When performing a long distance flight (~2 miles one way), are you full forward throttle the whole time or do you keep a little less? This in reference to the message that may pop up whereby system "reduces motor output to protect..."
Long distance flight throttle question
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Prior to the latest firmware, most seem to have gone full speed.
Discussion suggests that a little less may have given slightly better time and distance but calculating is complex and I haven't seen any serious testing.
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I go full throttle except when i notice my battery voltage drop and also if i'm flying full throttle and want to ascend i'll back off a little while climbing. I dont do full throttle/full climb anymore beings how thats what caused me and so many others birds to drop! When it says "reduced motor output" you dont need to back off cause the a/c is already backing off throttle on its own
The P3 is severely software limited already. 35mph is not its truly capable max speed, I'm sure these quads can do 100mph if they were not limited. I doubt doing full forward would be less efficient than slightly less than full forward. I would just keep it at full forward there and back.
The only thing you really need to worry about is your climb. Sometimes on a cold or cold and partially charged/discharged battery you can end up with low voltage. So going from 0-400ft with a battery that is cold and at 50% or so may not be a great idea with full throttle (UP) stick...
Just like a car gets better gas mileage at part throttle than at full throttle, your Phantom will go farther on part throttle than at full. I believe this is why RTH and Follow Me won't go beyond 20-25 mph. Keeping voltage on the safe side is probably part of the equation as well.
I pretty much kept mine full throttle(35 mph) on a 12K feet horizontal flight@ 150 ft altitude and the software eventually calculated the max away distance and initiated RTH about 12, 600 ft. in order to get home in one piece.
RTH speed was around 22 mph @ 293 ft.
Possibly keeping the throttle less and or the altitude lower will allow for more battery/longer flight distance and time.
RTH speed was around 22 mph @ 293 ft.
Possibly keeping the throttle less and or the altitude lower will allow for more battery/longer flight distance and time.
I had my P3A sitting at 42mph a few days ago .was a little windy though but was sitting at 42mph for half a mile
I had mine at over 60mph, but its not like it was actually doing 60mph airspeed, that's just ground speed...
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Man I can't wait for decent weather like that, GreggC.2.9 miles out,
Full throttle all the way,
Landed with 36% battery.
Went for a 5 mile run with the phantom vision plus this morning made it about 4 1/2 turned around and came back everything was looking good for battery power but then from 20% it just are dropping like a brick and I was still 2 miles from home had emergency autoland in a designated place 2 miles away. It was 10° this morning so I'm not surprised. Just sayin, I can't wait for the warm weather. (I fly PIII's also so no I'm not in the wrong section)
This is a great question I've asked myself, seen all the variables, and thought it wasn't easy. In airplanes, this stuff is calculated and is in the owners manual. Probably for helicopters too.
The wind direction will play into it. In a glider, there is a well known rule to get the best glide ratio: Fly at best glide speed in still air; fly best glide speed plus half the headwind speed, no matter how fast you end up having to go; best glide speed minus half the tailwind speed, but stop at the airspeed for "least sink rate", and go no slower.
Helicopters gain translational lift when moving forward, greatly reducing power requirements from a pure hover. I'm sure there is a best range speed/throttle combo that's published.
I assume a quad also gets translation lift while moving. How much power is being saved is hidden from us. A helicopter pilot will see he needs less throttle. Our left stick isn't "the pure throttle".
I'm not intimately friendly with the range/power status gadget at the top of the app. I need to RTFM again more carefully. But wouldn't that give an idea of optimal right stick position for best range, via changing its predictions, with different stick positions? I should know the answer. Sorry.
If full foward right stick gives maximum range (Big IF), then you'd use that for sure in a headwind, but whether to reduce right stick position in a tailwind is a function of things we don't know. How much power is saved, vs range lost.
If max range occurs at slightly less than full forward right stick in still air, then we could see best range with full right stick into a headwind, but save substantially backing off with a big tailwind. COOL QUESTION! Maybe I'll do a few experiments.
The wind direction will play into it. In a glider, there is a well known rule to get the best glide ratio: Fly at best glide speed in still air; fly best glide speed plus half the headwind speed, no matter how fast you end up having to go; best glide speed minus half the tailwind speed, but stop at the airspeed for "least sink rate", and go no slower.
Helicopters gain translational lift when moving forward, greatly reducing power requirements from a pure hover. I'm sure there is a best range speed/throttle combo that's published.
I assume a quad also gets translation lift while moving. How much power is being saved is hidden from us. A helicopter pilot will see he needs less throttle. Our left stick isn't "the pure throttle".
I'm not intimately friendly with the range/power status gadget at the top of the app. I need to RTFM again more carefully. But wouldn't that give an idea of optimal right stick position for best range, via changing its predictions, with different stick positions? I should know the answer. Sorry.
If full foward right stick gives maximum range (Big IF), then you'd use that for sure in a headwind, but whether to reduce right stick position in a tailwind is a function of things we don't know. How much power is saved, vs range lost.
If max range occurs at slightly less than full forward right stick in still air, then we could see best range with full right stick into a headwind, but save substantially backing off with a big tailwind. COOL QUESTION! Maybe I'll do a few experiments.
It makes sense. His airspeed was whatever the Phantom will do (35 mph?), so he had a 25 mph tailwind. The telemetry readout is ground speed from the GPS and will read 60 mph. I've seen 59 mph or so.
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