I am thinking of buying a Phantom 3 Pro for surveying but need to know what windspeed it will cope with in terms of its ability to hover. Clearly a blustery wind is going to be more difficult/variable but many of the locations I am going to be working in a reasonably exposed and/or elevated and there will almost always be SOME wind. Heights will be in the range of 15 to 50m above ground level

I think the recommended max conditions is 15mph winds. From experience I would say this is fairly accurate as the P3 does start to struggle to keep steady. Obviously this will have a negative effect on the battery life as the drone has to fight against the wind.

This winter I have often flown and taken photos/video with winds from 10 to 14 knots with gusts up to about 22 knots. The Phantom does an impressively good job holding its own under these conditions. However, I personally do not fly if the average wind speed is above 15 knots or so (video more difficult and multiple still shots are needed to get a good one). I believe that the DJI recommended safe flying limit is 10 m/s (19 knots or 22 mph). Hope that helps.

phantom 3 can stand 4 level of the wind, inspire 1-- 5 level

The P3 has the ability to deal with more wind than many users realise.
It can easily hold position in 20 knots (even a bit more).
Launching and retrieving can be a little tricky above 25 knots.

Thanks everyone

I have flown regularly in 25 mph gusts without issue.  There is slightly movements of a few feet but it generally copes fine with strong gusts.

Yes,  if your concern is hovering performance,  the P3 does a pretty good job in moderate winds.  I have been blown backwards in 50 mph gusts before,  but that was a rare day.  Usually,  sustained 10-15 mph is a piece of cake.

DJI-Tim Posted at 2016-3-8 05:02
phantom 3 can stand 4 level of the wind, inspire 1 5 level

What are levels of wind?

DillPickleAdil Posted at 2016-3-9 02:24
What are levels of wind?

DJI-Tim Posted at 2016-3-8 21:53

Really the inspire can handle level 15 !!!!  thats so amazing

Hi  the phantom 3 handle very well 20 MHP winds  holding the position

after that may be you have to do some  manual moves ,  i already try 28mhp winds and my standard did it well

but sometimes  you need to do some manual moves to keep the position , and the landing was really hard because the quads moves a lot at that speed

but after that everything was ok

GTDrone Posted at 2016-3-9 12:37
Really the inspire can handle level 15 !!!!  thats so amazing

sorry if i was incorrect, but i meant inspire 1-------can handle level 5

DJI-Tim Posted at 2016-3-8 22:53

Oh I see, cool.

DJI-Tim Posted at 2016-3-9 00:31
sorry if i was incorrect, but i meant inspire 1-------can handle level 5

ooo i understand , thats basically the same of the phantom , DJI recommend to fly  in less than 20 mph winds , but i already did in 30 35 mph winds and the phantom didt it well

kind of slow but i was able to fly

Depends a little what you final requirements are but I'm amazed at the mapping results from my P3P I get uncomfortable up around 5m/s

I've had a couple of brushes with "Gone With The Wind" - a very sickening feeling. Think about RTH altitude before every flight. You risk battery capacity and substantial downwind drift as it ascends to RTH alt. Keep in mind that switching units of measure to Imperial only changes in-flight alt & distance read-out. A value of 30 for RTH altitude is still 30m. It's difficult not to crash land in gusty conditions because as tha props slow to descend, they basically become a sail in the wind as you get very close to ground and I've had mind pitchpole for several damaging yards before finally coming to rest
2 possible solutions for near-ground instability are to launch and recover by hand - best done with an assistant, although I've practiced getting it to hover within reach long enough to set the RC down and toggle  the left stick down with my foot. Otherwise rig a pair of paint stir to your landing bars for added stability, although that only works if you're aligned with wind direction.

With your foot???  That sounds extremely dangerous, unless you're used to being able to eat and do other things that require fine motor control with your feet.  Use one hand to lower it toward you and the other to reach up and get hold of one vertical leg support as it approaches from above.  As soon as your fingers get around the leg, pull back completely on the throttle and wait for it to shut down before moving the other hand.

AG0N-Gary Posted at 2016-3-14 09:06
With your foot???  That sounds extremely dangerous, unless you're used to being able to eat and do o ...

Just to add to that, if you plan to do hand catching a lot, it might be a good idea to get the DJI body harness to hold the RC unit in place while you are doing it.

Dark Knight Posted at 2016-3-8 17:02
I think the recommended max conditions is 15mph winds. From experience I would say this is fairly ac ...

I agree with Knight, I have the P3 standard and have had it out in 10-15 mph sustained winds and it was pretty good at maintaining a hover and the Adv/Pro versions have more satellites for that so should be even more accurate.  Only thing I would watch is landing, it hovered fine but landing in a wind is a lot more difficult, of course if you feel its not looking safe you can just hand catch.

Geebax Posted at 2016-3-13 17:50
Just to add to that, if you plan to do hand catching a lot, it might be a good idea to get the DJI ...

Yes.  I wouldn't recommend hand catch/launch without being able to let go of the remote.  I use one of my old SLR straps on mine.

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2016-3-8 06:10
The P3 has the ability to deal with more wind than many users realise.
It can easily hold position i ...

Agree. Mine handles these winds magically

I just flew my Phantom 3 in 20-30mph wind with gusts to 35 or 40mph, and it hovered really well. See the video description for a link that shows the airport-measured speeds at the time.

Just a few days ago, I was curious what the wind was doing, so I launched and went up about 50 feet.  Then I put it on atti and forced myself to let it drift (scary).  It clocked just about 25 mph before I reengaged GPS and flew it back (against the wind).  The hover was quite stable.