One of the most important things to look out for when purchasing a drone is its flight range. The flight range of a drone depends on many other drone features, and except if you want to fly your drone recreationally, it is not compulsory to have a long-range drone. We will look at some of the best long-range drones.
Toy drones have a flight range of about 20 to 100 yards; mid-level recreation drones have a range of about 400m to 3km; high-end drones have a flight range of about 4 to 8km. The best long-range drones are DJI Air 2S, DJI Mavic 2 Zoom, Autel Robotics Evo II, and DJI Mavic 2 Pro.
The drone range is essential in determining the type of drone to purchase, as well as the purpose for the drone. Recreational and commercial drones have different flight ranges.
How Far Can A Drone Fly?
Every drone has a flight range, and it is the distance the drone can fly out of sight while still within the control of the remote. As improvements are being made in the remote-controlled world, there is a significant increase in the flight range of drones. When we talk about a drone's flight distance, there are two types considered.
The drone flight distance is the distance the drone can fly without transmitting a video. The second type is the video transmission distance, the total distance the drone can fly while still transmitting a live feed from the drone to a mobile device. The drone flight distance is the distance often referred to.
The things that determine how far a drone will fly are the battery life, the obstacles between the drone and the drone pilot, the wind, and the connection used to connect the drone to the controller. Without a good battery, a drone will have a short flight distance, regardless of the type of drone.
You will experience great difficulty flying a drone in windy conditions; the wind is largely in control of the drone, so you cannot fly very far, or you could lose control of the drone. The drone's connection to the controller also determines how far the drone can fly.
There are different connection modes in drones, Wi-Fi, Lightbridge, and Ocusync. Wi-Fi is the weakest among the three. If your drone uses Wi-Fi, you should not expect it to fly very far because it has a smaller range and is prone to interference from other Wi-Fi devices.
OcuSync, on the other hand, is the latest connection mode in drones; it is a little more efficient than Lightbridge. So, if you want a drone that can fly very far, you should consider one that uses either OcuSync or Lightbridge connection mode instead of Wi-Fi.
Similar post: Long Range Drones: What Are The Best Ones To Get?
Best Long Range Drones
Having a long-range drone is not for everyone; many people buying drones today do so to fly it for fun in their homes. However, a long-range drone is a must-have if you fly drones professionally. Here are some of the best long-range drones available in the market.
DJI Air 2S
The DJI Air 2S is one of the longest range drones ever produced. When it is folded, it is 180 mm long, 97 mm wide, and 77 mm high, while when it is unfolded, it is 183 mm long, 253 mm wide, and 77 mm high. It has a diagonal length of 302 mm. The maximum ascent speed is 6 m/s, and it is the same for its maximum descent speed.
The DJI Air 2S has a maximum flight time of 31 minutes without wind, a maximum hovering time of 30 minutes without wind, and a maximum flight distance of 18.5 kilometers without wind. It has a battery capacity of about 3500 mAh to 3750 mAh, and it uses A LiPo 3S battery that weighs 198 grams.
This drone features a 1-inch CMOS sensor that is capable of performing various photography modes, including burst shooting, single shot, HDR panorama, wide-angle, SmartPhoto, amongst others, as well as video modes, including 5.4K resolution, 4K Ultra HD, 2.7K, and FHD.
DJI Mavic 2 Pro
This is another good long-range drone, with a maximum flight distance of 18 kilometers without wind. It has a takeoff weight of 907 grams. When folded, it is 214 mm long, 91 mm wide, and 84 mm high, and when it is unfolded, it is 322 mm long, 242 mm wide, and 84 mm high.
The maximum takeoff altitude of the DJI Mavic 2 Pro is 6000 meters; it has a maximum flight time of 31 minutes with a consistent speed of 25 kph without wind, a maximum hovering time of 29 minutes without wind, and a maximum speed of 72 kph without wind near sea level.
It features a 1-inch CMOS sensor with about 20 million effective sensors. It also features an omnidirectional obstacle sensing system, a 3950 mAh LiPo 4S battery with a net weight of 297 grams. The DJI Mavic 2 Pro has a video transmission distance of 8 kilometers and uses an OsuSync 2.0 transmission system.
More to learn: Mavic Mini 2: How Far Can It Fly
DJI Mavic 3
The DJI Mavic 3 has a takeoff weight of 895 grams, a diagonal length of 380.1 millimeters, a maximum flight time of 46 minutes without wind, and a maximum hovering time of 40 minutes without wind. This is the longest-range drone globally, with a maximum flight distance of 30 kilometers.
The DJI Mavic 3 features two cameras; the Hasselblad camera with a 4/3 CMOS sensor and has various photography modes, including single shot, automatic exposure bracketing, times photos, and various video resolutions. The second camera is the Tele Camera.
The Tele Camera features a ½ inch CMOS sensor with a single shot photography mode and 4K, FHD, and H264/H.265 video resolutions. The DJI Mavic 3 also features a 3-axis motorized gimbal for stability, as well as an omnidirectional binocular vision sensing system.
What Happens If You Fly A Drone Out Of Range?
All drones have a limit that must not be exceeded. The range is the distance the drone can fly away from the drone pilot. Previously, when drones fly out of range, they lose signal with the controller and are lost. Some would even stop functioning and drop out of the sky.
The cheaper and older drone models fall out of the sky when they fly out of range. With today's technology, if a drone flies out of range, it will return to the point of takeoff. There is a new feature on new drones, the return-to-home feature. This feature allows the drone to return to the controller.
Drones now have GPS; the new feature stores the takeoff point on the GPS, so when the drone flies out of range and loses signal with the controller, the feature activates the GPS and auto-flies the drone back to the identified point of takeoff.
How Far Can Military Drones Fly?
Military drones are different from commercial and recreational drones; they are more powerful and have a lot of features not available to normal drones. They are also very expensive and difficult to purchase because they are produced secretly, away from the public.
Military drones are used for various purposes, including surveillance, battle assessment damage, situational awareness, reconnaissance, and warfare. Military drones have a longer flight time, a farther flight distance and are faster than normal drones because of their uses.
The farthest a normal drone can fly is 20 kilometers away from the controller; Military drones can fly farther than that. The total flight distance of military drones is unknown, but there was news that the U.S. military once flew a drone from the United States to Iran.
Final Thoughts
Different drones have different flight distances, and you need to know the flight distance needed for the purpose. As a recreationist, you can go for mid-level drones, they have a reasonable flight distance, and you can never lose control of them except when you fly them away. A commercial drone pilot would need a high-end drone.
Shawn Manaher loves to play with new toys and dive into new hobbies. As a serial entrepreneur, work definitely comes first but there is always room for hobbies.