How Much Wind is Too Much Wind for the EVO

[sandman2001]

So I have asked since I started flying the EVO, exactly how much wind is NO FLY wind. I have flown several times in no wind, 10 mph wind, 15 mph wind and even up to 20mph and the results have been great. Very stable and the EVO seems to move pretty good. I only had one incident where the wind was gusting up to 20mph and it took a bit longer for my EVO to come back to me flying against the wind. I could tell it was struggling, but it came back.

Well today I had a scare as I found the breaking point for wind. It appears that winds over 20mph and gusts up to and over 28-30 mph is a NO FLY condition for the EVO. The EVO was pretty stable in that wind, but don't let it get away from you and have it have to fight that wind coming back. I almost lost my EVO today as the battery started to run low fighting the wind and it wouldn't come back. I eventually had to go chase it, lower the altitude to get it down into the tree line where the wind was a bit lighter and guided it home and had it land manually (actually picked it out of the air with 6% battery life).

I guess I probably could have increased the allowed speed of the drone to make it work harder and get back faster....but not sure that wouldn't have drained the battery faster and dropped it into the woods.

Anyway, hope this post is helpful and serves as a bit of advice for the team.

 

[SD_PIlot]

So I have asked since I started flying the EVO, exactly how much wind is NO FLY wind. I have flown several times in no wind, 10 mph wind, 15 mph wind and even up to 20mph and the results have been great. Very stable and the EVO seems to move pretty good. I only had one incident where the wind was gusting up to 20mph and it took a bit longer for my EVO to come back to me flying against the wind. I could tell it was struggling, but it came back.

Well today I had a scare as I found the breaking point for wind. It appears that winds over 20mph and gusts up to and over 28-30 mph is a NO FLY condition for the EVO. The EVO was pretty stable in that wind, but don't let it get away from you and have it have to fight that wind coming back. I almost lost my EVO today as the battery started to run low fighting the wind and it wouldn't come back. I eventually had to go chase it, lower the altitude to get it down into the tree line where the wind was a bit lighter and guided it home and had it land manually (actually picked it out of the air with 6% battery life).

I guess I probably could have increased the allowed speed of the drone to make it work harder and get back faster....but not sure that wouldn't have drained the battery faster and dropped it into the woods.

Anyway, hope this post is helpful and serves as a bit of advice for the team.

Wow you're very lucky to have gotten it back. Fighting against the wind is the biggest issue that would cause that battery to drain quickly. Good thing you didn't choose Ludicous mode to try and bring it back quicker. Probably would've drain the battery even quicker and crashed somewhere.

Once I flew a drone fighting against the wind, changed the speed mode and although I was able to have it crawl back about half mile away it was one of the biggest mistakes I've learned from.

I usually keep a close eye on the battery, gauge distance and don't fly with gust wind over 20 mph.

 

[macoman]

Usually I take my Evo to my job and fly in my lunch time. If it's 10 mph or more, I get scare and never bring the drone with me. I check the weather first before taking the evo into my car. I know the Evo resist winds of over 15mph but I invested so much money that I rather spoil this drone than risking losing it.

 

[Normex]

The most important thing to remember with wind near the high limit is to take off and fly against it as
you can rest assured that you have enough power for RTB, anything else there might be a chance you
write about it here.

 

[HiloHawaiian]

I asked the same question a while back. It seems most drones can fly in pretty high winds, usually producing stable video. Agustine reminded us its well-known things get dicey with the drone’s RTH calculations. If you fly too far downwind, you might not make it back. I was flying my XSP in strong on-shore 20+mph winds, w/gusts 30+ (according to AccuWeather), on the N. Cal. coastline.

At 25% RTH kicked-in, XSP was farther inland than me. Fighting strong headwinds, didn’t make it back. I was lucky, it landed in a field about 50’-100’ away. Lesson learned...

 

[Ansia]

It's simple math. If your drone is flying at 22mph, then don't expect it to return at 23mph winds.

 

[mixchief]

In 20 mph winds at 34mph you are netting a 14 mph rate of movement when flying against the wind, same in the oposite direction if you are flying with the wind, be careful of returning home against the wind it might bite you

 

[HiloHawaiian]

Yea, there’s a variety of factors involved, it’s not a simple formula. You’re rarely flying directly into, or downrange with the wind — and, the wind can change direction. The general concern is if it’s windy, be more cautious regarding range and wind direction relative to wind speed. You can fly, I do it a lot, but I’m much more cautious now...

 

[Normex]

When as a private pilot one of the most important factor was the wind as sometimes when flying it might mean I had to land for refueling.
This applies the very same with drones so one has to mind how much gas or energy they can dispense in the face of the wind aloft.
Ditto for sailors. It should be a priority to learn its intricacies for all drone fliers that might mean losing the drone or have it land beside you.
Just saying.

 

[Drgnfli]

One of my worst scares flying was when I 'dared' a 15+ mph wind. If you hover, that's fine, but when you try to go a little ways, the wind will move you faster. It was a good thing I had stayed in my driveway because I almost crashed into my neighbor's tallest tree. Managed to bring it in for a landing using Sport mode. I don't fly when it is windy!