What do you consider a single flight?

[Narrator]

I have 3 batteries.
In my logbook, I list the total flight time for a session, but I also record the total for each battery.
If you talk sessions, I've had 8 flights so far.
If you count by battery use, I've had 21 flights.

 

[SteveMann]

the FAA considers one flight as the time from engine start to shutdown.

 

[Meta4]

You can call it anything you like - but does it matter? Are you over-thinking this?

 

[HailStorm]

You can call it anything you like - but does it matter? Are you over-thinking this?

To many of us, Yes, it matters.

Why does it matter enough to you that it matters to us, that you'd matter to comment on how it shouldn't matter?

 

[Meta4]

OK hailstorm .. explain to me when or how it might matter and then I might understand.

 

[HailStorm]

OK hailstorm .. explain to me when or how it might matter and then I might understand.

1) I like recording how many flights I'm able to get out of a battery. Been doing that since I flew my first electric fixed wing over a decade ago. It helps me determine which brand of battery and at what price point I'll buy next time. You know Meta4, there are even phone apps that do this for you.
So there is one reason.

Now your turn.

 

[Prylar Bek]

OK hailstorm .. explain to me when or how it might matter and then I might understand.

1) I like recording how many flights I'm able to get out of a battery. Been doing that since I flew my first electric fixed wing over a decade ago. It helps me determine which brand of battery and at what price point I'll buy next time. You know Meta4, there are even phone apps that do this for you.
So there is one reason.

Now your turn.

I'm with you and Steve Mann. Correct. Back in the 'Nam (sorry I'm old and ex-Army Ranger) a SORTIE (flight in Military terms) was as described by Steve Mann. Thats what I call a 'flight' Period.

 

[HailStorm]

the FAA considers one flight as the time from engine start to shutdown.

Same here. When I land and shut the motors down, that is one flight. Might have been only 6 minutes, and I have enough juice left for a 10 minute flight on the same battery, but that would be a second flight.

I also log the duration/time of my flights. Because it does matter...

 

[MacCool]

the FAA considers one flight as the time from engine start to shutdown.

Rather, from takeoff to full-stop landing. Touch and goes don't count.

 

[TimmyG94]

It's actually very simple .... don't make this any harder than it needs to be.

Flight = starts when bird leaves ground and ends when bird lands on ground (either safely or crash) and powered off.

There really is no other way to describe a flight. Swapping out batteries has nothing to do with it since you can have several flights on one battery charge, and doing several flights in one day could be called "flight session" or "period of flying".

 

[Meta4]

So you have Phantom software that keeps track of battery cycles for you.
You can make one long flight or several shorter flights per battery cycle. Some flights could be long and some short.
I can't see what the importance of precisely defining what constitutes a single flight but anyone that can is welcome to keep whatever volume of statistics they please.

 

[MacCool]

Some would say that powering an electronic device on and off, motors, electronics etc, is harder on it than continuously running. It would make sense to keep track of power cycles, not number of flights, however you define "flight". Especially from the battery's standpoint. If battery health is the reason to keep such a detailed log that one has to pick-pick-pick over the definition of "flight", then I'd suggest that powering down the battery is all that matters in terms of defining the end of a "flight". And in that regard, the battery keeps track of that stuff for you.

No, I don't keep a flight log. The battery will tell me everything I need to know.

 

[HailStorm]

So you have Phantom software that keeps track of battery cycles for you.
You can make one long flight or several shorter flights per battery cycle. Some flights could be long and some short.
I can't see what the importance of precisely defining what constitutes a single flight but anyone that can is welcome to keep whatever volume of statistics they please.

Yes! You're getting it aren't you!? Although I don't have Phantom software that keeps track, I do have; https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... .FlightLog

And yes, some flights are long. Some are short. Some are high. Some are low. The duration of each is recorded!

And despite the fact you see no need to log flights, it is very generous of you to say that the rest of us are welcome to log our flights. Thanks.

Some may find this educational: http://www.tjinguytech.com/charging-how-tos/battery-log

 

[Meta4]

Of course you have the software that keeps track of your batteries.
It looks something like this ...

I still haven't seen an explanation of why it might be important to distinguish what is a single flight as the OP asked.
And I can't see why someone feels the need to be so argumentative about it either.

 

[Narrator]

OK hailstorm .. explain to me when or how it might matter and then I might understand.

I'am still trying to understand the OP's math :?

lol.. sometimes I'll go out and use all 3 batteries (maybe 45min in the air).. sometimes I'm done after 2 batteries.

 

[HailStorm]

Of course you have the software that keeps track of your batteries.
It looks something like this ...

I still haven't seen an explanation of why it might be important to distinguish what is a single flight as the OP asked.
And I can't see why someone feels the need to be so argumentative about it either.

Yes, that works great for my Phantom 2. However the Phantom 1, my Blade 350s and my fixed wings don't use smart batteries.

No, I don't understand why anyone would argue over what others choose to log or not to log either. Nor why they'd even bother posting about it.

 

[PhantomFanatic]

the FAA considers one flight as the time from engine start to shutdown.

What "engine?" Electric motors perhaps?

Just joking with you, my friend!

 

[Narrator]

Of course you have the software that keeps track of your batteries.
It looks something like this ...

I still haven't seen an explanation of why it might be important to distinguish what is a single flight as the OP asked.
And I can't see why someone feels the need to be so argumentative about it either.

Regarding the bold part of your comment (I did the bolding), the screen tells you capacity, percentage of life and discharge times, but it doesn't tell you how many hours it took to get to that point. A discussion of battery life has to include total hours used.

As for my original question, I ask it because people here might say how many flights they had or how many hours, yet not distinguish what that means in terms of flight length or battery cycles. And one question that seems to produce a lot of angst is battery life in terms of flight time vs number of cycles.

I suppose you could infer it from the "discharges" information and multiply that by average minutes, but then that becomes unreliable when people start reporting 8 min flight times for a battery. With the data I record, I can give you a graph of what my battery is doing over time, which might suggest a pattern. You won't get that from the Phantom software.

Sorry... analytical aspy here

 

[MacCool]

Sorry... analytical aspy here

Our hobbies all have many different aspects. Can't criticize a guy for the way he enjoys his.

 

[Narrator]

Sorry... analytical aspy here

Our hobbies all have many different aspects. Can't criticize a guy for the way he enjoys his.

Cheers