Test Flight with 5 oz. flashlight

[NJDroneDude]

I am going to add a 5 oz. flashlight and record hover time. With fully charged batteries, what time may I possibly achieve?
Anyone have a formula for adding weight and calculating flight time?

 

[N017RW]

Too many variables to calculate.

Best determined empirically.
Let us know!!!

 

[wincrasher]

I carried two such flashlights on my Inspire and you could certainly feel the weight. Took only a couple minutes off my flight time, but that is a much bigger bird.

Whatever you do, keep it to your center of gravity. That should make it a bit less work for your motors and should use less energy to keep the craft up and stable, resulting in longer flight time.

 

[NJDroneDude]

thanks
anyone have a reliable method for determining center of g?

 

[Tony Perry]

Since the P3 is a symmetrical frame, it is literally the center of the craft. If you draw a line between the 2 sets of opposing motors, its where they intersect.

On the vertical axis Im gonna take a wild guess and say that it is on the lower half of the body.

 

[FunN4lo]

If you attach the lights to the landing gear, get 2 identical lights, one each side and your CG will perfect right to left. Then you can place a dowel (bic pen or something similar) on a table under the legs and get a ruff idea to position the lights front to rear.