Wind speed

Cstein · Jan 1, 2019

I have a zoom and ive had it out in a little wind but i finally have a nice day but it is pretty windy. What is an acceptable wind speed to send her up safely.

Starz · Jan 1, 2019

Remember that wind speed will be different at different elevations.
15 mph is my limit.

Cstein · Jan 1, 2019

Starz said:
Remember that wind speed will be different at different elevations.
15 mph is my limit.

Is 15mph like holding on cuz you gotta get **** done or is it a leisurely stroll?

Starz · Jan 1, 2019

You will need to do some experimenting to find out. Everyone has a different idea of what is acceptable.

ChipDjipro · Jan 1, 2019

For my Mavic 15 is my limit. For my inspire I have flown in 40 wind speeds.

jeplane · Jan 1, 2019

Don’t forget that once you pass 15 MPH, you will certainly be dealing with gusts/turbulence due to friction with obstacles.
Also, if it is already 15 MPH at the surface, what will it be at 200 feet?

You are the pilot (IE risks manager).
You decide.

4wd · Jan 1, 2019

You won't be able to accurately know the speed where you are anyway.
Once up above tree or buildings it can easily be more than double anyway.
In general if you think it might be too windy it probably is.
However, you can push things a bit. Bear in mind Sport Mode is much faster, if it starts to drift - and turning off obstacle avoidance gives you more speed in normal mode.
If conditions are borderline it would be very unwise to fly downwind.

CactusJackSlade · Jan 1, 2019

Yes, it's usually a higher wind speed even at a moderate altitude, I recently took off behind a bluff and it was apparent very quickly that I was in the wind shadow... when I got up to my cruising altitude (about 75 feet) I had to put it in sport mode and barely made it back!... so I'm guessing the wind was close to 35-40 mph...

If you ever DO get caught by the wind, have a PLAN.... my plan was to land in a clearing next to a hwy if I was forced to.

old man mavic · Jan 1, 2019

Cstein said:
I have a zoom and ive had it out in a little wind but i finally have a nice day but it is pretty windy. What is an acceptable wind speed to send her up safely.

i flew today at a high elevation wind at ground level according to my ananometer was between 8to15mph i decided to fly but did not go higher than 120ft i was getting the wind warning at that height so after some 15mins of flight i landed to prevent any problems there was a lot of updraft coming up the hillside i was at about 500ft above sea level where i was flying as stated in an earlier post its a decision that has to be made by you the pilot happy flying

FoxhallGH · Jan 1, 2019

Cstein said:
I have a zoom and ive had it out in a little wind but i finally have a nice day but it is pretty windy. What is an acceptable wind speed to send her up safely.

DJI Manual for the Mavic Pro Zoom states 'Max Wind speed resistance' (which I assume means - max. wind speed that the drone can make any headway into?) as 29 - 38 Km/hr ...
Translated, that's 18 to 23.5 miles per hour - or 8 to 10.5 metres/sec.
At these wind-speeds, it's going to be difficult to get your Mavic back to you if it gets down-wind. It's also going to be difficult to land, as it will try to keep nose down and throttle on to keep it's vertical position until it hits ground, but as soon as the torque comes off the motors, the Mavic will be flipped backwards.

A useful addition to the flying bag ...

Bobby Brown · Jan 1, 2019

My two cents. Fly into the wind heading out on a flight and back with the wind. If you observe your controller data, motors will go to max rpm and batteries drain quickly. Like others suggest set a max wind you feel comfortable. 15-20 Is my maximum at any height

draver · Jan 1, 2019

I use an app called "Ventusky" that gives wind speeds and direction at 10 meters, and 100 meters AGL that seems pretty accurate. It could give you valuable information about possible wind shear at your area of operation. It has other parameters selectable like temp, humidity, freezing level, etc. There is a free, and paid version. I've used it around the world and rely on it, but check it out and see what you think.

Photo Booth · Jan 1, 2019

I like the app 'UAV Forecast'. It has a Wind Profile tab that shows estimates of wind velocity at various altitudes (AGL). I just fired up the app and the main page is showing wind speed of 9 mph with gusts up to 18 mph at the surface. Checking the Wine Profile tab, at just 100 feet the wind is 12 mph with gusts to 26 mph. At 250 feet it's currently 15 mph and 32 mph. At 500 feet it's currently 18 mph and 36 mph.

Not a good day to fly (above about 50-100 feet) at my house.

Mark

LookToTheNorth · Jan 1, 2019

Just took out my mav2 zoom in -5c with 30km/h winds. Strong wind gusts were moving the drone about 1ft at 40m height. I had no issues. Battery lasted 20 min. This thing is a dream.

draver · Jan 1, 2019

Photo Booth said:
I like the app 'UAV Forecast'. It has a Wind Profile tab that shows estimates of wind velocity at various altitudes (AGL). I just fired up the app and the main page is showing wind speed of 9 mph with gusts up to 18 mph at the surface. Checking the Wine Profile tab, at just 100 feet the wind is 12 mph with gusts to 26 mph. At 250 feet it's currently 15 mph and 32 mph. At 500 feet it's currently 18 mph and 36 mph.

Not a good day to fly (above about 50-100 feet) at my house.

Mark

I have and use that app also. One reason I like Ventusky is the map shows the overview of wind directions on your local map. This could be valuable info if a few hundred feet away you have drastically different wind speeds and/or directions you might encounter. The more info the better, eh? You can check speeds at 12K meters and see the jet stream. On one flight back from China to the west coast we picked up almost an hour and a half because of 150k+ tailwind.

FoxhallGH · Jan 1, 2019

Thanks @Photo Booth and @draver - I've now installed both app's and will have a play!
UAV Forecast picked up my Geo-location much faster than Ventusky I've noticed.

Bob in Savannah · Jan 1, 2019

jeplane said:
Don’t forget that once you pass 15 MPH, you will certainly be dealing with gusts/turbulence due to friction with obstacles.
Also, if it is already 15 MPH at the surface, what will it be at 200 feet?

You are the pilot (IE risks manager).
You decide.

This pretty much.

draver · Jan 1, 2019

FoxhallGH said:
Thanks @Photo Booth and @draver - I've now installed both app's and will have a play!
UAV Forecast picked up my Geo-location much faster than Ventusky I've noticed.

You are now a member of the Dept. Of Redundancy Dept.