Winds aloft - what is your comfort zone?

[Scenictraverse]

I have been reading on here as many of you have wisely spoken about the dangers of high winds at altitude that could wreak havoc on our flying machines, but I wanted to know what your limit or comfort zone for winds are when flying. Obviously the drone can tolerate flying in wind, it's just a matter of identifying when that wind goes from acceptable to dangerous for the phantom. Basically the question is, when you look at the wind forecast, at what point do you say "not today"?

Thanks in advance

 

[SebGodsmark]

18 - 20 mph is my limit, I have flown in more (25 - 30 mph) but it was almost impossible to fly safely without the phantom being thrown around a bit, although flying with the wind was fun!
If its for filming video then I wont fly over 12 mph otherwise the footage isn't really usable.

 

[4wd]

It can probably cope with about 30mph but taking off and landing become quite hazardous by 15mph.
You don't really know how strong it is even 100 feet up until you go there but it will almost always be more, though maybe less gusty.

Here we have quite deep valleys and it can be calm at the bottom but on the sides you can easily tell it is too windy to fly.
It shows how difficult it is to assess conditions at altitude from the launch site.

 

[tomic]

Last night I was at a friends condo and went out to his balcony, the winds must have been over 50 km/h. Granted he lives on the 50th floor

However when I got to ground level the winds were none existent and when I checked the weather forecast they had said current winds were about 5 km

My question is how do you know what winds are at altitude ? I'm pretty sure my bird would have been brought down by theses winds if I was just testing it

 

[SebGodsmark]

Last night I was at a friends condo and went out to his balcony, the winds must have been over 50 km/h. Granted he lives on the 50th floor

However when I got to ground level the winds were none existent and when I checked the weather forecast they had said current winds were about 5 km

My question is how do you know what winds are at altitude ? I'm pretty sure my bird would have been brought down by theses winds if I was just testing it

At ground level you have what's known as a friction layer of wind, so the wind hits the ground, trees etc and will cause the wind speed to decrease. Weather forecasters will give a wind forecast at ground level.
The higher up you go the less friction there is so the wind will increase. Also any type of valley or narrow passing through buildings can cause the wind to 'funnel' and will also increase the wind speed.
Basically if it feels windy at ground level then it will be worse higher up so probably not a good idea to fly..

 

[shrill mute]

Practice practice practice.

Flying and landing in higher winds can be fun and also is great for capturing video. Use the wind and ATTI mode to your advantage.

[vimeo]93903876[/vimeo]

 

[usaken]

Ok, Well, I'm a little chicken given the cost of our toys. I usually don't fly winds much above about 10 MPH. Videos get pretty choppy and as has been pointed out, winds at 100 feet might be much higher than at ground level. The drone can fly about 25 MPH, so in a 20 MPH head wind, the bird can only make 5 MPH against it at FULL POWER! Have fun out there.

 

[shrill mute]

Ok, Well, I'm a little chicken given the cost of our toys. I usually don't fly winds much above about 10 MPH. Videos get pretty choppy and as has been pointed out, winds at 100 feet might be much higher than at ground level. The drone can fly about 25 MPH, so in a 20 MPH head wind, the bird can only make 5 MPH against it at FULL POWER! Have fun out there.

A Phantom's top speed is much higher than 25mph. It can fly much faster than 5 mph into a 20mph wind at FULl POWER.

 

[Flying Cephlopod]

Some of us are beginners (like me)...

Flying in higher winds cause the battery power to drain much more quickly. It takes more effort (power) to control the quadcopter.

 

[FlyingFox]

My max is generally around 20mph like stated it's important that if in higher winds it's towards you as in gps with a head wind it doesn't move to quick , tail wind the opposite etc you don't want low battery with a headwind. Also wind uses more battery in gps .

 

[shrill mute]

Some of us are beginners (like me)...

Flying in higher winds cause the battery power to drain much more quickly. It takes more effort (power) to control the quadcopter.

This does not hold true when flying in ATTI when you allow the wind bring you back home. Idling while going 20-30 is common.

 

[Scenictraverse]

I used to teach SCUBA diving - the rule of thumb was that if you were going to dive anywhere where there was an underwater current, you swam into the current on the way out and then rode the current on the way back.... because you are going to use more of your air while you swim against the current. I would certainly assume and follow my own advice when flying in a breeze.

The winds aloft forecasts are usually designed for commercial or civil flights that are far higher than us - are any of you using the higher altitude forecasts to give an estimate of what winds a little lower down (200ft ish) altitude would be? Or do you just eye the trees and ground winds to estimate a little higher?

 

[ArgenBrewer]

A Phantom's top speed is much higher than 25mph. It can fly much faster than 5 mph into a 20mph wind at FULl POWER.

According to specifications, the Standard flies at 35,791 miles per hour

 

[Nightwolf]

UAV Forecast
The app tells me what the wind is like at 200'

 

[MassDrone]

There's a very simple way to tell what the winds aloft at your location at 100', 200', or any altitude. Take off using GPS mode and go straight up to 100' or so and release the controls. Wait a few seconds to be sure the drone can remain stationary there (for safety), then enter ATTI mode. With no stick inputs, your drone will drift downwind. Within a few seconds its speed is stable, and look at your display to see the mph. That's the wind speed. Flip the switch back to GPS mode, and bring it back directly overhead. Go up to another altitude and repeat. This procedure works immediately at any altitude, and no guesswork is involved.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

There's a very simple way to tell what the winds aloft at your location at 100', 200', or any altitude. Take off using GPS mode and go straight up to 100' or so and release the controls. Wait a few seconds to be sure the drone can remain stationary there (for safety), then enter ATTI mode. With no stick inputs, your drone will drift downwind. Within a few seconds its speed is stable, and look at your display to see the mph. That's the wind speed. Flip the switch back to GPS mode, and bring it back directly overhead. Go up to another altitude and repeat. This procedure works immediately at any altitude, and no guesswork is involved.

... or, you could use UAV Forecast like Nightwolf suggested above and know what the wind conditions are in seconds without even leaving the ground.
UAV Forecast - don't leave home(point) without it.

 

[African wildlife]

In South Africa, we fly in a mountainous and extended plateau environment. For us, ground level is usually 5,500ft or 1,700m. So the changing winds can be challenging, even just "around the corner", and especially in our dramatic mountain kloofs at the edge of plateau.

I have a preference for flying in light wind or still conditions, simply because there's one less thing (wind) to think about and you can concentrate on filming. But for us, flying the drone is work. So, if we need to fly, we fly. And we've found the P4P+ (including gimbal) to be very stable.

Takeoff and landing in higher winds of 20-25 mph and upwards isn't fun (when it's work). Obviously, in a remote area especially, if the drone is damaged, it would be "game over" for quite a while. And filming wild animals in stronger winds isn't the best because they generally "spook" more in these conditions to anything unusual, which is not what you want.

We needed footage of clouds from above, with a few occasional gaps to see the ground below. On one day, it was windy and we were nervous. We had to climb to the maximum height of 1,640ft or 500m - so 7,140ft or 2,200m above sea level. But the drone performed brilliantly and the film output was very stable as usual.

The P4P+ is an excellent drone.

 

[vertrider01]

In South Africa, we fly in a mountainous and extended plateau environment. For us, ground level is usually 5,500ft or 1,700m. So the changing winds can be challenging, even just "around the corner", and especially in our dramatic mountain kloofs at the edge of plateau.

I have a preference for flying in light wind or still conditions, simply because there's one less thing (wind) to think about and you can concentrate on filming. But for us, flying the drone is work. So, if we need to fly, we fly. And we've found the P4P+ (including gimbal) to be very stable.

Takeoff and landing in higher winds of 20-25 mph and upwards isn't fun (when it's work). Obviously, in a remote area especially, if the drone is damaged, it would be "game over" for quite a while. And filming wild animals in stronger winds isn't the best because they generally "spook" more in these conditions to anything unusual, which is not what you want.

We needed footage of clouds from above, with a few occasional gaps to see the ground below. On one day, it was windy and we were nervous. We had to climb to the maximum height of 1,640ft or 500m - so 7,140ft or 2,200m above sea level. But the drone performed brilliantly and the film output was very stable as usual.

The P4P+ is an excellent drone.

I second that!

 

[vertrider01]

There's a very simple way to tell what the winds aloft at your location at 100', 200', or any altitude. Take off using GPS mode and go straight up to 100' or so and release the controls. Wait a few seconds to be sure the drone can remain stationary there (for safety), then enter ATTI mode. With no stick inputs, your drone will drift downwind. Within a few seconds its speed is stable, and look at your display to see the mph. That's the wind speed. Flip the switch back to GPS mode, and bring it back directly overhead. Go up to another altitude and repeat. This procedure works immediately at any altitude, and no guesswork is involved.

May I ask how you switch between these modes easily (e.g. w P4P). And does the Drone stay level or does it loose height during this manouvre as well? thanks

 

[Timinator]

There's a very simple way to tell what the winds aloft at your location at 100', 200', or any altitude. Take off using GPS mode and go straight up to 100' or so and release the controls. Wait a few seconds to be sure the drone can remain stationary there (for safety), then enter ATTI mode. With no stick inputs, your drone will drift downwind. Within a few seconds its speed is stable, and look at your display to see the mph. That's the wind speed. Flip the switch back to GPS mode, and bring it back directly overhead. Go up to another altitude and repeat. This procedure works immediately at any altitude, and no guesswork is involved.

Thanks for the tip. I am definitely going to try this.