so ive been flying my mavic 3 for about a year now and wind is still the thing that messes with my head the most. like i can look at windy.com and see 18mph gusts and technically the drone can handle it but i never know if i should just pack up or push through.

yesterday was a perfect example. started out at maybe 12mph steady and i thought fine, ill keep it low and tight. then it kicked up to 22-25 gusts and the drone was fighting hard to hold position. i was maybe 200ft out over a lake and it started drifting and the return to home kicked in briefly before i cancelled it. got it back fine but my heart was going the whole time.

is there like a rule of thumb you guys use or is it just feel after enough hours? i feel like im always either being too cautious or not cautious enough and never landing in the middle.

honestly after flying for a few years my personal rule is if the wind is more than like 60-70% of the drone's rated max windspeed i start getting uncomfortable, not because it cant handle it but because you lose a lot of your safety margin for the unexpected stuff. gusts are way worse than steady wind too because the FC can compensate for steady but gusts are what actually shoves the thing sideways before it can react.

flying over water in gusty conditions is also just asking for anxiety. even if everything goes fine youre gonna be white knuckling it the whole time and that makes you more likely to make a bad input when something does happen. id say trust your gut on that one, if it felt sketchy it probably was sketchy.

yeah the lake thing would have gotten me too lol. i dont have a hard number i go by but i started paying more attention to the trees and grass near my launch spot than the weather app because apps give you regional averages and local conditions can be totally different especially near water or between buildings. if the trees are really moving i usually just wait.