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Windy issues
1281 18 2018-1-27
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Bright Spark
First Officer
Flight distance : 22129 ft
United Kingdom
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Good day All.
The weather is so gross recently, I wondered if any one might like to respond to a poll, which contains the sort of question a that might appearin a hypothetical ,elementary test for drone pilots.
The question is," If a spark is hovering no stick inputs, at say 200 ft, nice and steady, is that an indication that there is no wind at that height?"
2018-1-27
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Solestacz
Second Officer
Flight distance : 489193 ft
United States
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it is not.
2018-1-27
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Bright Spark
First Officer
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Hi solestacz. Thanks for your reply.
I think a short reply window is best.perhaps dji would set a suitable quiz to help us all. You were of course right......except if in Atti mode!
2018-1-27
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Bright Spark
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Perhaps it's not for me to ask, butI would have loved to ask "can the spark handle more wind in sport mode?"
2018-1-27
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Vulcan-XH558
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Nope, it would suggest that the wind up there isn't strong enough to affect the Sparks holding position at that particular moment.

I feel your pain regarding the weather, it's absolutely atrocious out there, definitely not flying weather.
2018-1-27
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Bright Spark
First Officer
Flight distance : 22129 ft
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Vulcan, thanks for interest. The weather's been bad for ages here in UK.
I think an imaginary light hearted quiz could be fun. I'm no more qualified than any one else, but the wind presents some odd effects for new flyers as it did me.
My question was actually a quote from another post which stated that it was so.
  
2018-1-27
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SOUNDWAVE439
Second Officer
Flight distance : 115597 ft
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No. It is because of the gps. Higher altitudes means stronger gusts.
2018-1-27
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Bright Spark
First Officer
Flight distance : 22129 ft
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Thanks again. Perhaps I should have left it longer. Wind is likely to be stronger with height.
2018-1-27
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A CW
Captain
Flight distance : 13838848 ft
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Not at all. GPS will be holding the position effectively by applying more power to the motors the faster the wind speed - this is why your flight time will be lower when hovering and especially in faster winds. If the drone starts to drift then thats when you have far more of concern to worry about i.e. IMU needing to be calibrated or winds too fast for the motors to handle. Note too that wind speeds increase the higher the altitude and can change direction in a split second. Zero MPH winds are practically non existent.
2018-1-27
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Bright Spark
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Great answer thanks!
My aim was just shed light on things for all of us to avoid trouble rather than pick up the pieces.
I know you fly many types of models.
I offer my other question, viz can a spark handle "more wind in sport mode" purely for interest.
I cannot mark it so to speak and I am no arbiter.
There might be quite a  few longish answers to this one!
2018-1-27
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A CW
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Bright Spark Posted at 2018-1-27 10:30
Great answer thanks!
My aim was just shed light on things for all of us to avoid trouble rather than pick up the pieces.
I know you fly many types of models.

All DJI drones use the same principles in flight. The larger the RPM output to the motors the faster the drone will fly so yes, by switching to Sport mode you increase the EXPO of the drone to maximise its attitude and this will cut through wind more effectively. The stronger the wind, the slower the drone will fly but Sport mode is a great feature for keeping the drone moving in the direction you want it to when up against a strong and unexpected gust (whilst lowering the altitude at the same time). I flew away from myself in p-mode on one occasion and as I turned the drone hit 2MPH with 100% throttle - I switched to Sport mode, lowered my altitude from 400' to 200' AGL and the speed increased to 12MPH - the drone returned to me with time to spare. Without Sport mode I would of had my first fly away.
2018-1-27
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Duncandonut
Captain
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I feel your pain as I live in the UK too. As for the Spark handling the wind, I would say anything over 10MPH I would not fly in. I use an app called "Hover" which gives you  the local weather condition and whether you can fly or not. Am really hoping that the weather picks up soon, have 2 drones sat here doing nothing. What is worse is that on Friday in Cambridgeshire we had perfect drone weather. Too bad I was at work.
2018-1-27
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Bright Spark
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Yes poor conditions for so long. I've had a couple of short outings but wore gloves! Dodgy really since no response from  touch screen. Down in Oxfordshire here.
2018-1-27
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A CW
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Duncandonut Posted at 2018-1-27 11:29
I feel your pain as I live in the UK too. As for the Spark handling the wind, I would say anything over 10MPH I would not fly in. I use an app called "Hover" which gives you  the local weather condition and whether you can fly or not. Am really hoping that the weather picks up soon, have 2 drones sat here doing nothing. What is worse is that on Friday in Cambridgeshire we had perfect drone weather. Too bad I was at work.

I did 2 batteries with my Mavic Platinum today in Hertfordshire... 9MPH in p-mode against the wind - turned around, switched to Sport mode and hit 41.5MPH. Not long until Spring
2018-1-27
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Bright Spark
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ACW - I think your experience with other craft also helped with quick decisions.
2018-1-27
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Bright Spark
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For any one who wants to know just how clever the spark is, they may like to perouse the diagram below.

If the spark flies with no gps correction and starts at the start on the top diagram A to describe a square, when the first left turn is made at 90 degrees, it will in fact proceed at an angle dependant on wind speed. The next left at 90 is downwind and so will travel at a higher speed and therefore further than  than the first leg into wind. Next leg is also drifted down wind and so on back into wind to start again. So instead of drawing a square, a trapeze is created.
Lower diagram B is what happens on the ground when when a perfect circle is described in the air.
With gps, automatic piloting none of which the pilot is aware, corrects all this.
Screenshot_2018-01-27-20-04-48.png
2018-1-27
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Duncandonut
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A CW Posted at 2018-1-27 11:33
I did 2 batteries with my Mavic Platinum today in Hertfordshire... 9MPH in p-mode against the wind - turned around, switched to Sport mode and hit 41.5MPH. Not long until Spring

15mph here today, just a tad to windy for my liking. Think My Mavic would be ok with it, but am not willing to take the risk

As I have retired the Spark until OTG is officially supported I am left to sit and watch drone videos on YouTube.

As you say, Spring isn't too far away.
2018-1-27
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A CW
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Bright Spark Posted at 2018-1-27 11:35
ACW - I think your experience with other craft also helped with quick decisions.

For sure - I learnt to fly on a P3P
2018-1-27
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A CW
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Duncandonut Posted at 2018-1-27 15:15
15mph here today, just a tad to windy for my liking. Think My Mavic would be ok with it, but am not willing to take the risk

As I have retired the Spark until OTG is officially supported I am left to sit and watch drone videos on YouTube.

Yeah, I thought so - and I was in a wide open area at 380' AGL - so probably around 20MPH which explains it. Safe return as always though and some cool footage. Makes flying in low wind a lot easier too
2018-1-27
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