🌧️What’s the Worst Weather You’ll Fly In? 🚁

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:cloud_with_rain:What’s the Worst Weather You’ll Fly In? :helicopter:

We all know British weather can be a challenge!

What’s your personal limit when it comes to flying?

  • :dashing_away: Maximum wind speed you’ll fly in?
  • :sun_behind_rain_cloud: Light drizzle or absolutely not?
  • :snowflake: Winter flying or fair-weather pilot?
  • :fog: Ever flown in fog or mist?
  • :sun: Do you prefer sunrise, daytime, or sunset flights?

Share your experiences, close calls, and any tips for dealing with the UK’s unpredictable weather.

It’ll be interesting to see where everyone draws the line between “send it” and “maybe another day!” :laughing::united_kingdom::helicopter:

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@Gilbert Hi Gilbert :waving_hand: Some great questions there, I will generally fly all year round if and when i can around work commitments. I won’t fly in any light drizzle rain as this won’t do the drone any good. I haven’t or not yet flown in fog or mist so i cannot say what that would do to the drone, Maybe it will be ok?? :thinking::man_shrugging:
As for maximum wind speed i won’t push the drone to the limits of what it can handle but then i fly a Mini 4pro so this is only 2.49g but again if you where flying a bigger drone like a Air 3S or a mavic 4pro would handle the wind condition better than a sub 2.49g drone. So i think that would come down personal preference to what drone you own and its abilities with the wind resistance. I think the most important aspects of flying any drone is knowing its limits especially in any windy conditions, Nobody wants to lose a drone because you pushed the limits flying beyond the drones capability.

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Low cloud had appeared a few times. Generally, wind depends on the quad, anything under 60kph is ok just need to be careful and fly upwind first.

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In the army, we had a saying: ‘If it’s not raining, it’s not training.’ The opposite goes for drone flying.

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Wind speed? It isn’t the wind speed you want to worry about, it’s the gust speed. If the gust speed is more than the maximum speed of your drone then you could be in trouble. Even then I allow a margin of error especially with a sub-250g drone many of which are not very aerodymanic.
Light drizzle? You can fly in whatever conditions you want but you won’t do your drone’s innards any good if you fly in rain of any sort. I value my drones too much to even think about flying in damp conditions.
Winter? No problem with that provided it isn’t wet. However, I am talking about the UK where we don’t see extremes of cold (below freezing) when it is not advised as it can affect batteries, icing of propellors and the like.
Fog or mist? No, as you cannot maintain VLOS. Also damp (see earlier).
The best light for photography/film is what are called the “golden hours”. That is the hour immediately after sunrise and immediately before sunset.
Of course, if your subject is only there at midday (or midnight) that’s when you have to photograph/film. These are not rules, only guidelines.