Do NOT fly in high winds

Wind speed 20mph, gust 35 mph.d. Decided to go fly anyway. Went 400 ft, flew about half mile and lost signal. No worry I thought, it will return home. Waited 5 minutes, start panicking. No signals on GO app. Then signal came and bird was still far, far away. Tried to guide bird in but moving very slow.
in
Lesson learned. Will never fly in high winds again, at least not long distance.
A couple of important points.
1. Your Phantom can fly at 15 metres/sec in still air ... but RTH takes it easy at only 10 m/s.
Don't leave RTH to do the driving if you have to battle against a headwind or low battery situation.
2. Wind strength at height. Leaving your Phantom up at 400 ft is potentially leaving it exposed to stronger winds. Bring it down as far as is safe in a headwind situation.
3. Don't fly away downwind in strong winds, creating a difficult headwind return. Coming home with a tailwind is much easier.
 
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Saw a video way back...can't find it now, but it showed how to fly back if caught in strong wind. Fly in circular pattern. Circle while gradually decreasing altitude until you get below high winds or until in landing position. Made sense to me. Any thoughts?
 
Dropping altitude makes sense. Not sure about the circular thing.

But this reminds me of an America's Cup story from a few years back which might possibly apply to this situation. Maybe.

The sailboat was trailing the leader and they had just rounded the last turn. Finish line was straight ahead. The pilot knew if he took the shortest route to the finish line, he'd finish second because overtaking the leader, who was in a beeline to the finish, would be impossible. But he had done his research and knew there was a chance the wind direction would gradually change over the next couple hours. So instead of following the leader and taking the shortest route to the finish line, he angled to the left in a different direction. After a while, the wind direction did change as forecast, he angled the craft back towards the finish line, and his sails filled. With the new wind direction, the leader couldn't get adequate wind to sustain his speed, and the sail boat in second place overcame the leader and won America's Cup.
 
I've flown mine in a 15mph wind and all was good until I got a compass error whilst downwind. It was on the edge of being in sight and was difficult to tell the orientation at that range, and it at first it appeared to be flying away, but i guess it was just drifting with the wind. It took a bit of messing about to work out which way to fly to bring it back, and it was with great relief when I realised it was responding to my controls
 
I got a compass error whilst downwind.
Did you work out why you got a compass error?
Compass errors while flying are uncommon and mostly indicate a bad compass calibration at the start of the flight or less commonly, you have flown into an area full of steel.
It was on the edge of being in sight and was difficult to tell the orientation at that range
You need to get to know how your radar display works to solve orientation issues.
 
I use this app and the windspeed always seems to be off. Yesterday winds were ~20 with gusts up to 30+. The app said it was only 10 mph. I double checked my location and it was accurate. Decided to buy an anemometer. I can use for long distance rifle shooting as well.

 
I always do a quick test in every direction to see how the wind is impacting my max speed, then adjust accordingly. I find the lower the better, also flying in ATTI can help.

There are a lot of videos where people struggle to get back, personally if I cocked up I'd look for somewhere safe to land it well before the battery gave out on me (making sure I set the failsafe to 'land' while I still had signal, RTH would mean a probable loss. Then I'd travel off there to collect it. once it's on the ground and the rotors have stopped the battery will last ages, so you can keep checking the video feed to see if anyone has picked it up or not.

It would be pretty obvious that it wasn't going to make it home after 5 mins of flying so you could even land it on a roof, get closer, then fly it to you.
 
Did you work out why you got a compass error?
Compass errors while flying are uncommon and mostly indicate a bad compass calibration at the start of the flight or less commonly, you have flown into an area full of steel.

You need to get to know how your radar display works to solve orientation issues.

Not sure why I had the compass error. It was in an area where I have done most of my flying without any issues, over fields and a large wooded area.
I think the compass error only lasted a short while, but it took me by surprise.
It was difficult to read the screen due to sunlight etc so I struggled to tell exactly what was happening or which direction I was flying in. For i while it looked like it was flying away.
I've only had about 7 or 8 flights so have a lot to learn yet.
 
You might record the FPV screen while you're flying. You might be surprised at some of the details you missed during the flight...
 
Wind speed 20mph, gust 35 mph. Decided to go fly anyway. Went 400 ft,
Wind speed 20mph, gust 35 mph. Decided to go fly anyway. Went 400 ft, flew about half mile and lost signal. No worry I thought, it will return home. Waited 5 minutes, start panicking. No signals on GO app. Then signal came and bird was still far, far away. Tried to guide bird in but moving very slow. Lost signal again. 40 % battery left at this point. Hopped into car and headed toward bird. Signal came back as I got closer. Brought bird down to 200 ft (less wind?), heard the buzzing sound and spotted the bird. It was right over cemetary. Successfully touchdown with 17% battery left.
Lesson learned. Will never fly in high winds again, at least not long distance.


Wind speed 20mph, gust 35 mph. - At which altitude? Ground level?
Always bear in mind the wind intensifies with increase in altitude.

UAVFORECAST and set the wind height to the one you plan flying at. Or higher. Better scared than worried.
 
I've flown mine in a 15mph wind and all was good until I got a compass error whilst downwind. It was on the edge of being in sight and was difficult to tell the orientation at that range, and it at first it appeared to be flying away, but i guess it was just drifting with the wind. It took a bit of messing about to work out which way to fly to bring it back, and it was with great relief when I realised it was responding to my controls
Tip: If you can not determine the bird's orientation but can still see it, push forward on the forward/ backwards stick. Then whichever way the bird flies, gradually move the yaw stick in that direction until you see the bird turn toward you. Then continue foward stick until bird arrives.

Example ... Push forward/backwards control stick foward, observe bird moving slightly right, move yaw control stick towards the right and the forward/backward control stick forward until bird heads toward you.
 
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Common sense period. Additionally, even with wind speed WX information, that is the wind speed for ground useage. If you have a steady 10-15 mph wind at ground, what do you think the wind speed might be at 60, 100, 200 or more feet.
 
Tip: If you can not determine the bird's orientation but can still see it, push forward on the forward/ backwards stick. Then whichever way the bird flies, gradually move the yaw stick in that direction until you see the bird turn toward you. Then continue foward stick until bird arrives.

Example ... Push forward/backwards control stick foward, observe bird moving slightly right, move yaw control stick towards the right and the forward/backward control stick forward until bird heads toward you.

This is a great skill that was critical before GPS and FPV. IMO, everyone should practice this. Here's a pretty good Youtube video demonstrating...

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Wind speed 20mph, gust 35 mph. Decided to go fly anyway. Went 400 ft, flew about half mile and lost signal. No worry I thought, it will return home. Waited 5 minutes, start panicking. No signals on GO app. Then signal came and bird was still far, far away. Tried to guide bird in but moving very slow. Lost signal again. 40 % battery left at this point. Hopped into car and headed toward bird. Signal came back as I got closer. Brought bird down to 200 ft (less wind?), heard the buzzing sound and spotted the bird. It was right over cemetary. Successfully touchdown with 17% battery left.

Lesson learned. Will never fly in high winds again, at least not long distance.

I always try to fly upwind after takeoff. That way the return trip will be with the wind.
 
once it's on the ground and the rotors have stopped the battery will last ages, so you can keep checking the video feed to see if anyone has picked it up or not.

.

And then a quick CSC will get them putting it back on the ground pretty quick ;-)
 
If I get caught in unexpected gusts I drop my height as low as possible while being safe and have always increased speed dramatically vs being at 200-400feet. I don't fly if winds are over 25kph but if been caught in unexpected wind shifts/speed shifts, everyone pay attention to ground wind speeds and the speed of your Phantom while it's heading towards the wind. I always fly my Phantom towards the wind if I go far, so when I need to come back I get very fast speeds and the worst thing that can happen is that it gets blown towards me for a landing.
 
Thanks for posting this video on orientation! I haven't had much time to fly even though I have had my P3P since August 2015. It's nice learning short cut!
 
Why don't people use the little radar circle on the bottom of the screen to show you which way your bird is pointing? Look at your flight path on the main display and it will show you the trail that is has gone and which way it is going........
 

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