Since Plane determines wind direction most accurately while in loiter, maybe it’s a good idea to have a 2 orbit loiter command just after take off and just before landing to ensure best estimation of airspeed when no airspeed sensor is installed?
Just a thought - wondering what you guys think?
Why do you say that wind direction estimation is best during loiter? (Do you have experiments? Or maybe it’s a post I haven’t seen?)
From the documentation "a synthetic airspeed estimate is calculated by the AHRS system by combining a wind estimate, the GPS ground speed and the response of the aircraft when turning. "
I’ve read in a post from a developed that a full 360 turn is best to allow for this calculation to be as accurate as possible.
I’ve also tested it myself a number of times - flying off straight from launch sometimes result in a wrong wind direction. Doing a full circle corrects this in terms of wind speed and direction very accurately.
I don’t use an airspeed sensor and have no problems at all. In Auto mode my cruise throttle is 50% and min throttle 35%. This allows for enough airspeed in a strong tail wind and minimises the risk of a stall in a turn or loiter.
I originally tried with an airspeed sensor but just found it difficult to calibrate and not very accurate.