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Saving time vs battery.

360 Guy

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Please forgive if this was asked before but, as I search I keep getting side tracked reading all the posts.:

Question:
Flying a MM, in "S" mode, am I realizing faster depletion of battery then if I would be flying in "P" or "M" modes?

TIA
 
Yes.
 
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If you make use of the extra speed that S mode allows, then yes. If you fly sedately in S mode then no.
 
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QUOTE: Has anyone ever done a test of max flight time in the 3 different modes?
That would be interesting, YES!
 
But then it would render the need for S(peed) useless, no?
Has anyone ever done a test of max flight time in the 3 different modes?
Well, S mode is there for if you want the ability to go faster than P (normal) mode. I've flown slowly in S mode on occasions, rather than switch between modes to fly fast/slow.

The point I was trying to make is that S mode per-se doesn't deplete the battery quicker - flying fast does.

I'm not aware of a comprehensive test to determine flight times for each of the modes, as there are so many variables that affect actual flight time (wind, temperature, air density, battery condition, prop condition, flight speed profile over the entire flight, altitude profile) to name a few.

Generally I've noted a similar flight duration between C and P modes, and a 15-20% reduction with S mode, flying each mode broadly in line with its intended usage (C for slow smooth flight, P for average speed flight, and S for faster harder flying and in windy conditions). I'm deliberately keeping it vague as I can easily get 20-30% variation between flight durations in the same mode due to the aforementioned variables.
 
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I think there's a happy medium between one extreme of using up power just hovering and the other extreme of using up power fighting aerodynamic drag.

My unscientific guess is somewhere around 60-80% throttle in P mode might get you the furthest. The longest flight time is achieved at 100% of C mode fwd speed (ie 4m/s). Furthest distance is probably achieved by going faster, with a slight reduction in overall flight time.
 
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A happy medium as mentioned above would be my guess but you’ll have to experiment to know for sure. Maybe watch and see the speed your bird returns home when it hits auto return due to low battery. DJI engineers probably have set that speed as the most efficient. ??‍♂️
 
I think there's a happy medium between one extreme of using up power just hovering and the other extreme of using up power fighting aerodynamic drag.

My unscientific guess is somewhere around 60-80% throttle in P mode might get you the furthest. The longest flight time is achieved at 100% of C mode fwd speed (ie 4m/s). Furthest distance is probably achieved by going faster, with a slight reduction in overall flight time.

That sounds about right; I believe DJI sets the RTH speed at 8 m/s to maximize the distance on the remaining power, but it would be interesting to test that. (It would be very useful to know what speed does maximize distance, if it isn't 8 m/s.)

It seems to me that in addition to limiting speed, the different modes also limit acceleration, so my unscientific guess is that C mode will probably use a little less power than P or S even if you were to limit your speed to 4 m/s in all modes, unless you're also careful to always accelerate slowly.
 
see this analyse :
 
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