m) as your flight height after selecting your location of flight.
Input the max wind your UAV can fly in and this will help provide guidance as to suitability for flying.
There is also an Android app (possibly iOS too). This gives you the different windspeeds at different altitudes.

Use this app/web site as a guide only. Ultimately the decision to fly or not is yours!

As you are a new flyer in the UK, I'd also recommend you visit the Drone Code site at The Drone and Model Aircraft Code | UK Civil Aviation Authority

Happy landings!
 
I can attest to wind speeds varying greatly between 50',100' and 400 depending on location. I was flying my MM and MA2 on the Ocean City NJ beaches this past summer. The Mini was bouncing all over the place below 50' in spite of UAVforecast stating gusts around 18mph and sustained below 10mph at 100'. I almost lost her because UAV was saying a westerly wind but my bird kept blowing out to sea. I only saw 2 options available to try and recover it; either climb and hope for the best or parallel the beach, inching my way back inland. And still hope for the best. I opted to do both and as I gained altitude to roughly 300' I apparently hit a cross wind that suddenly took me almost to the other side of the island in just over a minute. At that point, while panicking, I dropped the altitude again and sorta surfed the the lowering direction winds back. And then slammed headfirst in to a small dune because the winds changed and accelerated again after making it to the boardwalk. She survived but now wears a dunce cap, relegated to open field flying, and my MA2 does the more sketchy flying because of the added power.
 
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I flew my Mini 2 today in winds of 25kmph/15.5mph/7mps as indicated by UAV Forecast and I could barely bring the drone back home from 500 meters distance. It literally hovered in place with the stick at full throttle against the wind.

I had to bring it back into a big half circle.

So my advice, don't even think about flying this thing in winds upwards of 20kmph. Or if you do, make sure you start back with a lot of battery juice. Don't wait until the drone decides it is time to come back.

I definitely need something more powerful. I will buy the first thing that comes into the market with CE marking.
I live next to a sailing club on a lake that has a live wind speed App that gives the actual wind speed in real time. I often compare it to what the UAV App forecasts and they are very seldom in sync. The actual wind speed is very often almost double what the UAV App forecasts it to be. Sometimes the other way round as well. In my youth I was a keen windsurfer back in the 1980's and I soon learned that you often get very strong gusts on a windy day. Rather scrap the App and rely on your common sense.
 
I can attest to wind speeds varying greatly between 50',100' and 400 depending on location. I was flying my MM and MA2 on the Ocean City NJ beaches this past summer. The Mini was bouncing all over the place below 50' in spite of UAVforecast stating gusts around 18mph and sustained below 10mph at 100'. I almost lost her because UAV was saying a westerly wind but my bird kept blowing out to sea. I only saw 2 options available to try and recover it; either climb and hope for the best or parallel the beach, inching my way back inland. And still hope for the best. I opted to do both and as I gained altitude to roughly 300' I apparently hit a cross wind that suddenly took me almost to the other side of the island in just over a minute. At that point, while panicking, I dropped the altitude again and sorta surfed the the lowering direction winds back. And then slammed headfirst in to a small dune because the winds changed and accelerated again after making it to the boardwalk. She survived but now wears a dunce cap, relegated to open field flying, and my MA2 does the more sketchy flying because of the added power.
Meta4.. I hope you read this. It is a typical example of what often goes on with wind at low altitudes, which I related several posts back, but you felt did not exist.
 
Meta4.. I hope you read this. It is a typical example of what often goes on with wind at low altitudes, which I related several posts back, but you felt did not exist.
Yes I read it twice.
All I can see there is a case of operator disorientation and misinterpretation of what was actually happening.
That's not uncommon.
 
I have found if your weather app doesn't seem correct for the present wind speed, print a copy of these wind observations & keep them with your drone. I have compared these with an anemometer & they are pretty darn accurate.
Another way to determine if it is too windy to fly - if your foldable landing pad blows away when you first try to set it on the ground - it is way to windy to fly... LOL!...
 
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