Hi everyone,

I have been flying me new DJI Spark for a week now.

I am a little puzzled, that it has neven flown more than 12 minutes on a full charged battery - but the manual/website states 16 minutes of flighttime.

I know a lot of factors can lower the airbone time, like wind. But 12 minutes is only 75% of the battery capacity.

But what else can affect the battery ?
Does it "eat battery" to keep camera on, recording video all the time ?
Wifi settings make any difference ?
Sports mode vs. normal mode ?

Any tips are appreciated.
Btw : I fly with the "Fly more combo" incl RC, and have the propeller guards mounted.


Cheers,
Tony

I think you will find that almost everybody gets somewhere around 12 minutes of flight time with their Spark.  DJI's claimed 16 minute flight time is under perfect conditions that nobody flies with:  "no wind at a consistent 12.4 mph (20 kph)".

In the real world, nobody is flying at a consistent 12.4 mph for the entire duration with absolutely no wind.  They are starting/stopping, raising/lowering, slowing/speeding, turning/banking, etc, etc.  I would also assume they don't test with the propeller guards on due to the increased drag and weight, but I don't think they specify whether that is the case or not.

In my experience, no matter what I do, I'm still going to get in the 12-13 min flight range.  So I don't worry about it, I just go fly and pop in another battery when the current one runs out!  

Good luck and have fun!

-D

The 16 minutes are a maximum duration under ideal circumstances and, I fear, probably will never been achieved by any of us. But to answer your question. Air temperature is probably a factor too. But in your particular case the most important factor is that the batteries are still new. They will reach their full capacity only after quite a number of charging cycles (can't tell you how many). Thus you will get better performance over time.

You will find as batteries bed in you may get another 1/2 minutes.

It matters when you land it as well. I usually get almost 13 minutes per battery (non sports mode), but when I land I still have around 20-25% battery, so I would actually get pretty close to the advertised 16 minutes (I mostly fly it around London and there's always wind). In sports mode the battery life is a bit less, at around 11.5 minutes (landing with 20%+ battery left as well).

12 is a good, and for me normal, average. I have a couple of 14 minutes flights, but they need me to be willing to drain the batterie close to auto landing mode.

I think they fly all the way down to 0% when getting that 16min flight time. So most people won't do that (stop at 20% or something)
Forward motion increases flight time (you will get more flight time moving forward then hovering). Not sure about what speed you need for this effect to kick in.

In my experience i get about 11-12min with prop guards on and 12-14 minutes without.  If you hover alot, this will affect your flight time as well as it takes more energy to hover.  As Kloo Gee says, many factors affect your flight time and my rule of thumb is 12min on average is what i am for with 20% battery life left.

I have 12 minutes max flight time in sport mode 7.500 meteres total...It can easily goes to 8km with 20% remain...

My usual flight time is 10 minutes.  I always fly with prop guards, I fly in Colorado (ground level is a mile high or higher), and I usually am back on the ground between 20%-30%.  I've been satisfied with 10 minutes of flight.

A recommendation I have is to have a "mental" flight plan of what your intent is for any given flight, and focus on achieving that flight plan.  That will help to maximize the productivity of the flight.

That's the most I've ever gotten, mind you the last 2 minutes I was just fighting the auto land. 12 min sounds about average, that's why I have 4 batteries.

Good score!

Lol also just wanted to push it to its absolute limit to see what to expect. It literally enters auto land every 10 seconds and it's hard to keep up with canceling it.

Yes very hard to push the spark anymore than over 12-13 minutes. I almost think the 16mins was just hovering around in a circle.

Flight time is a resultant of several factors like the wind speed, flight mode, average amperage draw, weather conditions, etc.

The manual/website states 16 minutes of flight time, it is under perfect conditions.

From this article http://www.rcdronegood.com/how-to-choose-battery-for-quadcopter/ We know that that be too dangerous and be permanently damaged when voltage levels become lower then 20% and fully discharged. It’s common practice to not discharge your LiPo batteries below 20% mAh during your flight.

Therefore get almost 12 minutes per battery still have around 20-25% battery left. It mean that you can reach 16 mins (12/75%), but your battery will be fully discharged.

It won’t matter as much when you find your mobile power solution.
I change my two batteries often. (I have the fly more combo).
I land at 20-40%, which is good for the batteries. Recharging is faster, and I believe the batteries will live longer.
My record is 13.2 minutes, but I think they can do 16 minutes if needed.

The theoretical max flight time 16 minutes (no wind at a consistent 12.4 mph (20 kph)), and the max hover time is 15 minutes (no wind), power consumption will speed up due to the different flight environment and usage of sticks.

Like you, I fly with the prop guards installed (always).  Like you, I get less than 16 minutes.  I usually get about 10 minutes of flight time.  There are three factors that I'm sure impact my flight time.

1)  The prop guards.  They add weight, and that will increase the power spent by the craft.  I don't know what the difference is, as I have made a choice to always fly with the guards.
2)  I fly at altitude.  I live in a state that is about a mile above sea level.  Lighter air means the craft must work harder.
3)  I never challenge the batter with my flight (I don't fly to zero percent).  My primary use case is flying while boating, and I usually make an effort to return home between 30-40%.  I usually land with around 20% battery.  I've made this choice because landing back on a small boat on a wide open lake can present challenges, and I rely on that battery % as reserves in the event that there are problems with attempting to land (winds, waves, drift, etc).

I'm not unsatisfied with my 10 minutes of flight.

I fully agree! If we plan our flights in terms of which footage we want to achieve, 10 minutes are actually at lot of time.