What are the longest flight times a consumer drone can achieve?

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

Any drones capable of flying significantly longer that Mavic's 30 minutes? (stock, not modified)

Use case: someone is hired to shoot a game from air, e.g. soccer, which lasts 45 minutes per period. Landing Mavic in the middle of the period to change battery is a fail, you want continuous footage, missing a goal would be an epic fail. And you want some margin, so you want a drone that can fly for 1 hour. Anything?

 

[pixl]

Mavics don't fly 30 minutes. Typical max flight time on an MP is 23 minutes, and 26 minutes on an MPP.

You could accomplish 45 minutes with some of the fixed wing drones, but they don't hover.

 

[sar104]

Or just use two Mavics, Phantoms or whatever to get overlap of coverage. With sufficient batteries you can cycle them in indefinitely. That's a much cheaper solution than anything currently out there with a 45 minute flight time. The only ones I can think of are not really consumer level - the Matrice 200 series with twin packs (> $20k inc. camera) or the Lockheed Indago (> $50k).

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

Any drones capable of flying significantly longer that Mavic's 30 minutes? (stock, not modified)

Use case: someone is hired to shoot a game from air, e.g. soccer, which lasts 45 minutes per period. Landing Mavic in the middle of the period to change battery is a fail, you want continuous footage, missing a goal would be an epic fail. And you want some margin, so you want a drone that can fly for 1 hour. Anything?

A drone is a horrible way to record a soccer game. Maybe good for some "B roll" footage, but to cover the action? Nope.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

A drone is a horrible way to record a soccer game. Maybe good for some "B roll" footage, but to cover the action? Nope.

It was just a hypothetical example. There could be many situations where uninterrupted footage for more than 25 minutes is required.

 

[Mossiback]

You may also run into a storage limit. I have not tried a 45 minute continuous recording, but you might max out your storage card. Then, unless you have a very powerful computer, I could see the post processing taking a long time to render. What would probably work better is standard bleacher based video with a good zoom for the majority with aerial views periodically injected; like the majority of NFL games are broadcast. Downside there is the need for two operators and equipment but it would probably give the best results.

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

It was just a hypothetical example. There could be many situations where uninterrupted footage for more than 25 minutes is required.

Oh sorry. When you said "Use Case" it seemed to imply that was how you wanted to use it.

Anywho, no on "of-the-shelf" consumer drones that can go much longer than 25-30min. So in addition to the suggestions above (multiple drones/pilots, Matrice with extra on-board batteries), a tethered drone can fly forever. Extendable pole cams are also good solutions when you need an eye in the sky for an extended period of time.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

Oh sorry. When you said "Use Case" it seemed to imply that was how you wanted to use it.

I was more interested in the context of discussion about Mavic's efficiency and whether it can't be improved, period, or there are options, and in the context of energy stored per unit weight. Like with rockets, where the specific impulse is the limiting factor, drones are similar in that with current technology, it seems about an hour is the limit for electrical drones.

 

[Keule]

What about tethered drones? Gives you „unlimited“ flight time. Look here: Elistair | Tethered Drone Applications

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

What about tethered drones? Gives you „unlimited“ flight time. Look here: Elistair | Tethered Drone Applications

I was more interested in the context of discussion about Mavic's efficiency and whether it can't be improved, period, or there are options, and in the context of energy stored per unit weight. Like with rockets, where the specific impulse is the limiting factor, drones are similar in that with current technology, it seems about an hour is the limit for electrical drones.

Tethered drone is like a rocket engine on a test stand attached to unlimited fuel supply. I was interested in what the limit of autonomy for electrical drones is.

 

[Keule]

Understood.

What about a combination of a conventional quad and fixed wing layout? This in combination with solar powered energy ...
Tests are underway with such an idea ... Not a Mavic like airframe, but look here: The first solar logistics transport drone to cross the Atlantic in 2018 - sUAS News - The Business of Drones

 

[BigAl07]

Off the shelf units... about 27 min is pretty much it. If you're willing to build something you could easily double that with a purpose built unit.

Going Fixed Wing would solve the time issue but hovering isn't an option.

Tethered UAS are the ticket for MultiRotors that need to Loiter for a long period of time and they work VERY well albeit a very expensive Add-On item.