so this was like two summers ago in iceland, flying near skogafoss, wind picked up out of nowhere and the mini 2 started getting pushed way further downriver than i realized. i was watching the screen not the actual drone and by the time i looked up i genuinely couldnt see it. got it back fine but my heart was going insane for about 45 seconds

ever since then i always scope out a landing spot before i even launch, like physically walk around and pick a backup spot if things go sideways. also keeping RTH altitude way higher than i used to when im somewhere with terrain i dont know well. probably obvious stuff but man that trip taught me to not get complacent just because the flight looks calm at takeoff

yeah the wind at waterfalls is no joke, theres all this weird turbulance from the water hitting the ground that doesnt show up on any weather app. learned that one the hard way at a spot in norway. your RTH altitude tip is solid, i usually add like 30-40m on top of whatever i think the highest obstacle is when im somewhere unfamiliar

i do the same thing with RTH height now after reading about people losing drones in forests. also started doing a slow 360 pan right after launch just to check for anything i might have missed on the ground level. doesnt add much time and caught a powerline i hadnt noticed once so