A Guide to Long Range FPV Drone Flying: Tips for Safe & Confident Exploration

Long-range FPV flying has captured the imagination of drone enthusiasts around the world, offering unparalleled freedom to explore stunning landscapes, glide over waterways, and navigate through dense forests. The adrenaline rush and sense of exploration that accompany these flights have inspired many to dive into the world of FPV. However, the technical aspects of long-range flying can be intimidating for even the most experienced pilots. Fear not, for this comprehensive guide aims to equip you with valuable tips, insights, and best practices to confidently tackle the challenges of long-range FPV flying.

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Further Reading: Elevate Your Cinematic Videos with GoPro ND Filters

What is Long Range in FPV Flying?

What distance qualifies as long-range flying in FPV? There’s no specific number that defines it. In my opinion, long-range flying is when you fly so far that, if you crash, you won’t be able to get your drone back. For some, 5 kilometers is a significant milestone when attempting long-range for the first time.

However, pushing the limits comes with higher risk. The farther you fly, the greater the chance of losing your quadcopter forever, so it’s crucial to balance exploration with caution. Always be mindful of the legal restrictions in your country, as most places have limits on how far you are allowed to fly. Make sure to stay within the law while enjoying long-range FPV.

Not Your First Drone

If you are new to FPV, DO NOT fly long range as your first model. Many things can go wrong in long range and you can lose your quad forever, not to mention the damage it can do to people and properties on the ground if you lose control. Get a ton of experience with general flying before attempting long range. Most importantly, beware of your local regulations and if long range flying is legal at all, DO NOT break the law!

Setting Up GPS Rescue Mode

Betaflight offers a simplified “return to home” feature called GPS Rescue mode (tutorial), which is a must-have for long-range FPV flying. Equipping your drone with GPS enables Rescue mode to bring your quad back to you in case of signal loss.

Invest in a reliable GPS module, and consider these recommendations: https://oscarliang.com/best-5-inch-fpv-drone-parts/#Accessories

Before venturing into long-range flights, spend time configuring and thoroughly testing GPS Rescue mode to ensure it works as intended. This will help you avoid mishaps and provide added security during your long-range explorations.

Once you have a working GPS on your quad, it’s also a good idea to setup GPS coordinate logging in your radio to record the location of your quad every 1 to 2 seconds during flight by following this tutorial: https://oscarliang.com/log-telemetry/

Equip Your Drone with a Self-Powered Buzzer

In the event of a crash, having your drone’s GPS coordinates and a loud buzzer installed can make locating it significantly easier. A buzzer with a built-in battery is particularly helpful, as it can continue to beep for hours or even days after the drone loses power (e.g. the battery gets disconnected or run out of power).

For recommended self-powered buzzers, check out this list: https://oscarliang.com/best-5-inch-fpv-drone-parts/#Accessories

Using Li-Ion Batteries for Extended Flight Time

Learn more about improving flight time in this guide: https://oscarliang.com/improve-fpv-drone-flight-time-efficiency/

Li-Ion batteries offer a higher energy density than LiPo batteries, which can result in longer flight times. If your fixed wing or quadcopter has low current draw and high efficiency, you should seriously consider using Li-Ion batteries. The popular 18650 and 21700 Li-Ion cells are common choices for long-range.

To learn more about purchasing or building your own Li-Ion battery packs for long-range flights, check out this guide: https://oscarliang.com/li-ion-battery-long-range/

Safety Precautions

Safety should be a top priority when engaging in long-range FPV drone flying. Here are some important safety tips to get you started.

Conduct Pre-Flight Checks

Before each flight, perform a thorough inspection of the drone to ensure all components are in good working order. Check for loose connections, damaged propellers, and verify that the battery is fully charged and securely fastened.

Develop Emergency Procedures

Create a plan for dealing with emergencies, such as a sudden loss of signal, video interference, or low battery situations. For example, familiarize yourself with activating GPS Rescue mode, and adjusting the antennas quickly for optimal signals. Knowing what to do in case of an emergency can help prevent accidents and minimize potential damage to your drone.

Be Mindful of Weather Conditions

Always check the weather forecast before flying and avoid flying in adverse conditions such as strong winds, rain, or poor visibility. Be mindful of temperature changes that could affect your drone’s battery life and performance. Here are some tips on how to fly in the winter: https://oscarliang.com/fly-fpv-winter/

Flying in headwind requires a lot of power. Sometimes when you’re flying outbound with a tailwind, you may go very fast with little throttle, which can lead you to misjudge how much battery you’ll need for the return flight against the headwind.

Start Small and Gradually Progress

Flying smaller aircraft can feel more relaxed, as they’re less powerful and cause less damage in the event of a crash.

Sub250 Micro long-range FPV drones are an excellent option – these 4″ or smaller drones can weigh under 250g, including the battery, making them legal to fly in some countries without registration. They offer flight times up to 40 minutes with a Li-Ion pack, which is more than enough for most pilots.

Rather than pushing your limits from the start, take a gradual approach and fly a bit further each time. This allows you to better understand your drone’s capabilities in the given environment and minimizes the risk of losing your quad.

Maintain Line of Sight

When flying long-range, it’s crucial to keep your drone within your line of sight. Obstacles can easily disrupt your video and radio signals. To maintain line of sight, keep your altitude in mind. Unless you’re experienced and know what you’re doing, avoid risky maneuvers like going to the other side of mountains or flying beneath the tree line.

Before taking off, carefully inspect the environment for potential blind spots that could block your signals. Plan and simulate the flight path in your head, ensuring that your drone maintains line of sight throughout the flight.

Using a ground station setup can be helpful, as the receiver antenna positions won’t be affected by pilot head movements.

Try to identify landmarks or reference points, and aim the receiver antenna towards them. This way, when flying your drone, you can align it with the reference point, ensuring your antennas are pointed directly at the drone at all times.

Flying over the ocean is particularly challenging, as there are usually no reliable reference points. During flight, your drone can drift due to wind or pilot commands, gradually moving further away from where the receiver antenna is pointing. While clouds can serve as temporary reference points, they are constantly moving and therefore not reliable for long-duration flights.

Get a Spotter

Having a spotter or visual observer can help you maintain awareness of your drone’s location and any potential obstacles that may not be visible through your goggles, such as power lines, trees, kites, balloons, or other aircraft. Regardless of whether you have a spotter or not, it’s also essential to look for visual markers on the ground. By doing so, you’re less likely to lose orientation and will have a better understanding of your drone’s position relative to the surrounding environment.

Battery Management

Ensuring proper battery management is crucial when flying long-range. One of the most common mistakes new pilots make is not leaving enough battery to make their way back. Take wind speed and direction into account; if you’re flying back against a headwind, it will drain your battery much faster.

This emphasizes the importance of weather considerations – avoid flying in excessively windy conditions. Not only will your drone fly terribly, but battery life will also be negatively impacted.

Having an accurate current sensor is essential for monitoring your battery usage. This tutorial explains how to calibrate current sensor.

Additionally, when flying down a mountain or cliff, remember to account for the extra battery power needed to climb back up during your return flight.

Choosing the Right FPV Setup

Digital FPV Systems

While analog FPV system is a budget option to get you in the air, personally I find them more challenging for long range. It takes high level of experience, knowledge and good quality gear to get good results with analog.

On the other hand, the new digital FPV systems such as DJI, are much easier to work with for long-range flights even with its original setup/antennas. Also they work much better with weaker signals, and also more robust against multipath interference. For an overview of various FPV systems, see this post: https://oscarliang.com/fpv-system/

However, DJI and Walksnail can be deceiving when it comes to signal quality. You might have a perfectly clear image one moment, but then lose the signal completely the next. It’s important to pay close attention to the bitrate numbers to gauge your link strength. On the other hand, analog and HDZero systems show static as the signal degrades, providing a more direct indication of your signal strength and an early warning. If you lose connection with analog or HDZero, they typically reconnect almost immediately once the signal is re-established. With Walksnail and DJI, however, it can take a moment to recover, which can be unnerving and even dangerous for the pilot.

Note that the DJI FPV systems seem to have a cap on range by design, with the v2 system (e.g. Vista and Goggles V2) at about 13 to 14 kilometres, and the O3 system (e.g. O3 Air Unit and Goggles 2) at around 23 to 24 kilometres. This constraint isn’t related to the device’s GPS or the location of the controller but seems to be rooted in the communication protocol / propagated signal between the air unit and the goggles. If you plan to fly further than these hard limits, then DJI might not be for you.

Get the DJI FPV System from:

• DJI FPV Goggles: https://oscarliang.com/fpv-goggles/#The-Best-DJI-FPV-Goggles
• DJI FPV cameras: https://oscarliang.com/fpv-camera/#DJI-Vista-FPV-Air-Unit
• DJI VTX: https://oscarliang.com/video-transmitter/#DJI

Get the Walksnail System from:

• Walksnail FPV Goggles: https://oscarliang.com/fpv-goggles/#The-Best-Walksnail-Avatar-FPV-Goggles
• Walksnail FPV cameras: https://oscarliang.com/fpv-camera/#Walksnail
• Walksnail VTX: https://oscarliang.com/video-transmitter/#Walksnail

For antenna recommendations, check out this post: https://oscarliang.com/best-fpv-antenna/

Analogue FPV System

If you’re on a budget, definitely go with analog as it’s the cheapest option. It’s easy to lose your quad when flying long range, so keeping costs low can be important for those with a tight budget. However, if you’re looking for the best possible experience, DJI is the top choice, followed by Walksnail. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend HDZero for long-range flying; its strength lies in low latency, which is mostly beneficial for racing. It’s also quite expensive and doesn’t offer the same image quality or signal penetration/range as other digital systems.

With 5.8GHz analog VTX, higher output power provides more range but has diminishing returns and causes the VTX to overheat more quickly. One of the most powerful VTX option is the RushFPV MAX SOLO, which provides up to 2.5W of output power. However, in my experience, 800mW to 1.6W should be sufficient for 5km+ when using the right antenna combo.

See this post for my VTX recommendations: https://oscarliang.com/video-transmitter/

Be sure to use a diversity receiver module on your FPV goggles with directional antennas to boost your range. These two modules are probably the best on the market today in terms of performance.

ImmersionRC Rapidfire Module:

• Banggood: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DlKuG0V
• GetFPV: https://oscarliang.com/product-7se8
• RDQ: https://oscarliang.com/product-38n2

TBS Fusion Module:

• AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DkXFpMh
• GetFPV: http://bit.ly/2RcYKv6
• Amazon: https://amzn.to/2RwJN6l

When selecting antennas, look for a high axial ratio (as close to 1.0 as possible), which determines how well it reduces multipath interference and prevent signal loss due to polarization. See my FPV antenna guide for product recommendations: https://oscarliang.com/best-fpv-antenna/

With the right setup, 5.8GHz analog is excellent for long-range flights. It’s possible to achieve over 1km with just a 25mW VTX using the right antenna—imagine the range possible with a higher power VTX! For instance, quadrupling output power can double your range. In this post, I explain how to estimate range by converting VTX power into dB: https://oscarliang.com/calculate-fpv-range/

If permitted to use a lower frequency for video transmitters, like 1.2GHz/1.3GHz, this would be a better long range option for analog. Check out my tutorial on 1.2GHz/1.3GHz video frequency for FPV. The downsides are that it’s illegal in many countries to transmit in this frequency range, and you won’t be able to use 2.4GHz for your radio due to interference. Additionally, 1.3GHz antennas are much larger compared to 5.8GHz ones.

Radio Control Link For Long Range

As of 2024, the best radio control links for long-range FPV drone flights are ExpressLRS and TBS Crossfire. Both systems have proven their ability to achieve tens of miles in range, making them ideal for long-range flights.

I have used both systems, and I prefer ExpressLRS because it is more budget-friendly, and the receiver antennas are smaller. Additionally, there is a vast selection of hardware and brands to choose from, which is another significant advantage. Take a look at my tutorial on how to get into ExpressLRS: https://oscarliang.com/setup-expresslrs-2-4ghz/

Crossfire, on the other hand, is easier to use and a more mature system. However, it has slightly higher latency and lower packet rates than ExpressLRS, making it somewhat less versatile. If you don’t mind paying more, it’s still a good contender for long range: https://oscarliang.com/crossfire-betaflight/

Further Reading: Learn about what makes a good radio transmitters for FPV Drones

Less is More

Using lower output power on your ExpressLRS or Crossfire transmitter module—for many, 100mW to 250mW is adequate for long-range flying if you maintain line of sight (without obstacles between you and the drone). Not only does this save battery life, but lower power can also reduce interference with the video signal since your goggles are in close proximity to the radio. When flying analog or HDZero, you may notice this interference as random static in your goggles when using 1W on your radio. This is especially concerning with DJI and Walksnail, as they tend to mask interference when the drone is nearby, but as you fly farther away, the interference becomes more prominent compared to the weak signal you are receiving, ultimately reducing your maximum range.

2.4GHz vs 900MHz

I prefer 2.4GHz because the antennas are more compact, and it performs exceptionally well for long-range flying. With 1W of output power on a 2.4GHz transmitter module, you should easily achieve 15-20km of range (often more than that). If you’re not reaching that kind of range, don’t rush into switching to 900MHz; there’s likely an issue with your setup, perhaps the antennas are bad or the placement is not optimal. Also consider using a diversity receiver on your drone, as this can significantly improve link quality. Only if you need even more range or penetration should you consider moving to 900MHz.

Enhancing Efficiency and Flight Time

The efficiency of an FPV drone is primarily determined by its weight, as well as the motor and propeller combination used.

While you could just use a larger battery for extended flight time, there is a diminishing return, and at some point, it can become counterproductive and reduce your flight time. Moreover, a heavy FPV drone typically exhibits poor flight characteristics.

Keeping efficiency in mind when selecting motors and propellers is crucial for achieving longer flight times.

For example, you can increase efficiency by opting for a less aggressive motor (lower KV) and propeller (lower pitch) combination. Additionally, try to build your drone as lightweight as possible by removing all unnecessary components. Every gram saved translates to a few extra seconds in the air.

A larger drone, such as a 7-inch model, is known to be more efficient and better suited for long-range flights than a standard 5-inch freestyle drone. For instance, I achieved nearly 9 minutes of flight time on a $189 7″ BNF (Darwin129) using a 4S 1500mAh LiPo, whereas the same battery typically provides only 6 minutes on a 5″. A 7-inch drone can also carry heavier payloads, allowing you to use a larger battery for extended flight time.

Always Record DVR

In the event of a crash, reviewing the DVR footage can help you pinpoint the exact location of the incident. This will save you a significant amount of time searching for your drone blindly.

If your FPV goggles have onboard DVR, make sure to use it for every flight. If they don’t, consider investing in an external DVR. If it has an “auto-record” feature, make sure it’s turned on. Some Goggles can detect when the drone is armed and start recording automatically, such as the DJI Goggles 2 and Walksnail Avatar Goggles.

Listening to the Motors

From a distance, it’s difficult to hear your FPV drone. Some pilots prefer to listen to the sound of their motors spinning and the beeper beeping, as it gives them confidence and a sense of connection with their drone. However, only analog system has such capability, none of the digital systems support audio at the moment. While this is not for everyone because the audio can be quite noisy and irritating, I thought I should share the idea as some pilots have found it beneficial.

For information on how to set up audio for FPV, check out this guide: https://oscarliang.com/microphone-fpv/

Is Long Range FPV Flying Legal in Your Country?

It’s essential to address the legality of long-range FPV flying, as we don’t want to encourage any illegal activities. The rules regarding the maximum distance you can fly an FPV drone and the allowable VTX output power differ from country to country. In some places, FPV flying is entirely prohibited. To ensure responsible flying, please follow your country’s regulations and avoid putting yourself or others at risk.

Make sure you familiarize yourself with no-fly zones in your area, such as airports, military installations, or national parks, and refrain from flying in restricted airspace.

Conclusion

In conclusion, long-range FPV flying offers a unique and thrilling experience, allowing pilots to explore new vistas and push their skills to new heights. By understanding the technical aspects and carefully considering the setup, battery management, safety precautions, and legal requirements, you can safely navigate this exciting realm of FPV flying. Remember to start small and take baby steps, and always be prepared for unexpected challenges. As you gain experience and confidence, you’ll soon find yourself soaring through the skies, enjoying the sense of freedom and adventure that long-range FPV flying has to offer. Happy flying!

Edit History

• May 2018 – Post created
• Aug 2020 – Updated tips for DJI FPV system
• Apr 2023 – Article updated