RC Aircraft Flight Time Calculator

How RC flight time is calculated:

Flight time depends on how much energy your battery stores and how fast your aircraft consumes it. The key formula is straightforward:

Flight time (hours) = Battery capacity (mAh) ÷ Current draw (mA)

Flight time (minutes) = Flight time (hours) × 60

Critical adjustment, and the reason the answer is not just capacity over current: never fully drain a LiPo

LiPo (Lithium Polymer) batteries are permanently damaged if discharged below 3.0V per cell. The standard safe practice is to use only 80% of rated capacity:

Usable capacity = Battery capacity × 0.80

Practical flight time = (Battery capacity × 0.80) ÷ Current draw × 60 minutes

Worked example:

A 3S (11.1V) quadcopter with a 2,200mAh battery drawing 20A average current:

• Usable capacity = 2,200 × 0.80 = 1,760 mAh
• Flight time = (1,760 ÷ 20,000) × 60 = 5.28 minutes

Average current draw for common platforms:

• Mini quad (5" props, racing): 25–40A
• Photo/cinematic quad (5"): 10–20A
• Micro quad (3" or under): 3–10A
• RC plane (electric trainer): 15–30A
• RC helicopter (450 size): 15–25A

Battery “C” rating explained:

The C rating tells you the maximum safe continuous discharge rate: Max current (A) = Capacity (Ah) × C rating

A 2,200mAh (2.2Ah) 50C battery can safely deliver: 2.2 × 50 = 110 amps. Racing quads may need 80–100A peaks, so this matters for motor selection.

Fill in the optional C rating field and the calculator turns that into a discharge rate, a C rating the flight actually uses, and a headroom figure. The number printed on a pack is a marketing claim, so a pack you are running at 90% of its label is a pack that will puff long before one you run at 30% of it. The companion ESC amperage calculator runs the same Ah × C check against the motor side.

Tips for longer flight times:

• Fly in GPS-Hold or Angle mode (less aggressive than Acro)
• Reduce camera/FPV transmitter weight
• Use larger props (more efficient at moving air)
• Keep the battery warm. Cold LiPo cells lose 20–30% capacity
• Land at 3.7V resting per cell, not lower

Booked a seat rather than a battery? The flight time estimator is the airline one: distance, cruise speed and the wind component, for working out how long a journey takes. It shares a name with this page and nothing else.