Flight planning
Drone weather, without the folklore.
A “nice day” at the car park is not a wind brief. Consumer drones fail in gusts and at height, not in the average you saw on a phone widget. This page is how we want you to read a forecast before you open the field check.
What to look at
Sustained wind is the mean. Gusts are the spikes. Your remote’s wind resistance number is almost always sustained. If gusts sit near that number, treat the flight as caution or no-go even when the mean looks polite.
Height matters. Surface (10 m) is takeoff and landing. Cruise is often around 80 m. The US recreational ceiling is about 120 m (400 ft AGL). Open-Meteo is the source this site uses for those three. It is a model, not a windsock.
How to check before you fly
- Pick the actual airframe in the model list so the limit is not a guess.
- Set the field, not the nearest city center if you can help it.
- Read 10 m, 80 m, and 120 m — plus gusts — against that limit.
- Scan the next few hours. A green now and a red in 40 minutes is still a no.
- Look at the trees. If they disagree with the app, the trees win.
What this is not
Not a METAR replacement for a towered airport job. Not LAANC. Not a promise that Level 5 means 12 m/s at 400 ft. See how the verdict is calculated and what the levels mean.
Questions
- How should I check wind before flying a drone?
- Check sustained wind and gusts at the height you will actually fly, not only the airport 10 m reading. Drone Max Wind does that at 10 m, 80 m, and 120 m against your model’s published limit.
- Why do gusts matter more than the average?
- A drone’s wind rating is usually sustained wind. A gust that hits the limit for a second can still shove a Mini-class airframe. We use the worse of sustained and gust at each height.
- Does wind speed change with altitude?
- Usually yes. 120 m (about 400 ft) is often stronger than what you feel at takeoff. That is why a “light breeze” on the ground is not a free pass at the legal ceiling.
- Can weather change during a flight?
- Yes. A 12-hour hourly view is for planning, not a live guarantee. If the sky or the trees pick up while you are up, land.