What are the wind speeds that the P3 can handle?

Per the DJI manual, 10 m/s.

Yesterday's test flight, 12mph with 15mph gust. Cut through the wind like butter. Handled like a champ.

Wind speeds are only semi-accurate in a completely open area - like on the water and in the desert. The problem with trees and hills and valleys is that the wind gets funneled and it can result in having certain "nozzles" where the wind is higher than what the weather predicts.

If you want be be conservative, play it like this. No problem flying when it says winds up to 10 MPH. No problem flying when it says winds at 10-15, although watch out for going  very high because the wind speeds could be double that at 400 feet. When it says 10-20 you can fly for close-in photos or if protected by trees, etc.
But when it says 15-20 and gusting higher...you'd be better to stay on the ground.

Today was the perfect example around here. Most stations showed winds below 15MPH. But they peaked quickly and some gusts were reported at 27. At a few hundred feet up that's probably 35MPH.

Use common sense. I didn't today and I almost lost my machine.

a.chin0071@hotm Posted at 2015-5-5 08:28
Yesterday's test flight, 12mph with 15mph gust. Cut through the wind like butter. Handled like a cha ...

12-15 mph translates to about 5-7m/s (meters per second).

You can flip into ATTI mode for a while and actually measure the wind speed at any altitude where you're flying. Nice if you're taking notes and looking back at your log later.

For me I don't like to fly in more than 7-10. I have a wind meter I take with me. I have flipped in 5 mph, for some reason, just as I was landing about 7 feet off the ground, the wind picked up and then it just flip. The good things about it., the camera did not hit the ground, but I think there is sometime  an issue, when I start up, I have to tap the camera just a little bit.

But other then that, there is no issue with the videos or pictures

With the P2v+ I would usually not fly with a windspeed much higher than about 5 m/s (higher gusts). I think the recommended limit is 8 m/s for the P2?

Anyway, great point nhoover, about putting the drone in ATTI-mode and letting it drift to get an approximate current windspeed at the quadcopter's altitude by keeping an eye on the ground-speed. I've done that myself, but never really been certain for how long you'd have to let it drift to have it reach the true windspeed.

@skymaker6 A wind-meter is a great idea. I don't have one. But I do have an iOS app called "Windfinder" (much used by windsurfers) which accesses a lot of wind-measurement-stations around the world and almost live-updates. What is especially useful is that most locations offer a graph of the windspeed for the last day so you can get a good idea of the tendency. For many locations the app not only has a "sustained windspeed" but also a graph for maximum windspeeds/gusts so you can get an idea if the wind is stable (and thus less dangerous) or more unstable and gusty - and thus it might be a good idea to be a lot more careful.

DJI are very conservative in their recommendation.
Your P3 will handle a lot more wind than DJI recommends in the specs and a lot more than most users imagine.

I was at the beach today (there was a fairly large swell breaking here) and saw an Inspire and a Phantom (no idea which one, but it was a Phantom of some sort) flying around.  Winds were about 6-10mph at the time, and boy that Inspire was so incredibly stable and planted.  The Phantom looked like a toy being whipped around by the wind next to the Inspire.  The Inspire was almost majestic in comparison.

Question here, is the P3 much more stable, sort of like the Inspire, compared to older Phantom models?  

Well, good comments, i already lost an inspire for not checking the wind, i'll make my history, i was at Bahia de las Aguilas, Pedernales, Dominican Republic, a very nice virgin Beach, i took off, went almost 3kms away from me, everything was perfect, took some pictures, still had 70% battery left, i decided to come back cause i was done with the pictures, in my way back i noticed the aircraft didn't go more than 7 m/s of speed, when i realized it was coming against the wind (25mph), battery was discharging faster cause of the effort, the battery went off 300 meters away from the shoreline, and the drone landed in the sea, 30 feet underwater, a diver that was around managed to recover it for me, but it never worked again, sold it on ebay for parts. I suggest that you always check the speed and the direction of the wind, i had almost a year flying 7-8 hours weekly, and i never imagined that could happen, i hope my story encourage all pilot to verify this before flying and that you never lose an aircraft.

Today, its maiden flight was 22mph with gusts to 35. I flew from ground level to 200'. It did buzz around a lot, but the video is smooth as a baby's ____________.

leoamartinez@gm Posted at 2015-5-5 20:55
Well, good comments, i already lost an inspire for not checking the wind, i'll make my history, i wa ...

great point, thank you

pishposh Posted at 2015-5-5 15:59
I was at the beach today (there was a fairly large swell breaking here) and saw an Inspire and a Pha ...

I was filming at 5-6 Bft. (25-30 Mph) and had absolutely no Problems with the P2 Vision+. I hope the P3 will work as well.

Go to uavforecast.com and input the parameters that you want. It'll give you a forecast at any elevation that you choose.

Fly your phantom at max speed on a calm day with no wind speed and see what speed is recorded on the app, then Subtract 10 mph from it , then that's your max wind speed you can fly in safely to be able to come home.

I flew my P3 right after a Tornado here at Canada's Wonderland & winds were still 50-70KM/H so 43 MPH at the highest here is a video & how steady she was.

DVD Mansion Posted at 2015-6-26 07:33
I flew my P3 right after a Tornado here at Canada's Wonderland & winds were still 50-70KM/H so 43 MP ...

I see you are following Transport Canada's guidelines for safe operation of a UAV. Congratulations on being the reason why restrictions are going to become even stricter here. Wake up and fly responsibly!

DVD Mansion Posted at 2015-6-26 07:33
I flew my P3 right after a Tornado here at Canada's Wonderland & winds were still 50-70KM/H so 43 MP ...

I believe you were there too long.  We got the idea after 15 seconds.  That was too risky.   Besides, your video was choppy and your transitions were too fast.  Please practice in a safer environment.  I am just trying to help, not hurt.

I dont feel comfortable flying in anything more than about 10mph. I use my wind gauge I bought on ebay for about $13

According to HealthyDrones analysis, I've flew with around 45kmh winds:

Just be careful in high winds, make sure you fly out into the wind so you won't get stuck coming home in a headwind.