Maiden flight!

[Lasty12]

So the p3a is updated and ready, the forecast at sunrise tomorrow is cloudy, 10-20mph winds and low chance of rain...

Will the maiden voyage take place before the bad weather returns!!

 

[m0j0]

In the rain? It shouldn't. In 20MPH winds? I wouldn't.. Still don't. It's sunny every day here. The only time i decide not to fly is when the wind is more than 12 mph. I'm new at this though. There are guys on here that fly in rough winds all the time. As a first flight, I would want the wind to be minimal so that you can overcome any technical problems should they arise. Issues like... taking off and the bird switching to ATTI mode on it's own. If that happens in 3mph winds you would probably be pretty capable of flying it through that. If that happened in 20mph winds maybe not.

 

[m0j0]

But then again if you are an experienced pilot go for it!

 

[Lasty12]

I've flown smaller quads in 10mph winds and they struggled, due to their size, but this is a large open space, at no more than 30 feet. Also have my handy annometer with me as a precaution!

 

[CCDD]

Don't be impatient, wait till the conditions are just right before venturing out with your new Phantom. Once comfortable, 12-15 mph winds won't be an issue however, I would avoid the rain and as you could shorten the life of your bird very fast.

 

[m0j0]

I've flown smaller quads in 10mph winds and they struggled, due to their size, but this is a large open space, at no more than 30 feet. Also have my handy annometer with me as a precaution!

The Phantom won't struggle in 10mph winds at all. I agree with the previous poster though. Be patient. Stay away from rain.

 

[Lasty12]

The Phantom won't struggle in 10mph winds at all. I agree with the previous poster though. Be patient. Stay away from rain.

Agreed, not flying it in the rain!!

Will just have to see if the weather gods are favourable, if not it stays in the case for now!

 

[John Locke]

So the p3a is updated and ready, the forecast at sunrise tomorrow is cloudy, 10-20mph winds and low chance of rain...

Will the maiden voyage take place before the bad weather returns!!

Listen to CCDD, patience is golden. Unless $800 doesn't mean that much to you, wait for good weather. In the meantime, watch youtube video about flying the Phantom (maybe you already have).

 

[RVD98072]

I live in Seattle so I am no stranger to rain. It's been tough for the past month or so with rain almost every day. But every time I see a break and it looks like it's not going to rain for a few hours I try to get out there.

2 days ago I was out in the afternoon and towards the end of my 1st battery I felt a few drops so I landed the drone and called it a day. There were a couple of drops on the drone but that's it.

Yesterday I went out for about an hour flying 3 batteries worth of flights. It was a lot of fun finding a break.

I think that you can usually avoid rain for at least a few hours every few days or so and you can take advantage of those breaks.

 

[shorttimer]

I got my Phantom a little more than a week ago. I have 6 flights under my belt. Today I was going to go out of beginner mode and stretch it out a ways but there were 25 - 30 MPH winds. I just sat it out. I have the perfect place to fly as there are no trees or power lines and have acreage. But I didn't feel comfortable in that wind. I live at over 7500' so it is usually a little breezy. A couple of hours ago it dropped below 10 MPH so I took 2 flights out to 1k feet back and forth, back and forth. All went well and glad I waited for the wind to die down especially being a newbie. I also still have on my training wheels (prop guards) and they react a lot more in the wind. Best times here are earlier in the day or towards evening. But just be patient as you don't want to do something you regret later. It's not bad if you have an accident but it's bad if after you have it you say to yourself "yes, I should have known better."

 

[Lasty12]

A success!
12mph winds, the phantom had no issues whatsoever.
Stayed in beginner mode and managed a 20 minute flight getting used to things. An awesome machine!