Dji s900... what wind speed is safe to fly?

[Glennyboy]

I have s900 with zenmuse and gh4, today I took her out on some high grounds and pretty much shat my pants as she was being blown and pushed pretty aggressively, bbc weather said 15mph wind but i would say 15 with faster gusts, needless to say i crapped it and went home.

So how windy can my s900 fly in to be safe and not flip?

does it help changing gains to suit? my current gains are 145 145 130 basic and touch lower atti

 

[Glennyboy]

Im guessing no one flys in windy conditions then?

 

[Carapau]

Officially, its 18mph as per your A2/Wkg manual (I presume you use one of these). So personally that is what I keep to although in fairness it may well hold in stronger winds. However, in Attitude and manual mode you could go a fair bit higher. You really need to ascertain your max speed on a windless day. So in Atti, lets say you can get a good 40mph out of it then this might give you a max wind speed of 30mph ie giving you 10mph headroom so that you can still fly upwind. Well, those are my thoughts anyhow.

 

[Buzz_Roavr]

I tend not to fly above 15mph constant otherwise battery life and penetration ability drops dramatically.

 

[bensid54]

I make a point of flying only on calm days too many trees around here to run into!

 

[Glennyboy]

I suppose what i was asking is how much can the s900 take before maybe flipping!

 

[Carapau]

Not sure, why not go and take you S900 out there and find out for us

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

I suppose what i was asking is how much can the s900 take before maybe flipping!

I've had mine out in 28mph. Totally fine it turns out! Lots of turbulence at ground level, top speed when flying upwind greatly reduced, battery life only reduced by maybe 10% and voltage drop in flight 0.5V higher than normal.

Finer controls obviously reduced but in GPS it's fly by wire so it'll still move normally, but with reduced acceleration.

You'll be fine at 18mph. Yours gains look great to me. Wind turbulence around objects is to be considered and your craft will likely wobble around a bit, but keep cool, the S900 is big enough to handle it....are you?

Oh, and it won't flip, first you'd lose your yaw authority a bit most likely, and a loss of altitude suddenly.

 

[Glennyboy]

I've had mine out in 28mph. Totally fine it turns out! Lots of turbulence at ground level, top speed when flying upwind greatly reduced, battery life only reduced by maybe 10% and voltage drop in flight 0.5V higher than normal.

Finer controls obviously reduced but in GPS it's fly by wire so it'll still move normally, but with reduced acceleration.

You'll be fine at 18mph. Yours gains look great to me. Wind turbulence around objects is to be considered and your craft will likely wobble around a bit, but keep cool, the S900 is big enough to handle it....are you?

Oh, and it won't flip, first you'd lose your yaw authority a bit most likely, and a loss of altitude suddenly.

Thanks for that.....I guess I need to man up

 

[Dave_EP]

I've had mine out in 28mph. Totally fine it turns out! Lots of turbulence at ground level, top speed when flying upwind greatly reduced, battery life only reduced by maybe 10% and voltage drop in flight 0.5V higher than normal.

Was that measured at ground level or up in the air? Sustained or gust?

I've not flown mine anywhere near that high....

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

Hi Dave,

Measured at ground level with gusts a little higher. I wanted to test the wind resistance of the S900 so gave it a go (up a mountain!). The good thing about these smaller craft is they have fast motors so can cope well with changes in wind speed.

For work I stick to the 18mph rule, but it's good to know if I had too I could handle stronger wind.

 

[apsussex]

I feel like all I've flown in is wind around 15 to 20mph, maybe more at times in short bursts and despite this the s900 has been very stable. Seems to hold altitude very well and the gimbal is so smooth. This is also with a wookong so I have no idea how this compares to the A2.

I guess one advantage is im now used to it and dont worry about winds too much. Certainly not a preference though.

 

[iceman]

Don't forget if it's gusting wind gusts can be up to 2.5x mean wind speed so a 12mph wind could gust up to 30mph