So now you’ve taken the plunge and gotten the drone of your dreams — you’re probably thrilled to head out of the house for your first test flight and that of course, is huge!

However, there’s a good chance that you’re also trying to figure out just how fast a drone can go, are we right? Well, for starters, the legal drone speed limit according to the FAA is 100mph — this purely legal info.

At this point, you’re probably trying to figure out how fast your drone can go, factors that could affect the speed and of course, the things you can do to fly faster.

First Things First — How Fast Can A Drone Go?

For starters, a typical drone like the DJI Mavic Pro can reach 41mph at full throttle — this is usually how it is in sports mode. It’s however important to note that the speeds drop down to 30mph when you’re looking to enjoy stabilized flight and smooth video recording. The thing is, your drone is more like your car; in essence, you may not always fly around at its maximum speed.

For the most part, the 30mph that’s delivered by the Mavic Pro is pretty impressive compared to other drones on the market. For example, an average toy drone may scoot along at 12mph, and as we know, that’s not fast. It’s also good to point out that there are other camera drones that are likely to get up to the speed of the Mavic Pro and at the same time, there are those that exceed it. A good example is the DJI Inspire 2 which is under 60mph.

Here’s the thing:

You wouldn’t be wrong to get your hands on racing drones if you got a thing for speed. Essentially, your regular racing drone should clock 50 to 70 mph, but at the same time, there are models that can go as high as 100mph. In fact, if you do your homework well, you’ll be lucky enough to find one that speeds up to 129mph!

Trying to figure out how you can go faster?

If yes, you’re not alone. The very first thing you should know is that camera-based drones and racing drones are not the same. For the most part, your camera drone is fairly symmetrical while racing drones are not — this is precisely why they fly faster.

So how can you get more speed? Well, it’s pretty simple — just figure out a way to increase horizontal thrust without tampering with the minimum upward thrust; do it right, and you’ll go faster.

It’s also important to that you can make your drone go faster when you change its propellers and motors. The concept is pretty easy to understand — more power equals more speed. Essentially, motors provide the thrust drones need to lift and propel forward. What’s more, the combined thrust of the rotors should have twice as much thrust as the drone’s full weight. Just so you know, propellers that work for your friend’s drone may not work for yours; so be sure to do your homework before taking the plunge. The thing is, their size depends on the size and frame of the drone. The most important thing is that you can actually give a boost to the speed and performance of your quadcopter if you invest in a good set of propellers.

Final Words

All in all, the speed of your drone is determined by how well it can stay in the air. But of course, you can always add a forward facing propeller to kick your speed up a notch. The biggest challenge faced by drones is gravity — they have to fight it every now and then. The thing is, you’re likely to get the thrust for movement when you tilt a UAV sideways, but you have to be careful not to tilt too far; doing this will only make you lose the fight against gravity, and that’s not part of the plan.

Happy flying!