P3A vs P2V+ Flight Times (Effect of Prop Guards)

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P2V+ was my first DJI bird and I immediately called BS on the stated max 25 minute flight time. I'd get max 14 minutes flying it from 100-20% battery. Now I'm flying the P3A+ and getting about 30% more time out of it, or about 18 minutes flying 100-20% battery. DJI still says approximately 23 minutes for the P3 (I still call BS on that since I'm only getting 18 and you're typically not going to push your batteries further than that but I'm willing to overlook that since I'm pleased with the improvement).

But then I realize I was flying the P2V+ with prop guards and have abandoned them on the P3A. I sold my P2 so I can't easily test it.

So what are the flight times you are getting with your birds? Do you see an improvement over your P2's? What flight time reduction have you experienced by using prop guards? For ease of comparison use the following format: bird/average flight time/yes or no-prop guards:

P2V+/14 minutes/yes-prop guards
P3A/18 minutes/no-prop guards

I know there are lots of variables but I bet we see some trends.
 
It will vary massively on how you fly. Just hovering is actually NOT the most efficient, there's actually a sweet spot where you get the most power for the least battery used. Generally it will be moving in the one direction at a smooth gentle rate, but exactly how much speed you need, would need to be determined, it will depend on the aerodynamics of the bird.

My P2 non vision, flying relatively smoothly at a gentle constant speed, will exceed 15 min when landing at 20%
I flew 5 batteries on Saturday and when I trimmed out the stuff that wasn't actually in the air, I had 1 hour 28 minutes left of in flight video.
That's an average of over 17 min per flight, but those stats will be distorted by the fact that 2 of my batteries are 6000 mAh






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I have both a P2V+ and the P2V+3.0 and I consistently get 20 minutes of flight time PROVIDED the batteries are totally max charged. When I land, I generally have 15% of battery life left.
I'm not willing to push it any more. I would much rather land with as much as 20% battery life remaining than try and stay in flight for another few minutes and crash my aircraft just because I was pushing the limits.
I agree with earlier posts on DJI's claims of 25 minutes of flying time per battery.
Not true, not even close.
I'd like to see a DJI rep come to my city and show me how they get 25 minutes of flight time on a P2V+/3.0

Some people out there who are getting only 14 or 15 minutes of flight time may be hurting themselves even before they lift off.
Hint: if you are charging your battery make sure you charge it completely up to 100%.
As per the manual, just because you have it hooked up to the charger and the 4 lights on the battery are flashing green, it doesn't mean the battery is totally charged......in fact, it might only be 80% charged at that point.
To be sure your battery is completely charged to 100%, you need to wait until all the flashing green lights have gone off.
THEN you have a 100% charged battery and you should get 20 minutes of flight time from it.

Lifting off the ground with a battery that is only 80% charged will negatively affect your flight time.

Total Time to Charge: I find it takes about 1 hour and 35 minutes to completely charge a battery that has been exhausted.

Hope this helps.
 
My experience is with RC Heli battery monitors, most of which are designed to assess batteries with one, two or three cells. They read the initial voltage and guess how many cells (ie around 4, 8 or 12v). They then monitor the volts, taking the initial voltage as 100%

However, with an undercharged battery - say 11v - their warning at - say15% is falsely low.

Does anyone know if DJI's battery monitor is reading the actual voltage or a calculated percentage of initial volts. I hope it's the former.
 
I have both a P2V+ and the P2V+3.0 and I consistently get 20 minutes of flight time PROVIDED the batteries are totally max charged. When I land, I generally have 15% of battery life left.
I'm not willing to push it any more. I would much rather land with as much as 20% battery life remaining than try and stay in flight for another few minutes and crash my aircraft just because I was pushing the limits.
I agree with earlier posts on DJI's claims of 25 minutes of flying time per battery.
Not true, not even close.
I'd like to see a DJI rep come to my city and show me how they get 25 minutes of flight time on a P2V+/3.0

Some people out there who are getting only 14 or 15 minutes of flight time may be hurting themselves even before they lift off.
Hint: if you are charging your battery make sure you charge it completely up to 100%.
As per the manual, just because you have it hooked up to the charger and the 4 lights on the battery are flashing green, it doesn't mean the battery is totally charged......in fact, it might only be 80% charged at that point.
To be sure your battery is completely charged to 100%, you need to wait until all the flashing green lights have gone off.
THEN you have a 100% charged battery and you should get 20 minutes of flight time from it.

Lifting off the ground with a battery that is only 80% charged will negatively affect your flight time.

Total Time to Charge: I find it takes about 1 hour and 35 minutes to completely charge a battery that has been exhausted.

Hope this helps.

I'm assuming you are not using prop guards? I was flying the P2V+ with prop guards. I have always waited for the lights to go off and only charged the batteries shortly before I am going to fly.

I am also flying with a GPS locator (UAV locator), but that's only 56 grams so wouldn't expect that to affect much (plus I am still using it on the P3A and seeing a big difference between the two birds).
 

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