Flying in wind is always tricky, especially for noobs. I regularly fly the Delta Ray in 20+ mph winds though. Use high rates in beginner mode and add rudder for nice tight turns. Once you get used to the plane you will be able to fly at the ball field. I flying in some fairly cramped spots now. the plane is generally good in beginner mode in the wind. I always launch and usually land in beginner mode. Saying that any UM especially a 1S without AS3X will fly better than a Delta Ray defies reason. I have flown a UM T-28 and a Delta Ray back to back in windy conditions and there was no comparison. The T-28 was rising and falling 4+ft in the gusts. But I don't know any plane in its size of smaller that will handle wind better. Mike, maybe you got a bad gyro calibration or your battery was too far back. It will balloon a bit but nothing that a touch of upstick won't cure.
It was my friend who was flying in the statement I provided before, although I do also own this plane. The plane will definitely fly in high winds - it's controlling that is the issue. I live where winds of 10-20 mph blow constantly at all times except for the early morning. Given that my friend was a beginner who no flying experience, we had to go out early when the winds were only about 5 mph. As soon as things started to heat up and the wind started to blow, she started having a lot of issues with control and would have to land. Her plane was straight out of the box, and I tried flying it a couple of times - there was nothing out of the ordinary about the plane compared to how my own DR was when it was new.
As for my own experiences with the DR, I did try flying it in 20 mph winds. It made little to no headway unless it was at full throttle, with the throttle trim all the way up, with the nose pointed slightly down so that it could move forward without catching any lift and getting pushed back. It was a constant fight and maneuverability was so limited that it wasn't enjoyable at all. The plane constantly wanted to veer off to one side or the other, and as soon as it turned it would start rocketing backwards. Flying downwind the thing soared, but not in a good way. On one of the two occasions when I tried flying in windy conditions, the wind caught the plane and it quickly flew out of sight. Some lady picked it up, drove around until she saw a guy holding a transmitter, and gave it back to me saying it landed in the middle of the street in front of her house. This meant that the plane left a fairly large park and then flew over another 2-3 blocks before hitting the asphalt.
Needless to say, this was dangerous, I was lucky I didn't hurt someone or something, and I never tried flying it in any wind over 10 mph ever again. A beginner should only try to fly the plane in dead calm, and then be very cautious about flying in anything over 5 mph even after their skills have improved. An "average" flyer cannot handle the plane safely in even moderate wind due to the weak brushed motors and the plane's large surface area - they may be able to get it up and back down in one piece, but at the risk of it taking off and causing damage. Wind is unpredictable: as altitude increases it blows harder and is more vulnerable to gusts that can easily overpower the DR.
By the way, I just want to clarify for those less familiar with this plane that the DR doesn't have rudder. It has differentials which can be used to adjust the yaw, but this means that one of the weak motors is going to have even less power. This has a much different result than one would expect from a plane with an actual rudder, especially since the DR's brushed motors already provide limited thrust.
If knew before what I know now about the quality of the integrated board and motors, I never would have bought the thing in the first place. Given the poor quality, the safety risk is even higher: not only to you have to worry about wind overpowering the plane, but you have to worry about something randomly failing without warning for no apparent reason. If the same friend from the previous message and above would have asked me about the DR before getting it, I would have told her to get something else. That's the same advice I'm giving here based on her experiences and my own firsthand experiences with the plane.
Now, I can also add Horizon Hobby to the long list of reasons not to bother with this plane.
