Hey guys, first post on here (well, second actually - just replied to a thread!)
I've had my Phantom since February, but have only really been flying it since June after one of my first flights out ended in disaster with the Phantom flying away from me (pilot error though, nothing to do with the Phantom itself) and ended up crash-landing in a quarry way out of visual range. I got it back in the end, thanks to a radio appeal and an honest quarry worker, and apart from some minor body shell damage (which I've now fixed by transplanting the guts into a new case) all is well! A remarkably hardy bit of kit.
Anyway, last night I was filming a local fireworks display while airborne, and I got to wondering. Typically I bring the craft back down after between 6 and 7 minutes to make sure I've got enough battery life left to get home, but this is with active flying and actually moving the Phantom about.
Last night I sent the Phantom up in the air and left it hovering in the same spot (in GPS mode.) I brought it back down after the same length of time, but missed the end of the fireworks display in doing so.
I then wondered, is flight time dramatically increased if you're not moving the Phantom about, and thus working the motors more? Could I have lasted the full 15 minutes of the fireworks display?
I guess the easy way to find out would be to do some flight testing myself, but I just wondered if anyone else had any thoughts?
I've had my Phantom since February, but have only really been flying it since June after one of my first flights out ended in disaster with the Phantom flying away from me (pilot error though, nothing to do with the Phantom itself) and ended up crash-landing in a quarry way out of visual range. I got it back in the end, thanks to a radio appeal and an honest quarry worker, and apart from some minor body shell damage (which I've now fixed by transplanting the guts into a new case) all is well! A remarkably hardy bit of kit.
Anyway, last night I was filming a local fireworks display while airborne, and I got to wondering. Typically I bring the craft back down after between 6 and 7 minutes to make sure I've got enough battery life left to get home, but this is with active flying and actually moving the Phantom about.
Last night I sent the Phantom up in the air and left it hovering in the same spot (in GPS mode.) I brought it back down after the same length of time, but missed the end of the fireworks display in doing so.
I then wondered, is flight time dramatically increased if you're not moving the Phantom about, and thus working the motors more? Could I have lasted the full 15 minutes of the fireworks display?
I guess the easy way to find out would be to do some flight testing myself, but I just wondered if anyone else had any thoughts?