Sport mode versus power saving

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So I have an interesting Sport related question.

I realise sport mode has the potential of using more power due to the larger attitude angles allowed, but here's a poser for you.

You've already flown from A-to-B and on the return leg you realise that due to, say, a head wind, power levels are going to be tight.

Some guys say to drop into Sport mode and kick it home but has anyone ever actually sat down and figured out if cruising home in GPS mode at a lower power consumption is better or worse than ripping home in Sport mode?

You have to figure that the majority of power being consumed is to just have the thing in the air and a relatively small amount to move it so the power being expended to keep it airborne is significantly reduced by getting it home earlier.... or?
 
Yeah! I have wondered about that same thing. I have not conducted any tests yet but I would just guess that flying at maximum speed in Sport mode would use more battery power. How about flying in Sport mode but at the same cruising speed used in "P" mode? Lots to compare.
Thanks,
Jim
WA5TEF
 
Yeah! I have wondered about that same thing. I have not conducted any tests yet but I would just guess that flying at maximum speed in Sport mode would use more battery power. How about flying in Sport mode but at the same cruising speed used in "P" mode? Lots to compare.
Thanks,
Jim
WA5TEF
Yes, more power for sure but I'd love to see some kind of graph to show if, even if you're using more power, it's a more efficient use of the remaining power. Like, 5 minutes at nominal cruise speed or 3 minutes in sport but covering the same distance. I'm guessing the difference in power consumed wouldn't be hugely different.
Surely some egg head will have done the math hahaha
 
In order to achieve any results in that hypothesis that were even close to realistic values, you would need to perform the exact same scenarios, with no deviations in variable's. That is almost to near impossible. You can however get " approximate" values, however with so many variables in that instance, just IMHO it would not be worth the time and effort it would take to accomplish that. The variables would include such things as wind, humidity, temperature, prop angles at a particular speed, so on and so on. Just too many to make any definitive conclusion. Just my thought.
 
Several months ago, I did some weight lifting tests with my Phantom 4. I started out with a plastic cup of water suspended from the landing gear. Picked it up without straining. I had planned on pouring out some of the water until it could lift it but no need! So, I have my P4 hovering with this cup of water suspended so I reached for my deep well sockets and started dropping one at a time into the cup, starting with the smallest first. Each time I added weight, the drone of the props grew louder until I had the entire 18 piece set of sockets in or on top of the cup, still in the air. I landed and switched out the props from DJI to Carbon Fiber props and noticed no difference though the drone of the props changed, different tone, not louder. All this was done in "P" mode. I had intended to do the experiment again this time comparing it to Sport mode but never did. I believe I weighed the sockets and cup of water and it was somewhere near 3.5 pounds. I would guess it could lift 5 or 6 pounds but not tested again. Next time though, I will anchor the scale I use to measure pistol trigger pull and have the drone pull up against it. That would be more precise and much easier. What I went around the world to get to was this, after flying the drone for maybe 8 minutes total, I had depleted the battery to about 50% which surprised me somewhat. I had not expected such a drop in battery charge for that short of time but the 4 motors got very warm along with the battery. Interesting.

Thanks,
Jim
WA5TEF
 
Well, the long distance folks consistently report that 30 MPH is the magic speed to get the most distance out of the P4 battery. You can use Sports Mode to accomplish this or GPS Mode with OA turned off. Shutting the video capture off can save a bit of battery for flight as well during those really tight moments.
 
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Several months ago, I did some weight lifting tests with my Phantom 4. I started out with a plastic cup of water suspended from the landing gear. Picked it up without straining. I had planned on pouring out some of the water until it could lift it but no need! So, I have my P4 hovering with this cup of water suspended so I reached for my deep well sockets and started dropping one at a time into the cup, starting with the smallest first. Each time I added weight, the drone of the props grew louder until I had the entire 18 piece set of sockets in or on top of the cup, still in the air. I landed and switched out the props from DJI to Carbon Fiber props and noticed no difference though the drone of the props changed, different tone, not louder. All this was done in "P" mode. I had intended to do the experiment again this time comparing it to Sport mode but never did. I believe I weighed the sockets and cup of water and it was somewhere near 3.5 pounds. I would guess it could lift 5 or 6 pounds but not tested again. Next time though, I will anchor the scale I use to measure pistol trigger pull and have the drone pull up against it. That would be more precise and much easier. What I went around the world to get to was this, after flying the drone for maybe 8 minutes total, I had depleted the battery to about 50% which surprised me somewhat. I had not expected such a drop in battery charge for that short of time but the 4 motors got very warm along with the battery. Interesting.

Thanks,
Jim
WA5TEF
Yep, that would be typical for that much weight. Any more than the actual weight of the aircraft, whatever it is, drone or otherwise, will give you basically the same answer. Too much weight. More weight, or drag, other than what the aircraft is designed for will severely impact fuel consumption. Batteries are no different.
 
Well, the long distance folks consistently report that 30 MPH is the magic speed to get the most distance out of the P4 battery. You can use Sports Mode to accomplish this or GPS Mode with OA turned off. Shutting the video capture off can save a bit of battery for flight as well during those really tight moments.

That's good info.
It's a shame we don't have measured airspeed as one of our data points because it's really THAT which is what we should be talking about.

Anyway I think I'll adopt that as a normal cruising speed during missions and adjust for wind conditions on the fly.

Thanks !
 
Well I flew to a large boat some 13000ft out to sea on a calm day at 20c. I circled the boat and headed back as my battery had 60% remaining. On the way back I noticed the speed was 20mph and it just wasn't making enough ground. I thought do I make a beeline for the shore in the hope she's on dry land if the battery dies or do I put it in sport mode and chance it. I had seconds to decide and with finger shaking nervously I put her in sports mode. Straight away the app warned me I must rth as battery was low for sport mode.
What had I done I thought. I've flown coastal flights many many times and know the weather can be unpredictable but I was sure I was safe as the sea was like a lake and calm.
Strangely I got back with about 35% left and wondered what the panic was all about. However the return speed was only about 35mph but it worked for me. I did drop my altitude to about 30ft to hopefully get less wind, whether this helped I don't know.
 
On the P3 just shy of 14ms proves to be the optimum airspeed to attain maximum distance for a given battery consumption (demonstrated mathematically and in practice). May be slightly different for the P4 however you can be confident that RTH speed is well short of optimum.
 
Well, the long distance folks consistently report that 30 MPH is the magic speed to get the most distance out of the P4 battery. You can use Sports Mode to accomplish this or GPS Mode with OA turned off. Shutting the video capture off can save a bit of battery for flight as well during those really tight moments.
Given the camera is always active to provide the downlink video it's likely the small saving you might get to disable writing to the SD card would even be noticeable. Would be interested to learn if there are any numbers on this.
 
Given the camera is always active to provide the downlink video it's likely the small saving you might get to disable writing to the SD card would even be noticeable. Would be interested to learn if there are any numbers on this.

Yeah, it's something I heard from one of these adrenaline guys in a video a while back. He did a max distance flight and landed back with around 3% battery. He said he never records in order to have max battery for flight.
 
Yeah, it's something I heard from one of these adrenaline guys in a video a while back. He did a max distance flight and landed back with around 3% battery. He said he never records in order to have max battery for flight.

How can he fly to 3% batt, the forced auto land will have kicked in by then no?
 
This guy flew his mavic 70,000 feet (13 miles) in sport mode following it in a car. The lift you gain by going faster conserves a bunch of energy. You can go much farther in sport mode than you can in p mode.
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How can he fly to 3% batt, the forced auto land will have kicked in by then no?

These guys use the wind to their advantage flying low outbound into a slight headwind and then they climb into a higher tailwind on the way back. When critical battery kicks in at 10% they override with full up and keep steaming. I can't even watch those videos any more. It's too nerve racking. There is a whole offshoot of this hobby that is all about distance, and they have complex, powered antenna mods and battery mods and I gotta respect them. They have nerves of iron.
 
Indeed. Lift does conserve energy, but only in fixed wing aircraft. Rotary aircraft have issues with this. Think about it. Pretty much any fixed winged aircraft can glide with sufficient speed and no power at all. On the other hand, rotary aircraft do not have that ability. Lose power. Crash. End of story. This thread has changed topics 3 times...whats up with that?:rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
This guy flew his mavic 70,000 feet (13 miles) in sport mode following it in a car. The lift you gain by going faster conserves a bunch of energy. You can go much farther in sport mode than you can in p mode.
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That's the same guy that made a video trying to land his Mavic in a moving truck.... failed miserably.
 
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Not on my APP. the critical point it set at 10% and the option to change greyed out.
Not on my APP. the critical point it set at 10% and the option to change greyed out.
Its apparently changed now. You use to could enter a value. Now its a slide bar that won't go less than 10%.
That's the same guy that made a video trying to land his Mavic in a moving truck.... failed miserably.
Yeah I saw that. Dude was seriously trying to destroy his mavic. Its hard enough to land on a boat.
 

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