F550 amazing flight times.

[PetePerrim]

Hi All,
As with many F550 pilots, we experiment with different battery combos to gain the maximum flight times. I also have been playing around and just about 20 minutes ago landed my 550 after an 18m43s flight with two ReadyMadeRC 4200mah batteries in parallel.

The test flight was a controlled flight taken under near identical conditions of a test flight with just one of these batteries. Each battery weighs 292 grams giving my F550 a total lift off weight of 2152 grams (2.152 kgs). The original test flight with one battery gave me 10m 42s flight time. Both test flights were undertaken in conditions where the wind speed was under 2.5 kph (ranging from dead still to very light breeze)

Both flight tests involved 50% hovering, 25% moving forward/sideways and 25% climbing or descending.

As far as I can see, the addition of the second battery has been a great success and now gives me the confidence to use the 550 for some filming in areas where its stability out-shines my P2, whereas previously the P2's flight times made it the preferential machine to use, despite its comparative 'twitchiness'

 

[FangsCPO]

Nice!!! Please tell us what exactly is onboard your F550. Also who supplies this battery?

 

[OI Photography]

Wow....getting an 80% increase in flight time from adding a 2nd batt is about as optimal as you can get. Sounds like you hit the real sweet spot in your setup to achieve that.

 

[ElGuano]

Wow....getting an 80% increase in flight time from adding a 2nd batt is about as optimal as you can get. Sounds like you hit the real sweet spot in your setup to achieve that.

Indeed, that's quite good. From the battery weights I'm assuming these are 3S? I ran exactly the same experiment last week with my E300 hex, and got 17 minutes at 5200mah and 27 minutes at 5200x2. The battery is a lower percentage of copter weight on the 550, but nearly doubling flight time is curious. What are the motors used? I'm thinking there is flight time being left on the table in the single-battery config.

 

[PetePerrim]

Nice!!! Please tell us what exactly is onboard your F550. Also who supplies this battery?

Batteries supplied by ReadyMadeRc http://www.readymaderc.com

On board is;
Airy navigation lighting system
Retractable landing gear from Variocopter.co.uk
Gopro camera housing (test flight did not have camera on board)
iOSD mini

That's about it really. I will re-do the test once I have my DVR hooked up to my FPV receiver to validate the test flight data.

 

[PetePerrim]

Wow....getting an 80% increase in flight time from adding a 2nd batt is about as optimal as you can get. Sounds like you hit the real sweet spot in your setup to achieve that.

Indeed, that's quite good. From the battery weights I'm assuming these are 3S? I ran exactly the same experiment last week with my E300 hex, and got 17 minutes at 5200mah and 27 minutes at 5200x2. The battery is a lower percentage of copter weight on the 550, but nearly doubling flight time is curious. What are the motors used? I'm thinking there is flight time being left on the table in the single-battery config.

Correct, the batteries are 3s, 4200mah. The motors are the standard red DJI motors that come with the F550 although I have put the 9 inch props on (also stock DJI props). There is nothing fancy about my set-up. I was only expecting 14 or 15 minutes due to the increased weight but I was really surprised to see my flight time of over 18 minutes when I clicked the stop-watch.

 

[ElGuano]

Correct, the batteries are 3s, 4200mah. The motors are the standard red DJI motors that come with the F550 although I have put the 9 inch props on (also stock DJI props). There is nothing fancy about my set-up. I was only expecting 14 or 15 minutes due to the increased weight but I was really surprised to see my flight time of over 18 minutes when I clicked the stop-watch.

Interesting. You're running 2212/920s with 9443s, and are getting 11 minutes @ 310g/axis and almost 19 minutes at 360g/axis. How are you ending your flights? You may have some setting better suited for 2P batteries, or your individual batteries may not independently have the discharge rate for full drain? The results are great no doubt, but they raise more questions than they answer

 

[ericty]

Correct, the batteries are 3s, 4200mah. The motors are the standard red DJI motors that come with the F550 although I have put the 9 inch props on (also stock DJI props). There is nothing fancy about my set-up. I was only expecting 14 or 15 minutes due to the increased weight but I was really surprised to see my flight time of over 18 minutes when I clicked the stop-watch.

Interesting. You're running 2212/920s with 9443s, and are getting 11 minutes @ 310g/axis and almost 19 minutes at 360g/axis. How are you ending your flights? You may have some setting better suited for 2P batteries, or your individual batteries may not independently have the discharge rate for full drain? The results are great no doubt, but they raise more questions than they answer

I am completely envious of your flight times. Just finished building my 550 (E300, 9443 CF props, zen muse H32D, GoPro, 250mw Immersion VTX, mini iOSD, retractable landing gear) and only got 5-6 min of air time using a single 3S 5500 mAh with a 35c discharge. SMH...what the hell am I doing wrong? LOL

 

[OI Photography]

I am completely envious of your flight times. Just finished building my 550 (E300, 9443 CF props, zen muse H32D, GoPro, 250mw Immersion VTX, mini iOSD, retractable landing gear) and only got 5-6 min of air time using a single 3S 5500 mAh with a 35c discharge. SMH...what the hell am I doing wrong? LOL

Do you know what the All-Up Weight is (with battery)?

 

[ladykate]

I am completely envious of your flight times. Just finished building my 550 (E300, 9443 CF props, zen muse H32D, GoPro, 250mw Immersion VTX, mini iOSD, retractable landing gear) and only got 5-6 min of air time using a single 3S 5500 mAh with a 35c discharge. SMH...what the hell am I doing wrong? LOL

You and I are mere mortals. I get 9 minutes+ of gentle flight but I usually land at 7 minutes. I don't have retractable gear but I have a skid so the weight should be similar. I don't have E300s but 2214s. Check your voltage cutoffs and be sure you are using up your battery. You should get 7 to 8 minutes of solid flight (more with the E300s).

 

[FangsCPO]

Correct, the batteries are 3s, 4200mah. The motors are the standard red DJI motors that come with the F550 although I have put the 9 inch props on (also stock DJI props). There is nothing fancy about my set-up. I was only expecting 14 or 15 minutes due to the increased weight but I was really surprised to see my flight time of over 18 minutes when I clicked the stop-watch.

Interesting. You're running 2212/920s with 9443s, and are getting 11 minutes @ 310g/axis and almost 19 minutes at 360g/axis. How are you ending your flights? You may have some setting better suited for 2P batteries, or your individual batteries may not independently have the discharge rate for full drain? The results are great no doubt, but they raise more questions than they answer

I am completely envious of your flight times. Just finished building my 550 (E300, 9443 CF props, zen muse H32D, GoPro, 250mw Immersion VTX, mini iOSD, retractable landing gear) and only got 5-6 min of air time using a single 3S 5500 mAh with a 35c discharge. SMH...what the hell am I doing wrong? LOL

You need to tweak your failsafe to the following settings:

NO Load: 11:30v
Loss: 50
Loaded: 10:80

No Load: 11:00v
Loss: 50
Loaded: 10.50v

I don't have retractly landing gear (that could be the problem...much heavier) but with the stock DJI landing skids I was getting 8:30 minutes with that battery you are using. When I use the Onyx 6400mAh 3S 35C lipo, I'm getting 11:30 minutes. once I added the landing skids that everyone seems to have which pushes out the GoPro more, I lost 2 minutes of lying time. Good luck!

 

[ElGuano]

10.8/10.5 are fine low voltage settings, you'll likely have more than several minutes between level 1 starting and autoland setting in (so this setting is more ideal for those who actually end their flights when auto-land kicks in).

My level 1 is set at 10.6v, and I land immediately on seeing it (unless I'm running my 10C batteries, in which case I run to 10.4v).

My level 2 is 10.3v, which is simply there to be "low enough to never hit it." I don't want auto-descend to EVER kick in.

Also, my flight times are on a naked hex--I haven't yet added the REAL flight time killer (high weight setups like gimbal + gopro + whatever mounting is needed for them).

My 17 minutes will probably drop to 10-12ish once the 3-axis, vtx and datalink are up and running.

 

[ericty]

You need to tweak your failsafe to the following settings:

NO Load: 11:30v
Loss: 50
Loaded: 10:80

No Load: 11:00v
Loss: 50
Loaded: 10.50v

I don't have retractly landing gear (that could be the problem...much heavier) but with the stock DJI landing skids I was getting 8:30 minutes with that battery you are using. When I use the Onyx 6400mAh 3S 35C lipo, I'm getting 11:30 minutes. once I added the landing skids that everyone seems to have which pushes out the GoPro more, I lost 2 minutes of lying time. Good luck!

Fangs - going to try your suggestions with the voltage settings, but I'm now more inclined to think it's the landing gear that's wreaking havoc on the flight times. Will post an update after testing. Thanks for your advice.

 

[PetePerrim]

Correct, the batteries are 3s, 4200mah. The motors are the standard red DJI motors that come with the F550 although I have put the 9 inch props on (also stock DJI props). There is nothing fancy about my set-up. I was only expecting 14 or 15 minutes due to the increased weight but I was really surprised to see my flight time of over 18 minutes when I clicked the stop-watch.

Interesting. You're running 2212/920s with 9443s, and are getting 11 minutes @ 310g/axis and almost 19 minutes at 360g/axis. How are you ending your flights? You may have some setting better suited for 2P batteries, or your individual batteries may not independently have the discharge rate for full drain? The results are great no doubt, but they raise more questions than they answer

Not really. I clicked the stop watch when the skids broke contact with terra firma and again when it touched down. 18 minutes + of flight time, no questions, no answers. You can do all the mathematical calculations you like but they are based on theory, not practise.

Like the title of the post said; Amazing flight times. I would not have posted unless a) I was amazed and b) I felt the flight times were excessively more than what I was expecting.

 

[ElGuano]

Not really. I clicked the stop watch when the skids broke contact with terra firma and again when it touched down. 18 minutes + of flight time, no questions, no answers. You can do all the mathematical calculations you like but they are based on theory, not practise.

Like the title of the post said; Amazing flight times. I would not have posted unless a) I was amazed and b) I felt the flight times were excessively more than what I was expecting.

You're misunderstanding me if you can get 18 minutes with dual, you are likely missing out on a few extra minutes possible in your single battery setup. I'm just trying to help you maximize your time in all configs.

I've got no reason to disprove you, my setup (similar components to yours) gets 18+min on a single 5200mah 3s ,and 27 minutes on dual, so I'm familiar with what is possible with the weight and propulsion system in question

 

[jondrew]

One of the things that gives me second thoughts about going the 550 route is flight times. I'm just so spoiled by my P2 and I see posts like this where 9-10 min flight times are considered amazing. Today I found this guy claiming 30 min flight time and he's disappointed he's not getting 45 min. Is this a troll or am I misreading something?

http://www.sadrones.co.za/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=928

 

[OI Photography]

One of the things that gives me second thoughts about going the 550 route is flight times. I'm just so spoiled by my P2 and I see posts like this where 9-10 min flight times are considered amazing. Today I found this guy claiming 30 min flight time and he's disappointed he's not getting 45 min. Is this a troll or am I misreading something?

http://www.sadrones.co.za/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=928

He's got a very light 550, plus a 16000mAh battery, more than 3 times the capacity of what most here are using.