HI, I am using the APM 2.6.
I have some questions regarding the plane speed and the air speed
I have a plane without an airspeed:
If the plane is defined to fly from a waypoint to another at speed 45km/h and if the wind speed is at 30km/h, at what speed the plane will fly?
A- if the wind direction is with the same direction of the plane, will the plane flies at the speed of 75km/h
B- if the wind direction is against the plane direction, will the plane flies at 15km/h?
C- will the plane adjust the speed to keep it at around 45km/h?
D- if yes, how it will do it? Based on GPS and Compass? if no airspeed is installed
C- if no. It means it needs an airspeed sensor to adjust the plane speed, isn't it?
Your reply is very important for us.
Replies
I believe if you don't have an airspeed sensor enabled, then the APM relies on the GPS data to determine ground speed. This is fine as long as your cruise airspeed has a sufficient safety margin above stall speed. If your cruise airspeed is 35mph and your stall speed is 20mph then don't fly in conditions that would allow the ground speed to be 55mph (tailwind). The best thing to do would be to either allow for a large safety margin between cruise and stall speeds, say perhaps 30mph difference; or buy an airspeed sensor.
Regards,
Nathaniel ~KD2DEY