AirData UAV or UAV Forecast for weather information?

As a beginner in drone things I have so far used AirData but since I found UAV I must say it seems a lot more “spot on”?
Pro’s and cons?
Today for example


BTW, both locations are wrong by about 600m

Hi @Sundowner yes I have found the same too- This weekend coming UAV says NO! Airdata says yes
at the times I have chosen too fly, looking out the window, gut feeling, arriving on site, never really had a problem with that, wind is probably the only one that has stopped me flying altogether or only being able to fly at low altitude, they are only forecasts!

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Can’t say I’ve spent enough time on AirData to judge it, but I use UAV Forecast a lot (not just for the drone, it’s replaced the Met Office as my “what’s the weekend going to be like for gardening” check). Seems pretty accurate to me and (IMHO) worth paying to open up the extra features.

For weather. I use it for flight logs and it’s great.

@mockingbird71
I’ll try that one, thanks!!

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@JoeC
You’re mentioning the flight logs, does UAV do them too?

@Mungmeister
Yes, you’re right of course. However, if I’m planning to go further afield it comes in handy to get a good forecast!!

Somebody might correct me, but no I don’t think it does.

The term “UAV” on it’s own here is a bit confusing as to give the two products their full names:

  • AirData UAV

  • UAV Forecast

I’ve updated the topic title to reflect this.

@JoeC is correct, UAV Forecast does not do any flight logging stuff.

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Oooooh, I see what you mean. Hadn’t occurred to me when replying that AirData UAV is also a ‘UAV’. :slight_smile:

@Sundowner - now I’m not sure which you meant…

  • AirData UAV is primarily for flight logs with the weather forecast a fairly recent addition.

  • UAV Forecast is just the forecast, no flight logs.

Thanks guys, I’ll have to keep UAVF and subscribe to AirData !!!

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Being on a small island we can get all sorts of weather coming in, mostly wind… One of the benefits however means an array of resources are available. I’m constantly checking:

  • I’m a flight-sim geek, so firstly the METAR feed for EGNS (Ronaldsway Airport) - several miles south of me. Bearing in mind the Island is only 32miles long and 14 wide, the weather between the north and south can differ quite substantially - I believe that’s thanks to Snaefell Mountain.
  • The Isle of Man Government website. Provides a 5 day forecast, and a more detailed daily forecast which is continually updated. They always list the highest windspeed for the day though, so often winds are just fine despite it stating say 25mph. It could actually only be 8mph in the morning.
  • The IoM Government website again, but for webcams. It may be dry, it may be calm winds, but is there Mannanins Cloak (fog) at my destination?
  • For wind indications, a premium subscription to Windfinder mobile app which provides per-hour forecast for several places on the Island
  • For live reliable winds, another local resource, Isle of Man Weatherstations which provides info like average wind speed over x minutes.
  • Finally AIrData UAV app for predicted windspeeds at various altitudes

And after all that… just ignore it and go flying anyway.

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Hey all,

Maybe a slight noob question but that’s why I’m here, to learn from you more experienced guys.
I’ve downloaded the app UAV forecast and think it’s really good at what it does. However on the map your have lots of local air fields etc (green circles) to fly within those do you need to get permission?
Just thought it would be good to find out more about the info the app provides as it’s pointless having all the info if you don’t know how to use it!

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Moved your post over to a pre-existing thread on UAV that may answer some of your questions but means other related answers are consolidated

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I use it plus a couple of others but you can change the settings on UAV forecast to match your drone , so I’ve changed settings to the max wind gusts and the max altitude I fly and set it to seek both sets of satellites, it’s more helpful if you set its settings to what you need rather than its general settings it comes with , mine is also out on location by about 500 yards but that’s close enough .

UAV Forecast is now only free for 3 hours as opposed to the 24 hour period before.

Therefore not so useful to new drone members.

Personally, I only use UAV Forecast for the weather and ignore its option for no-fly zones. For those I stick to DroneScene*. A case of using each app for what it was intended.

On UAV Forecast you can turn off those airport warnings in settings. Also you can manually adjust the size of them (which tells you that the feature isn’t intended as anything more than a heads up that there may be an airport in the area).

(*Other airspace mapping tools are available)