Wind

[SparkyUser]

Hi everyone,

How much wind can the spark fly in safely? Its currently about 10 m/s and ive flown it low to the ground, it went very well, but how much do y'all think is too much?

Tim

 

[msinger]

How much wind can the spark fly in safely?

DJI doesn't recommend flying in wind speeds exceeding 10 m/s (22 MPH).

Keep in mind that wind speeds near the ground are lower than wind speeds high in the air. So, if the wind speed is 10 m/s near the ground, you might find the winds are too strong for your Spark to hover in place at a higher altitude. While that won't cause the Spark to drop out of the sky, the wind could be so strong that the Spark wouldn't be able to fly back to the home point (causing it to drift away).

Flying in strong winds will also deplete the battery faster. That could cause the battery to reach the critically low level mid-flight. If that happens, the Spark will auto land at its current location.

 

[Multikoe]

Well, there is only one way to find out: go fly!
In sports mode the Sparks top speed is 50 km/h, which is 13 m/s. With 10 m/s winds, the Spark will be struggling and not be very stable. So taking pictures or filming will not result in anything usefull.

 

[Rammers1975]

Try this app UAV forecast it tells you when it’s good to fly and if you hit the wind button as I have marked it will tell you wind speed at different altitudes !

 

[Deleted member 15525]

UAV forecast is awesome... you can set the threshold to what you like but the defaults are good. except that I think it has winds set to ground.. I always monitor the wind at 400 and don't fly unless they are under 25-30 at that level.. I can't resist going that high at some point every time I fly.

My neighbor and I did fly last weekend on a day that winds were west 40mph at 400 feet... we are on the east coast so this was not good lol.. We were out over the bay trying to fly 5000 feet away to a lighthouse... we aborted that mission lol. but still did fine flying around under 100 feet... still got some decent pictures from that height.

UAV forecast is a an app every UAV owner should have.

 

[charliespark]

Try this app UAV forecast it tells you when it’s good to fly and if you hit the wind button as I have marked it will tell you wind speed at different altitudes !

A good app but I find it errs on the side of caution!

 

[Mike Brown]

The advice about the numbers above is very sound, and there are indeed some very good apps around to tell you about wind speed forecasts. But they are only forecasts and not predictions, and you need to have a way of assessing the wind at your own site. Perhaps I am biased, having been involved with meteorology privately and professionally for many years, it I do think learning the Beaufort scale would give you so much more confidence in judging if the wind speeed at your site is safe. Yeah I know it’s old, even older than me, but it does work, and works better than those hand held anemometers you can buy for very little money.

 

[Spark 317]

Try the WINDY app available in the stores or windy.com for real time wind direction and speed.

 

[Spark 317]

I do think learning the Beaufort scale would give you so much more confidence in judging if the wind speeed at your site is safe.

You "Sparked" my interest.

Beaufort scale

I'm always learning something here on the Forum.

 

[Deleted member 15525]

once you set it up the UAV forecast app does what you tell it to. I always error on the side of caution for the sake of safety and the sake of my wallet. I still observe how the aircraft flies in each direction I will be going (if I have any doubt about the wind) I get a good idea of the difference in speed flying into the wind just to make sure I won't use up too much power on y way back. Winds are often from the west which is a headwind while flying back towards land from out over the ocean or bay. On my last Mavic excursion I had a nice tail wind on my way back from the 9100 miles I flew to a lighthouse... still pretty scary when it announced it was flying itself back. DJI definitely errors on side of caution because it made it back with 30% battery.

Im wondering when the spark or Mavic for that matter say they need to RTH because of battery is it a bad idea to switch to sport mode to come back more quickly? I was tempted to switch to over but I kept my mavic in P mode because I was afraid that using sport would use up power even more quickly... plus I had the wind behind me. It was still a long 9100 trip back lol..

 

[Jimmycanuck53]

UAV forecast is the best! Has absolutely all the information you will ever need to figure out whether you should be flying or not, besides looking out your window and seeing what the trees are doing LOL

 

[Gavieboydgi]

Hi everyone,

How much wind can the spark fly in safely? Its currently about 10 m/s and ive flown it low to the ground, it went very well, but how much do y'all think is too much?

Tim

I've just flown mine in 15 mph gust wind's. And I wouldn't wanna fly it in any faster than that. Had to use Sports mode just to keep it with me a few times.
Never use Return to Home feature if you fly in bad wind just flick straight to Sports mode if wind starts talking it.
You'll be surprised how well the spark handle's the Wind I've flown mine in some bad weather on top of a mountain when it's blowing a gale.

Just use common sense and you'll be fine just remember if it's really bad where you are stood then just be prepared that it's going to be 10 times as bad up there.