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What You Should Know About Drone Flight Times Before You Buy


As industries rapidly embrace unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), drones are taking off at job sites all over the world. Drones have already flown their way into surveying, mapping, construction, mining, inspection, and precision agriculture – and these industries are being revolutionized by their new aerial abilities.

Demand for commercial UAVs is growing and there are many systems from which users can choose. But all drones are not created equal. One of the most crucial factors to consider when choosing a UAS for commercial use is flight time.

The obvious reason flight time is important is because the longer a drone can stay airborne on a single charge, the longer it can fulfill the operator’s intended mission, whether it’s mapping, surveying, or one of many other tasks.

It is important that commercial users choose a UAS that achieves the accuracy they require as efficiently as possible,” explains Chuck Dorgan, Microdrones Sales Director for the United States. “The more time the system saves the company, the greater the ROI. Failure to do this will cost companies time and money.”

Comparing Drone Flight Times: Buyer Beware

Drone makers are quick to advertise specific flight times, but buyer beware — flight times are a function of:

  • wind
  • payload
  • altitude
  • temperature

Those in the market for a UAS must question drone makers that advertise hard-fast flight times. Is the advertised flight time the longest possible flight time the UAS can achieve under perfect conditions? If so, the system may not live up to expectations in real-world scenarios. The best way to determine actual flight time is to watch a demonstration of the system and see it in action for yourself.

Microdrones is a leading drone manufacturer that develops systems with extra-long flight times in real-world conditions. Users can expect to achieve 30-45-minute flights, making Microdrones UAVs ideal for commercial applications. The Microdrones mdCockpit app also has a resume flight function that allows operators to easily and automatically return a UAS to the waypoint where it left off when pausing for a battery change. This convenient feature makes it easy to complete long missions.

Battery changes are a fact of life for commercial drone users, but if you choose a drone with a long flight time and resume flight functionality, you can minimize the amount of time on the ground and maximize your on-the-job efficiency.

To learn more about how Microdrones UAS make work more efficient, quick, safe, and cost-effective, visit our Integrated Systems pages here today.