Drone Flight Time Calculator
Enter your drone's all-up weight, battery capacity, and cell count to estimate how long it will fly in hover, cruise, and full-power modes - with a 20% safety reserve. Compare different battery sizes side by side. Nothing uploaded.
All-Up Weight ?
Battery
Nominal: 14.8 V
Current Draw
Hover current: - A
Flight style
Flight Style Mix ?
Total: 100%
Flight Time Estimates
Battery Stats
Battery Comparison (same weight, same voltage)
| Capacity | Hover | Cruise | Practical |
|---|
Learn more: estimating real drone flight time
Why hover time and real flight time differ
The calculator treats cruising as drawing 1.4 times the hover current and aggressive flying as drawing 2.2 times. On the default setup (500 g, 1,500 mAh, 4S at 14.8 V) hovering draws 55 W, so a full pack lasts 24.2 minutes at hover, 17.3 at cruise and 11.0 flying aggressively.
Real flights mix the three. With the default 40% hover, 40% cruise and 20% aggressive split, average power is 1.4 times hover power, or 77 W. That is why a hover-based headline figure rarely matches what a pilot gets in mixed flying.
The 20% reserve
The practical estimate only counts 80% of the battery's energy. The default pack holds 22.2 Wh, so 17.76 Wh counts as usable. Dividing that by the 77 W mixed draw gives a practical flight time of 13.8 minutes, well under the 24.2-minute hover figure.
The reserve exists because LiPo voltage sags as a pack empties, and running one to zero risks cell damage and a sudden loss of power.
Current from weight and the C-rating
In "Auto from weight" mode the calculator assumes the drone needs 110 W per kilogram to hover and divides by pack voltage to get current. A 500 g drone on 14.8 V works out to 3.72 A. Current rises in step with weight, so doubling the weight to 1 kg on the same pack roughly halves the hover time, from 24.2 to 12.1 minutes.
The required C-rating is the aggressive peak current divided by the pack capacity in amp-hours. For the default setup that is 3.72 x 2.2 / 1.5 = 5.5C. The 110 W/kg figure is a rough model, so switch to Manual and enter a measured hover current if you have one.
FAQ
How does extra payload change the estimate?
In Auto mode, hover current is proportional to total weight, so flight time is inversely proportional to it. Adding 20% more weight cuts hover time to about 83% of what it was, and doubling the weight halves it.
Does cold weather change the estimate?
The calculator does not model temperature. LiPo packs generally deliver less usable capacity in the cold, so expect real flight time to come in below the estimate on a cold day.
How should I use the practical flight time?
Treat it as a planning ceiling, not a target to fly right up to. The 20% reserve is already taken out, so landing at the estimate leaves little margin if conditions or your flying style differ from the mix you entered.