ok so this is partly my fault but also kind of the wind's fault. went out there last week, knew the south rim is national park so no flying, did my research and drove out to a spot on the east side just outside the park boundary. had it all mapped out, felt pretty good about the whole thing.

anyway the thermals out there are absolutely insane. launched fine, got maybe 200 feet up and the thing just started getting thrown around. wind was showing like 12mph on my phone but at altitude it had to be way more. lost video feed for a second and my heart just stopped. got it back down and it was fine but yeah. canyon thermals are no joke. had no idea it would be that bad in what felt like calm conditions at ground level

yeah the thermals in desert canyon areas are genuinely unpredictable, especially in the afternoon when the rock heats up. morning launches are way safer out there, like before 9am if you can manage it. glad you got it back down in one piece

this is actually making me reconsider bringing mine on my southwest trip. i was planning to fly around moab too which is probably similar conditions. did you have return to home set up as a backup or were you flying it back manually when you lost signal