Nigel_
Captain
Flight distance : 388642 ft
United Kingdom
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surfnhunt Posted at 2017-12-20 10:16
i guess i should rephrase my question.... if im flying to a set location and im in P mode does it use less battery than S mode even though it takes twice as long to get there?
The most efficient speed to fly is about 29mph air speed. On the standard P4 you can't do that in P mode without turning obstacle avoidance off, so sport mode probably is more efficient as long as keep the speed down around 29mph. On the other P4 models you don't need to turn OA off to reach 29mph so most efficient is probably flat out in P mode.
However it will be effected by the wind speed. If you have a 30mph head wind then there is no point being in P mode going almost nowhere, better to go flat out in sports mode and make some progress. If you have a 30mph tail wind then at 30mph ground speed you are effectively hovering with 0 air speed, you want to add 29mph for best efficiency so flat out in sports mode is again the most efficient!
If you are not sure then first decide if it is safe to turn obstacle avoidance off, if it isn't then go flat out in P mode, if it is then use sports mode but keep the speed in the low 30s mph.
Also if you are flying out to a target, keep a watch on the low battery RTH, if you fly too fast in sport mode then the max distance before RTH reduces significantly due to the high power consumption, turning back to P mode will allow the batteries to recover and increase RTH distance back to normal. If you are flying back on a nearly empty battery then high power consumption can cause a premature critical landing due to low voltage, turning back to P mode when the battery gets low allows full use of the battery. |
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