#Flight time calc software

It includes the weight of the drone itself, any added accessories, and most importantly the battery. Total Flight Weight (TFW) = TFW is the weight of the drone just before take-off.

Do note that the battery size is measured in terms of its capacity (Ampare-hours) and not its size.īefore going into the formula to calculate the flight time, let’s defined a few variables that we will be using. The drone flight time calculator is a simple tool that takes into account two parameters.Ī heavy drone with a smaller battery will have shorter flight time compared to a lighter drone with a relatively bigger battery. How does drone flight time calculator work? I have tested this calculator on a few drones that I got the opportunity to fly and found this quite accurate.īelow I have explained how this calculator calculates the flight time in detail for those interested in the technical details. The tool above is a simple calculator I put together to calculate the flight time using average current draw under actual load (total weight of the drone before takeoff) and your battery capacity and takes into account what kind of motors you are using (brushed or brushless).

#Flight time calc software

It is painful to lose your drone just because you ran out of battery without warning especially with most DIY self-assembled drones that lack sophisticated battery monitoring systems or smaller toy category drones like Propel Snap 2.0 that have limited software capabilities to accurately calculate battery timings. In such situations, you might want to re-calculate your drone battery life or flight time. In practice, loads change as you might want to add additional gears to your drone (prop guards, extra battery, bigger camera, etc.). Most manufacturers advertise the flight time in their drone specs, but these are not always accurate because these timings are under standard load and lab conditions. This Drone flight time calculator will help you accurately calculate your time in the air. Drone flight time varies with manufacturer, model as well as battery condition. It makes perfect sense because drones with higher flight times give you more time in the air hence extend their usability. I hope this addressed the mathematical request of your question and let me know if I can clarify at all.Flight time is one of the first and most important parameters you check for before buying a drone. You will have to write a function that takes the departure time and determines whether it counts as night time, and then subtract any flight time that is ineligible. I understand you're problem as a developer - you will have to use a website like to grab an API that can find a local civil twlight using a city as an input. You can take your total time (ie 2.3 Hobbs) and subtract any time that would not count as night and the result is what you are legally allowed to log as night time (at least here in the US). However, that can vary quite a bit with your location on the Earth’s surface.īefore (morning) or after (evening) civil twilight and between the two is when you can log night flight. Civil twilight, as a general rule, is usually the 30 minutes before sunrise or after sunset. The time that you can log as “night” is based on the start or end of “civil twilight.” Civil twilight is defined as the time when the geometric center of the Sun’s disk is at most 6 degrees below the horizon. Make sure to verify with your country’s aviation agency. This answer will address your question according to US FAA guidelines.