Maximun wind speed to fly a RC Heli

[Oscarddt]

Greetings,

What is the maximun speed you should fly a 500 size heli, my HK500GT broke a main blade due a wind gust during the landing.:mad: The winds in that area at that time was 23,6mph. I think I shouldn't have flied with such a strong wind. I thinking that my personal wind speed limit should be 10mph, but I have friend who flies TRex700 with +20mph winds without problems.

I already know that you shoudn't fly a small heli with a strong wind, but...

What do you think?

[smccrory]

It's good that you call them personal limits because ultimately that's all that matters - your personal limits.

Now personally, just for reference, I'll fly my T450 up to 10 mph winds and 50 and 90 sized helis up to 15 mph as long as it's not gusting bad. For me personally, 26 mph would be way too much, especially for a 500.

[Mr.Andersen]

Well thats some wind to flye in but i have done the same with my 450 and the trick with the landing is land into the wind and nail the heli to the ground with negative pitch in idle up before letting off the throttle.
When landing up against the wind the heli cant tip as the heli is aerodynamic in the front and the tail will prevent the heli from tipping backwards.

[GormPedersen]

For me it is about 9 -10 mph for the 500, and 7 – 8 mph for the 450. I live in Denmark and unfortunately it is pretty windy here most of the time :arggg:. But on the other hand, that makes life interesting when you are flying a helicopter ;).

[Oscarddt]

Well, I think I've learned from the hard way.

The ironic part of this tale is, the only day with +23mph winds was THAT day, the following days the wind were very calm. Sometimes you are too anxious to fly and you want to fly no matter what, with frustrating results.

Well, that is the way the hobby is, sometimes excelent days and sometimes, the walk of shame. :dontknow

[life2short1971]

I fly mine up to 15-20 mph winds but the fbl makes it quite stable.

[Oscarddt]

This afternoon I tried to "recreate" the winds conditions in Real Flight 4.5 simulator, I started to hear the winds sounds and the heli started to climb higher and go farther, 5 min later I couldn't see it.:roll:

So, this is definitive, no more flight with those winds!

[wilywampa]

What is the maximun speed you should fly a 500 size heli, my HK500GT broke a main blade due a wind gust during the landing.:mad:

I bet that was just a coincidence. A 500 size heli easily flies faster than 25 mph on a normal day, and 25 mph forward flight (or backwards or sideways) is no different from a hover in 25 mph wind.

[Mr.Andersen]

Its not the wind thats the problem but the turbulence.
Even the mSR can handle som wind but its the turbulence thats the real enemy.
Sudden upps and downs are hard to handle close to the ground.

[chris11427]

+1 Mr. Anderson on landing in idle up with negative pitch. I fly in 10mph wind regularly and up to 15mph sometimes. I feel that sustained wind is fine and actually fun to play aorund with sometimes, it's the gusts that f^% you over.
:cheers

[rdlohr]

I flew my 500 this morning in 20 - 30 MPH gusts. It survived, but it was in unexpected orientations a few times. I flew three packs and didn't bother flying the fourth. Set your own personal limit. I probably would have been better off not flying today. I was fighting the wind the entire time.

Rick

[JasonJ]

I flew my 500 this morning in 20 - 30 MPH gusts. It survived, but it was in unexpected orientations a few times. I flew three packs and didn't bother flying the fourth. Set your own personal limit. I probably would have been better off not flying today. I was fighting the wind the entire time.

Rick

I flew in similar conditions yesterday. The wind was fairly sustained in the mid to high teens, but it would get gusts and sustained higher winds in the mid to upper 20's plus. Usually I am fine with winds up to 20mph, but yesterday I just couldn't fly the helicopter worth a damn. It wasn't because the helicopter couldn't do it, it was me. I ended up flying my trainer plank instead. That thing is downright relaxing, even in windy conditions. That was one reason why I got the plank, so I could fly if I wasn't feeling good about how the helicopter was doing. Eventually the winds calmed somewhat, but after three hours of constant flight between me and another guy with the planks, I was too tired to put a helicopter back up.

The limit really is you, and the limit varies from day to day. If you are still new, try to pick calmer days or be real careful.

[crazyerick]

I also flew in 15-20 knot winds yesterday. The bigger helis does handle the stronger winds better. I took out my 500 later in the day when it dropped to about 14knots and was ok.

As other have say, fly what you feel comfortable. A year ago I would not fly in that wind but you can learn how to cope with the wind.

An old saying, "if you put your canopy on the ground and the wind blows it away, its too windy to fly" :-)

[rdlohr]

LOL. I weighted it down with a battery.

Rick

[6L6Amp]

Let's put it this way... I once did a funnel in a tornado.

[sfhawk]

Too true on the gustst-a steady wind is no trouble unless you are doing 3d. Just fly against it-in fact it can make nose in hover easier as there is always an input for reference! Just my thought....Not fact or near....

[Larry Zimmerer]

Flew on a challenge in 42MPH wind ( measured with wind meter) with Trex 600N..... In open field without and obstuctions to cause turbulance...... Landing a little tricky but got it done..... Not as hard as flying on the downwind side of my house at 20 mph...... Thats tough.....

[chris6414]

My scale 450- below 10
My 30 Nitro (with ole Mech rate gyro)- up to 15 sustained with higher gusts is tolerable
They are all more fun under 10 MPH sustained.

[jondabear]

Here in TX. we got the aftermath of the winds and had 30-45 mph gusts for a few days.

Me and a buddy decided it would be fun to fly our blade 400's in this...................:rolling

[fixnfly70]

I find flying in high gusts good practice....am still perfecting hover, but last month we had steady 20 with gusts to 35+ and it was good practice, but kinda stressful too.....90 size heli...

[liftdump]

My poor heli is only wind limited by ME!!! :YeaBaby:

[rvjunior]

The mph of the wind doesnt bother me its the wind pockets and gust that hit you and throw me all over the place.

[popadel]

ive flown in some serious winds and dont enjoy it. Makes the flight too much work and gusts just ruin your day so i stay to below 5mph winds and no gusts. those are bad news!

I crashed once with a FBL 450 in a heavy wind and realised then that its just not worth it. Even my 700 had issues when autorotating once and had to give it full negative on the touch down to stop it tipping over as the usual -5 deg was not enough to keep it planted on the landing gear. scarrrrryyyyyy moment

my scale 600 and 250 MD500 helies i NEVER fly in wind over 5Mph as the extra sise just adds resistance.

[sabbott676]

The more wind the better! Unless I'm trimming and tuning ccpm endpoints, I avoid calm weather if at all possible. It's increasingly dangerous for my BigBlock Raptor 30, as it autos like a rock.. same goes for my 450. My Trex600n is not much fun on days above 25mph, as it's power2weight ratio is marginal. My 450 is/was my preferred high wind heli as it is/was the hotrod heli of my bunch. When gust are over 30 mph I work on piro hovers, autos, inverted hover, and static manuovers like continues flips and tictocs. FFF, stall turns, loops, and humpty bumps are reserved for those balmy medium days of 15 to 20mph. The beauty of high wind flying are sticks in constant motion, and consentration so high that my mind gets lost in the sky. Mix traffic field flying has inherent rules, calm = fixed wing, wind = rotary wing. Coolest thing I ever saw was a 600n hovering at a near 40deg bank angle, recorded wind gusts just over 50mph... bets were being placed on gear vs disk to touch down first. Lift off is optional, landing is manditory. Personal limits is so very correct when talking flying conditions.

[rccardude04]

I've managed my 450 in 28mph once. I swear it was gusting to 35 but don't have confirmation. Weather Channel said 28. :p I was practicing orientation and failed. Otherwise it was pretty good.

The other day, I mounted the keychain cam to the baseplate and flew in 24mph wind.

-Eric