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Spark vs wind
5269 10 2017-7-2
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Ken-W
Second Officer
Flight distance : 394626 ft
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Singapore
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Given that user manual v1.2 mentions that the Spark will fly at a speed of around 21 km/h with forward sensing switched off (and a lower speed with it switched on), does this mean that the Spark will struggle in environments where wind speed is around 20 km/h?

e.g. if i fly my Spark against a headwind of 20 km/h, it will fly at a speed of approx 1 km/h?

Spark owners are likely to use this aircraft in outdoor environments, and there is a risk of the Spark not being able to RTH due to wind speeds above 23 km/h

Also, something worth considering when thinking about range extenders. You may be able to get it out pretty far, but will it come back if wind becomes a factor?

2017-7-2
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R&L Aerial
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Yes it will struggle in the situations your describing, if your headwind is the same as your maximum speed then your quad will not go forward at all. It's not just the spark, it's just mathematics.
2017-7-2
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Ken-W
Second Officer
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Singapore
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R&L Aerial  Posted at 2017-7-2 05:30
Yes it will struggle in the situations your describing, if your headwind is the same as your maximum speed then your quad will not go forward at all. It's not just the spark, it's just mathematics.

That's what I thought.

Something to consider before taking off. I can imagine users seeing the potential for a nice cinematic shot at the top of a mountain, taking off, and never seeing their Spark again due to wind speeds greater than what the Spark can handle.

And frankly, 20 km/h isn't that much wind.

And keeping in mind that with forward obstacle avoidance switched on, it's much less than 20 km/h.
2017-7-2
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R&L Aerial
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Ken-W Posted at 2017-7-2 05:35
That's what I thought.

Something to consider before taking off. I can imagine users seeing the potential for a nice cinematic shot at the top of a mountain, taking off, and never seeing their Spark again due to wind speeds greater than what the Spark can handle.

If you want to do any serious flying with the spark, get the remote controller so that you have sport mode. The spark will be able to handle much windier conditions.
2017-7-2
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fansa7dc5944
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Flight distance : 50988 ft
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Thailand
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Try "W" pattern when flying back. Avoid fly directly against the wind. Fly as low altitude as you can, the level that Spark can see you directly. At lower altitude the wind is less speed. Allow sufficient battery level for flying back.
2017-7-2
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Szwedu
Second Officer
Flight distance : 378114 ft
Poland
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That's a false information here , The spark is limited by software to go 10km/h in VPS ON , 20km/h VPS OFF and maybe 50km/h in SPORT mode.
But yesterday i was flying on a soccer field  with relay strong wind that spark at hover was much tilted and i flown up the wind and back on VPS on , the speed was the same at both times .
My point is that spark will go upwind 10km/h  up to a certain point where wind speed plus +10 km/h of spark will sum greater than max spark speed.
2017-7-2
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Ken-W
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Szwedu Posted at 2017-7-2 21:54
That's a false information here , The spark is limited by software to go 10km/h in VPS ON , 20km/h VPS OFF and maybe 50km/h in SPORT mode.
But yesterday i was flying on a soccer field  with relay strong wind that spark at hover was much tilted and i flown up the wind and back on VPS on , the speed was the same at both times .
My point is that spark will go upwind 10km/h  up to a certain point where wind speed plus +10 km/h of spark will sum greater than max spark speed.

So, that now opens the question, seeing that you have pointed out that my hypothesis is potentially false - how much wind can the Spark handle before it cannot return to home?
2017-7-3
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Szwedu
Second Officer
Flight distance : 378114 ft
Poland
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That has to be tested :]
2017-7-4
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CoreyB10
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General rule of thumb is if the wind is over 15 then its too windy for the flying of drones. I tend to use this with my P4P and never had any issues - UK. With the spark being a smaller device then the wind speed may have to be lower due to the vastly smaller foot print. Especially if the wind speed at 20m is good, when you fly higher, and you have to for any distance at all, the wind speed can triple in speed making it more difficult. I use the UAV Forcast app where you can see the weather conditions and set your fly height to see possible wind speeds. Saying this though, a few vids online show a leaf blower test with Mavic vs Spark and the Spark does quite well. Not worth the risk though.
2017-7-5
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BiPiotr
lvl.3
Flight distance : 305413 ft
Poland
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CoreyB10 Posted at 2017-7-5 00:06
General rule of thumb is if the wind is over 15 then its too windy for the flying of drones. I tend to use this with my P4P and never had any issues - UK. With the spark being a smaller device then the wind speed may have to be lower due to the vastly smaller foot print. Especially if the wind speed at 20m is good, when you fly higher, and you have to for any distance at all, the wind speed can triple in speed making it more difficult. I use the UAV Forcast app where you can see the weather conditions and set your fly height to see possible wind speeds. Saying this though, a few vids online show a leaf blower test with Mavic vs Spark and the Spark does quite well. Not worth the risk though.


Flying in windy, Spark just tries to handle it, you are getting warnings, but as long as you are cautious, its fine ... with the RC I had no problems readhing CE max limits (500 meters) ... it was just battery draining pretty fast ...
2017-7-5
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CoreyB10
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The battery needs looking at - We need a slightly better battery for a little more flight time. Most people report on average 12 mins of flight time. Add the fighting the wind drain and cuts it down to a possible under 8 mins......That's just a little better than racing quad times on a 1500 Lipo..
2017-7-6
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