Drone Flight Time Calculator

Your details

The capacity printed on your LiPo or Li-Ion pack in milliamp-hours. Common packs: 1500 mAh (micro), 3000 mAh (mini), 5200 mAh (consumer), 10000+ mAh (heavy-lift).
mAh
Nominal cell voltage is 3.7 V for LiPo; a 4S pack has a nominal voltage of 4 x 3.7 = 14.8 V.
How much of the battery you plan to use. LiPo packs suffer irreversible damage if drained below ~20 %, so 80 % is the standard safe limit. Racing pilots sometimes push to 90 %.
%
Selects a typical power-per-kg figure for that drone class. You can override it with the custom amp draw field below.
Total take-off weight in grams: drone frame, motors, ESCs, FC, battery, camera, and any payload. Include everything that will be in the air.
g
If you know your drone's actual current draw from a log or spec sheet, enter it here and the calculator will use it instead of estimating from weight and drone class. Leave at 0 to use the estimate.
A
Aggressive flying, high speeds and wind all increase power draw well above the hover figure. The style multiplier converts hover time to realistic flight time.
Extra weight added to the drone: camera, gimbal, thermal sensor, delivery package, etc. Leave at 0 if already included in the all-up weight above.
g
Estimated flight timeShort flight
12.7min

Realistic flight time for your selected flying style

Hover-only time18.1min
Estimated avg. amp draw13.8A
Usable battery energy46.2Wh
Flight time with payload12.7min
Payload time penalty0min
12.7 min
Very short<5Short5-15Good15-30Excellent30+

Estimated flight time: 12.7 minutes.

  • Pure hover time is 18.1 min; your flying style reduces that to 12.7 min (70% efficiency factor applied).
  • Estimated hover current is 13.8 A, drawing 46.2 Wh of usable energy from the battery.
  • Plan to land when the battery reaches 20-25% remaining to avoid deep-discharge damage and retain enough power for a safe return.

Next stepFor longer missions, carry a spare battery pack and build in a swap time of 1-2 minutes.

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