SkyBoundWeather & Safety.
Real-time local wind speeds, gusts, and flight safety status calibrated for quadcopters, FPV rigs, and cinematic aerial photography.
Preview light
Conditions Loading
Forecast model, not an on-site observation.
400 ft AGL is the standard Part 107 ceiling; controlled airspace can be lower, and the structure exception or an FAA waiver can change it. Weather flags below are conservative LaB planning guidance, not aircraft limits.
Flight safety threshold rules.
0–11 mph : Ideal Flight Window
Minimal gimbal stress, stable tracking, and maximum battery life. Ideal for tight architectural passes and smooth speed-ramped shots.
12–17 mph : Active Compensation
Expect more correction from the aircraft and gimbal. Wind buffeting may create slight micro-jitter on telephoto or lightweight sensors. Maintain a generous battery buffer for return-to-home against headwind, and follow the aircraft manufacturer’s wind limit.
18+ mph : Grounded / Hold
High motor draw and thermal strain. Risk of battery sag and runaway drift. Switch to handheld gimbal or indoor set setup.
Reading the gust number.
Field note
Steady wind is the average. The gust is the peak.
The aircraft trims itself for the average and then has to correct for everything above it. Every correction is motors spinning up asymmetrically, burning battery, with a gimbal making constant micro-adjustments that show up as jitter once you are on a long lens. Eight steady with gusts to twenty-two is a harder flight than a flat fifteen, which is why the number on the right of these tiles is the one worth watching.
The wind at 300 feet is not the wind at your feet.
You are standing in the boundary layer, where friction against the ground slows the air down. Your aircraft is not. It is common to launch into what feels like a light breeze and find noticeably stronger, steadier wind at altitude. Send it up, hover, and watch how hard it has to lean to hold position before you commit to a shot.
Obstacles make their own weather.
Buildings, treelines and ridges turn smooth air into mechanical turbulence, and the rough patch extends well downwind of whatever caused it. A number that is perfectly safe in an open field can be genuinely unpleasant threading a gap between two structures. Give hard edges more room than the wind reading alone suggests.
Flying after dark.
Safety note
Anti-collision lighting, visible for three statute miles.
Night flying under Part 107 no longer needs a waiver, but it does need a light: anti-collision lighting visible for at least three statute miles, flashing fast enough to be seen and avoided. The navigation LEDs your aircraft shipped with almost certainly do not clear that bar, so this means a dedicated strobe, mounted and switched on. The same requirement applies during civil twilight.
The training is a separate requirement from the light.
Certificated pilots need to have completed the updated recurrent training that covers night operations. Flying recreationally under the limited recreational exception does not exempt you from the lighting, and you still need to follow a community-based organisation’s safety guidelines. Registered aircraft need to be broadcasting Remote ID either way.
Orientation is the hazard, not the darkness.
Visual line of sight still applies after dark and it is much harder to hold. A strobe tells you where the aircraft is but not reliably which way it is facing, and losing yaw orientation at distance is how night flights go wrong. Fly a site you already know in daylight, keep it closer than you would at noon, and set your return-to-home altitude above the tallest thing out there.
Cold takes the battery before it takes you.
Lithium packs lose usable capacity in the cold, and a night flight in October behaves nothing like the same flight in July. Warm the batteries before launch, expect the low-voltage warning sooner than the percentage suggests, and land on a number that leaves you a margin. Watch for dew and frost forming on props and the gimbal glass while you are set up.
Check before you fly.
The reading at the top of this page is one station and one moment. For anything that matters, whether a paid shoot, unfamiliar airspace or weather on the edge, these are the places worth opening first.
Built for this specific problem. Wind and gusts at altitude, cloud base, satellite count and KP index, all on one screen with a go / no-go read.
Wind maps you can scrub through time and altitude, with several forecast models to compare. Best tool for seeing a front arrive before it does.
NOAA’s own service. METARs and TAFs from the nearest field, which is the same data the crewed aircraft above you are working from.
The official local forecast office for Metro Detroit, including watches, warnings and the area forecast discussion when something is developing.
The FAA’s airspace awareness app, run by Aloft. Tells you what class you are standing in and whether you need authorisation before you unfold the arms.
The actual current text, including night operations and Remote ID. If anything on this page disagrees with this link, this link is right.