Does the Mavic Pro handle the wind as well as an Inspire?

Fly my mavic today in 15mph (ground speed) with gusts at 22mph, likely a fair bit higher 50m up.

So how did it handle it, does it fly in the wind as well as my old Inspire 1 or 2. Hardly a fair comparison I know, but interesting nonetheless… The answer is it handles it VERY well… so long as you are comfortable with Sport mode.

Straight after taking off, which has to be done in P mode, it starts drifting, or at best can just about hold its position which isn’t a comfortable position to be in. However, switch into Sport mode and she is off, no problem at all. No issues going straight into the significant head wind, or climbing, a real pleasure to fly. Obviously you need to be cautious with your movements as she will rip with the wind and I certainly wouldn’t let it get out of sight, but it felt very comfortable flying in the strong wind.

Compared to the Inspire 1, which is down on power (especially after all the firmware updates…) I would say it handles the wind at least as well if not slightly better, which given its low weight is quite surprising. The I2 is obviously a big heavy and powerful beast and handles this type of wind without breaking a sweat, no surprise there.

In this wind the gimbal also does really well, still offering smooth enough video, although you will likely see some small bumps or jitter but given how gusty it was I was very impressed For photos, no problem at all.

So in summary, she handles the wind beautifully, but you will need sport mode and thus must be comfortable with the extra performance, agility and responsiveness that this comes with.

This does raise one question for me, which I have seen conflicting answers to and that is… if you are in sport mode and use return to home (or fail safe) does it stay in sport mode or reverts to P? If it is the latter it might never make it… best make sure you fly away from you into the wind so that the wind will help you make it back - which is always a safe way to fly when the conditions are trying. Does anyone have a definitive answer on this? If it wasn’t so damn windy I would have tested it :slight_smile:

Merry Christmas all, happy and safe flying over the holidays!

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Well, I must admit, I’m very surprised!

My poor Mavic gets tossed around like a rag doll in strong winds.

But then this got me thinking…

When I take off I usually just hover at about 20ft for a few moments. I’m listening for unusual noises and I’m looking for unusual movements. If everything is ok then off I go.

But it’s often during this initial hovering stage that I see the Mavic battling with the wind and sometimes I lose my bottle and think it’s just not worth the risk :blush:

But it didn’t even occur to me to just fly the thing :rofl:

The additional power that sport mode brings certainly makes sense. My bike is a damned sight more stable with the throttle open so it makes sense on the Mavic too I guess :slight_smile: