so ive been flying my mini 3 pro for about 8 months now and wind is still the thing that gets me every time. like i know the specs say it can handle up to like 38kph or whatever but thats not really the question is it. the question is when do you personally decide its too sketchy to even bother going up.

yesterday was probably 20-25kph sustained with gusts i didnt even bother measuring and the drone was just getting pushed around constantly, fpv feed was fine but it was burning through battery fighting the wind and i was losing like 30% more flight time than normal. landed with more battery than id usually need but still felt like i was pushing it. the footage was also kind of garbage because it kept micro correcting and you could see it in the pan shots.

do you guys just have a feel for it at this point or is there some actual method you use to decide. i see people posting footage all the time in obviously windy conditions and im wondering if im just being too cautious or if theyre taking risks i dont want to take

honestly after a few years of this my rule is pretty simple ? if the trees are moving enough that i can hear them from where im standing, i start getting picky about where im flying. that said i fly a heavier bird than you (mavic 3) and it handles wind way more predictably just because of the weight and motor size.

your battery consumption thing is a real tell. i always check my battery drain in the first 60 seconds of hover. if its eating more than i expect, thats usually wind or heat doing something weird and i make a call from there. the specs are kind of meaningless in practice because its not just speed, its the direction, gustiness, and whether you have obstacles around you. a 25kph headwind in an open field is totally different from 15kph with trees everywhere.

the micro correction thing in your footage is something you can actually minimize a bit if you slow down your gimbal settings and add a bit more expo on your stick inputs so youre not fighting the corrections with your own inputs at the same time

i just check windy.com before i go out and if the gusts are more than like 15 over the sustained speed i usually dont bother. had a close call once where sustained was fine but a gust just flipped my angle of attack and i nearly lost it behind some buildings. wasnt worth it. your instincts sound fine to me