Wind Conditions

Justin Wichman · Sep 16, 2015

Does anyone know what kind of wind conditions can P3 Advanced handle. I have seen video of a P3 holding a decent hover in 23 mph winds...I know no wind would be ideal.

WIKI

bobmyers · Sep 16, 2015

Justin Wichman said:
Does anyone know what kind of wind conditions can P3 Advanced handle. I have seen video of a P3 holding a decent hover in 23 mph winds...I know no wind would be ideal.

WIKI

20 mph would be my limit-- it can get a little tricky to control even using GPS at this speed. IOW Flying cross wind , you will get pretty good drift when flying forward-- you will have to probably tack into a crosswind at the 23MPH wind speed to overcome drift. I was flying on the Texas coastline with 20mph gusting to 25 in GPS Mode and had to RTH because I could not bring the Phantom straight back to me. RTH did bring it back without any issues.

Meta4 · Sep 16, 2015

bobmyers said:
I was flying on the Texas coastline with 20mph gusting to 25 in GPS Mode and had to RTH because I could not bring the Phantom straight back to me. RTH did bring it back without any issues.

Beware of RTH in strong winds.
RTH (22 mph) is slower than you can fly yourself (33 mph).

Mal_PV2_Ireland · Sep 16, 2015

Oops I think someone posting in here just lost a phantom for that exact reason

There may have been a few other circumstances involved too haha. Remember always to fly into the wind on windy days and 25mph winds on the ground can easily be 60mph a few hundred metres up too.

Justin Wichman · Sep 16, 2015

Thank you...yeah a cross wind of about 17mph took my p3 for a ride and I was able to get down. It sustained a tumble and broke a prop.

Justin Wichman · Sep 16, 2015

Off that subject. ...while reviewing the recoder....I am seeing a yellow path indicator. ..does that mean anything. ...my friend has a green path...

Wiki

snerd · Sep 16, 2015

I fly in 10-20mph winds a lot, as that is normal for around these parts. Today was a little windier, probably 15-25mph, I still flew 3 batteries, but the landings were very tricky with those crosswinds!

Wibble · Sep 16, 2015

We always get so much wind. I have flown in gusting 30mph winds and the stability is amazing. Progress is so slow though it is pointless. We have had 65mph winds last few days so totally grounded.
I would say 25mph is the realistic limit. The less the better.

Phantom751874 · Sep 16, 2015

I personally probably wouldn't fly in anything over 20mph and anything over 15mph I'd be very cautious with. I have some experience flying distance into the wind and using the tailwind to get back with enough battery life. Even this can be tricky though as your counting on the tailwind to be persistent enough the whole way home or most of the way home.

For example I recently flew 4 miles out against a headwind and was maxed out at ~22-25mph. I knew coming back I would be getting ~36-40mph based on tests with the first battery. So I turned around at 4 miles with 46% battery remaining and made it back over my head at 11% battery. In effect I turned around at 36% battery because at 10% battery the P3 auto lands whoever its at and I didn't want that to happen.

I won't be doing that regularly or maybe ever again. I wanted to see if I could push to the limit of the battery as far as distance and I believe that limit to be ~4 miles without a battery mod.

Fourprops · Sep 20, 2015

I think any thing over 10 is no fun anyway for a multi-rotor.

blacksmithden · Oct 20, 2015

There's no real difference between flying a light aircraft and a quadcopter. If conditions are beyond maximums, stay on the ground. I can't count the number of times I've read "it wouldn't come down...it just kept climbing". These things will only crank themselves over so far to try and maintain their position. Then they may then start to pour on the power to try and get back to where they think they need to be. I don't know 100% that this is the case...I'm not the programmer. More power with a limited amount to pitch/roll is going to equal lift, and that's all there is to it. Couple that with an updraft and by-by toy. Personally, 10mph wind on the ground is my limit.

For most of us, these things are a substantial investment...forget the safety issues with having one going out of control. I'd rather stay on the ground today and fly tomorrow, rather than make an unsafe flight today and never fly it again. Always remember....ground conditions are rarely the same as conditions at altitude. Besides being the son of a long time private pilot, I'm also a heavy equipment tech. I often have to function test aerial work platforms (boom lifts). The tallest ones I deal with are 125 ft. Get 60 ft above most of the things that are on the ground and you'll learn very quickly that it doesn't take much altitude to get into some very different conditions.

When flying, better safe than sorry never holds more true.

Meta4 · Oct 20, 2015

blacksmithden said:
There's no real difference between flying a light aircraft and a quadcopter. I can't count the number of times I've read "it wouldn't come down...it just kept climbing". These things will only crank themselves over so far to try and maintain their position. Then they may then start to pour on the power to try and get back to where they think they need to be. I don't know 100% that this is the case...I'm not the programmer. More power with a limited amount to pitch/roll is going to equal lift, and that's all there is to it. Couple that with an updraft and by-by toy. Personally, 10mph wind on the ground is my limit.

With no wings and aerodynamics similar to a brick, a Phantom doesn't climb because of wind.
If you fly in a strong wind, it will hold altitude perfectly and speed will be affected.

blacksmithden · Oct 20, 2015

Meta4 said:
With no wings and aerodynamics similar to a brick, a Phantom doesn't climb because of wind.
If you fly in a strong wind, it will hold altitude perfectly and speed will be affected.

And if you want it to hover, and wind speed is beyond it's capable maximum speed, and it's trying to maintain position.......?????

Meta4 · Oct 20, 2015

blacksmithden said:
And if you want it to hover, and wind speed is beyond it's capable maximum speed, and it's trying to maintain position.......?????

A P3 can do around 34 mph in still air.
If you tried to hover in 40 mph winds (and it's not like anyone is really going to do that), the Phantom would maintain altitude but slowly drift downwind.
Phantoms handle a lot more wind than most users imagine and can easily manage 20+ mph winds.
You just have to consider wind and not end up way downwind with a strong wind blowing.

John Locke · Oct 20, 2015

snerd said:
I fly in 10-20mph winds a lot, as that is normal for around these parts. Today was a little windier, probably 15-25mph, I still flew 3 batteries, but the landings were very tricky with those crosswinds!

I always hand catch when landing in wind for that exact reason. Trying to land on the ground is totally unpredictable. Just catch it from upwind in a 6' hover. Simple to do.

brianb87 · Oct 20, 2015

Justin Wichman said:
Does anyone know what kind of wind conditions can P3 Advanced handle. I have seen video of a P3 holding a decent hover in 23 mph winds...I know no wind would be ideal.

WIKI

I have flown mine in a steady 20mph wind with gusts up to 40mph. Handled well, be sure to have balanced props are low breaking!

Tony Perry · Oct 20, 2015

Anything above 15mph seems to screw with the gimbal on my P3P. When it hits it from the side it has a tendency to cause the gimbal to drift away from level.