With this evening’s grey cloud banks promising another of the year’s early tropical rain storms, I sent my Air 3 on a 12-mile round-trip waypoint mission that was among the first few flight plans I imported into DJI Fly from Litchi Mission Hub with the Hub Bridge before the overwrite process stopped working on my iPad. Hopefully this minor overwrite glitch will be resolved soon, now that I’ve seen just how powerful a tool the Mission Hub Bridge is for DJI Fly auto-flight management. .
The Air 3 landed with 30% battery after completing an 89-waypoint route culminating in its executing a textbook auto-landing that touched down a mere two inches from its launch point after 27 minutes of cruising at 28 mph on a blustery day.
I continue to be amazed at the long reach of the Air 3’s Occusync-4 video feedback signal. Despite this route sending the drone along a winding forested river valley with lots of towering trees studding a corridor that lies well below the visible horizon, I never lost connectivity with the drone even once during the entire flight.
The Air 3 is way more technologically evolved than the Mavic 2 Pro that was my hitherto favorite poor-man’s DJI quadcopter, and I eagerly look forward to being able once again to use the Mission Hub Bridge after it’s code has been refined to perfection.
This remarkable 12-mile round-trip range means the Air 3 should be able to cover 14 miles round-trip before landing a tad later with a safe 20% of battery charge remaining.
When I get around to ordering an Air 3S battery which has a slightly larger capacity than the Air 3 battery, I am confident this Air 3, powered by a beefier Air 3S battery, will complete round-trip waypoint missions that traverse a whopping 16 miles before returning to base. This is an impressive reach for a hobby grade drone. By comparison, my Mavic 2 Pro required an oversized non-DJI battery bought from Ali Express, to complete a 12 mile Litchi waypoint mission.
Hi Mad_Pup. I would not spend money on the Air 3S battery as they are not cheap. The mAH is only slightly higher and the flight time according to the DJI specs is one minute less than the Air 3. So 46 minutes with the Air 3 compared to 45 minutes with the Air 3S. So you will not see any difference in flight time.
This point you’ve made is a valid one, Mike, and, as an alternative to buying an Air 3S battery, I was already considering the pros and cons of purchasing one of those non-DJI batteries from AliExpress that advertise flight times for the Air 3 stretching out to an hour.
The downside of using those DIY non-OEM batteries is that my warranty would be voided in the event of such a battery failing. On a related note, the stock Air 3 battery flight time quoted by DJI is, as usual, overly optimistic at 46 minutes, because my long-range waypoint flight tests conducted on calm days showed my Air 3 covering a distance of 12 miles round-trip at a cruise speed of 26.8 mph, in just 26 minutes, before landing with exactly 20% battery charge remaining.
I do realize that DJI’s battery duration tests run the batteries down to zero percent, but like most drone owners, I prefer to end drone flights with 20% battery charge left, as a safety margin that also extends the lifespan of the battery.
Yes, I understand all DJI battery flight times are not realistic. I’m just pointing out based on their specs there is no difference between the two. Real world flight time with my Air 3 is roughy 32 minutes. All DJI battery actual flight times regardless of which model drone are about 20% or more less flight time than advertised. Enjoy.
The 32-minute flight time you are getting out of your Air 3 is quite good. I’ve found that 27 minutes of flight time leaves my Air 3 with 20% battery, but this might be due to my initial test flights being close to home with the drone constantly carving turns, as opposed to flying on a steady course which I expect will use battery power more eficiently.
Satisfied with the new Litchi Mission Hub’s reliability and consistency across numerous test flights, I’ve now created a few long range waypoint missions that entail uninterrupted stretches of straight-line trajectory during which I expect the drone to cover 13 miles round trip, yet still land with 20% battery charge remaining.
I must say the new Litchi Mission Hub, despite its steeper learning curve, is a quantum leap enhancement over the original Mission Hub that I was initially reluctant to stop using when the new edition was released.