Drones come in all different shapes and sizes which can make the task of purchasing the right one a bit difficult.
Most people’s idea of a drone today is a unit with four or more propellers.
These aircraft fuselage designs do not help flight.
Instead, the propellers do all the work.
On the other hand, they are unmanned aerial vehicles that have a more traditional design with wings much like an airplane.
These units are called fixed wing drones.
If you’re wondering what a fixed wing drone is and how different it is from the normal drone that you know, stick around and keep reading.
Drone
Features
Price
- Flight Range: 90 meters
- Flight Time: 14 minutes
- Weight: 1.51 pounds
- Flight Range: 300 meters
- Flight Time: 11-12 minutes(vertical), 15-16minutes(level)
- Weight: 10 ounces
What are fixed wing drones?
Fixed wing drones are basically airplanes that are controlled remotely.
You’ll find quite a few different types but the ones we’ll focus on in this article are consumer-level fixed wing drones.
These machines have working wings like an airplane but may also feature propellers that allow them to vertically launch, land or hover.
Fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles travel at faster speeds and have a much greater battery life than normal drones
However, they can be heavier depending on the design.
The science behind fixed wing UAVs is easy.
As the unit moves through the air, the wings carry the weight of the craft and the propellers propel the unit forward.
As a result, far less power is required than if you were to suspend the craft in the air by propeller power alone.
The motor that has enough power to vertically launch the drone can drag the craft through the air at a faster speed than a quadcopter design.
5 best fixed wing UAVs
- Flight Range: 1.2 miles
- Flight Time: 45 minutes
- Weight: 4 pounds
The Parrot Disco FPV is an early release from the company but is still one of the best fixed wing drones on the market today.
Most of the units back then were built using foam and plastic.
This lead to lightweight, affordable and resilient units.
The Parrot Disco uses Hardside EPP foam bonded with a carbon tube to create the frame of the drone.
This provides the drone with an extremely lightweight platform that allows it to maintain its altitude with minimal power consumption.
The Disco is a ready-to-fly drone capable of capturing 1080P videos and 14Mpx photos with a built-in wide-angle camera.
The camera is a bit dated when compared to today’s drone cameras but it captures decent enough footage and features a 3-axis digital stabilization system.
It also comes with an awesome controller and FPV goggles in the package to give you more value for money.
The new sky controller allows for improved steering precision, pinpoint accuracy and extends the range of the craft up to 1.2 miles.
Other features include automatic take-off and landing, assisted piloting controls and return to home functionality.
As for flight time and speed, the Parrot Disco can last up to 45 minutes in the air and reach top speeds of 50mph.
They are all easy to fly and come with beginner-friendly features to get you flying a fixed wing unit with ease.
- Fixed-wing drone that reaches speeds up to 50 mph
- Ultra-precise piloting and extended flight range of up to 1.2 mile with Parrot Skycontroller 2
- Immersive flight experience with Parrot Cockpitglasses (FPV goggles)
- Shoot full HD 1080P videos and 14Mpx photos with the built-in wide-angle camera. Footage can be...
- High capacity 2700mAh battery with up to 45 min battery life
- Easy to fly with automatic take-off and landing, assisted piloting controls, anti-stall system, and...
- Compatible Smartphone screen size for the Cockpitglasses: 4.7 - 5.2" / 12 - 13 cm
- Flight Range: 10km
- Flight Time: 30-90 minute
- Weight: 8,2 pounds
The TLWNL Skywalker X8 EPO is the latest version of the X8 Flying Wing .
This plane drone is great for advanced builders and pilots who want to build a custom fixed wing drone.
Compared to the Skywalker X8 black and white this new starry black version sees an upgrade on the materials used.
The materials on this unit feature greater density, higher strength, smoother surfaces and lower heat absorption.
Other than that, the redesigned drone wings allow easier access to the interior with a new more durable cabin cover.
It has a massive wingspan measuring 2122mm and can carry a load of up to 2kg.
This is an Almost Ready To Fly(ARF) unit which means that you will have to purchase some additional components before you hit the skies.
You will have to purchase the brushless motors and foldable props separately.
Of course, this gives you the option to go wild with the power if you wish.
However, you should probably put something efficient that can give you longer flight times.
You’ll also have to purchase your own batteries and you can choose between 6000 or 1000 mAh.
Additional things you’ll need to purchase are the servos, ESCs, receiver and transmitter.
You basically have to build the entire unit which is a good thing because it gives you an option to custom build a unit to meet your specifications.
- This is the latest version of Skywalker X8 Flying Wing!
- Compared to black x8, the new starry black limited version has been mainly upgraded on the material,...
- Flight Range: 90 meters
- Flight Time: 14 minutes
- Weight: 1.51 pounds
The Top Race P51 Mustang is a great beginner unit if you want to have a feel of a fixed wing aircraft.
It is a scaled-down version of a world war 2 airplane and works in a similar manner with full rudder, elevator and aileron controls.
You can even drive it on the ground until you reach the take-off spot using the left or right throttle.
It features a 6-axis gyro and comes with 3 levels of flying.
These 3 levels control how much the gyro kicks in
As a beginner, start at the Beginner level, then to Intermediate and finally Expert.
In Expert Mode, you’ll be able to create more stunts in the air than the mother modes.
However, there’s a One Key Stunt button that helps you to perform amazing stunts including flips, etc.
While you may look at the P51 Mustang as a toy, it is a sturdily built, durable and sophisticated hobby product.
The props are built in such a way that the unit won’t break if it crash lands.
The propeller system is made of 3 parts.
The propeller, the propeller shaft and the propeller adapter.
If the props hit something, they will snap and save the motor and unit from completely breaking apart
To help with this, the unit comes with 3 spare propellers.
- Flight Range: 60 meters
- Flight Time: 7 minutes
- Weight: 2.56 ounces
We have yet another Parrot unit on our list.
The Parrot Swing is a toy-level fixed wing UAV designed for aerial acrobatics and high-speed racing.
It allows you to perform loops, 180 degrees turns, barrel rolls, etc.
This unit is a versatile budget-friendly option that supports dual flight modes.
You can use the unit as an airplane or a quad.
It can be transformed from a plane design to a quad-wing X design.
When in plane mode, the unit can reach speeds up to 19mph.
On the other hand, when in quad mode, the unit can take off and land vertically but you can still fly with fixed wing forward flight in this mode as well.
This lends to the unique features of this fixed wing drone.
The unit comes with the Parrot FlyPad controller which includes a smartphone holder.
Using the Flypad increases the control range and you can use it with or without your smartphone.
Unfortunately, the Parrot Swing does not come with a camera so you’ll need to fly it in your line of sight.
It is a great unit to practice fixed wing flights if you’re just getting started.
- Dual Flight mode (Quad/Plane): designed for aerial acrobatics and high-speed racing with friends
- Achieve speeds up to 19mph in plane mode
- Unique acrobatics such as loops, 180 degree turns, barrel rolls
- Increase piloting range with the included Parrot Flypad (works with or without smartphone)
- Flight Range: 300 meters
- Flight Time: 11-12 minutes(vertical), 15-16minutes(level)
- Weight: 10 ounces
The GoolRC WLtoys XK X450 is another toy-grade flying wing drone.
It comes with 3 flight modes including vertical flight, horizontal 6G airplane flight and multirotor flight.
This makes it very versatile and brings different flight options suitable for beginners and advanced pilots.
The unit is made from impact-resistant EPO material and features a built-in carbon fiber rod which reinforces the unit and makes it even stronger.
It uses a 6 axis gyroscope with air pressure and altitude hold which makes flying the aircraft easy.
The 11.1V lithium polymer battery allows for a flight time of 11-12 minutes for vertical flights and 15-16minutes when flying level.
The use of 1307 3000KV brushless motors and high-efficiency blades gives the unit a boost in power.
Meanwhile, the digital steering servos pull the front motor and control the rudder’s surface as well.
- Function: 3 flight modes, 2.4G remote controller, 6CH, LED light, 3D/6G switch, one key land/take...
- Adopted impact-resistant engineering EPO material, and the built-in carbon fiber rod is reinforced...
- The aircraft adopts 6-axis gyroscope with air pressure and altitude hold, suitable for different...
- Three flight modes including vertical flight / horizontal 6G airplane flight / multi-rotor flight,...
- Large capacity 11.1V lithium polymer battery with a flight time of 15 minutes or more. It adopts...
Airplane drones vs Rotary drones
Earlier, you had a brief explanation of what a fixed wing drone is.
Now we’ll take a look and see how it differs from rotary drones.
Takeoff and Landing
The biggest difference between these two types of unmanned aerial aircraft is their takeoff and landing process.
There is a huge difference so you should thoroughly examine your needs before deciding whether you need a quad or a fixed wing model.
Let us take a closer look at the takeoff/ landing processes of each.
Multirotor models
Multi-rotor units use a simple process to take off and land.
Whether it’s a quadcopter, hexacopter or octocopter, they all work with an uplifting force from the rotors.
This allows for vertical takeoff.
Simply put this means that you don’t need any takeoff clearance or anything like that.
You simply turn on your multirotor unit, push the throttle and it takes off shooting straight up into the sky.
Check out multirotor units in this best drone for the money post.
Fixed wing models
Usually, airplane drones rely on one propeller only.
This single propeller isn’t enough to produce direct vertical liftoff force.
You’ll need a runway especially if it’s a commercial model.
Some people claim that you need about 50 to 150 meters for takeoff with these fixed wing units.
Just a point to note is that there are a few hybrid fixed wing models that are extremely versatile.
These units will have more than one propeller and may be able to take off vertically.
Range
When it comes to range, people always say all fixed wings models have more range than all multirotor units.
On average, most fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles have longer operating ranges.
However, it would be unfair to say that all rotary models have significantly less range than all fixed wing models.
DJI is one multirotor manufacturer that keeps pushing the boundaries with its newest flagship units.
These units use OccuSync technology that gives them a range of 7 kilometers or more like the DJI Phantom 4 Pro.
Power consumption
Fixed wing models usually have better power consumption than multirotor units because of their ability to glide.
Although fixed wing units come with a powerful motor for propelling the unit forward, they don’t use it all the time.
Once they are at a certain high altitude, their wings glide through the air which saves battery life.
This is why they are much more power-efficient than their rotary counterparts that have 4, 6 or 8 motors running at all times.
Applications for fixed wing drones
Hobby RC(for fun)
The RC community has been flying RC planes for a long time and they aren’t planning to stop anytime soon.
Now you’d even find units that allow for FPV.
Pair this with FPV goggles and you can view live footage over long distances with no lag.
You can find some of these units come ready to fly or some may be almost ready to fly.
Forestry/Environment Surveys
It can be quite difficult to carry out some environmental surveys because of potential obstructions like trees, foliage and others.
One way, environmentalists have been tackling this is by using a LiDAR scanner.
This scanner uses lasers to measure distance and height.
However, these scanners can be quite heavy but fixed wing drones can carry them for longer periods and scan large areas if necessary.
Pipeline Surveys
Pipelines can span many miles and inspecting them can be a hassle.
Using a fixed wing drone is one of the best ways to inspect and map them.
This is because to inspect and map the pipelines, you’ll need gas monitoring sensors and mapping cameras.
These components can be heavy and so you’ll need a reliable craft that can handle the load and that is where fixed wing aircraft come in
Agriculture
Quadcopters and hexacopters are becoming more and more popular in agriculture.
However, farmers that own a large piece of land may choose to use fixed wing units because of their longer ranges.
This helps them save time since they can access the entire farm in a single flying session.
Fixed wing drone buying guide
Range
Pay attention to the range of the unit.
Figure out the reason and what you plan to do with your fixed wing drone before settling on the range.
However, most of these units have long ranges.
Flight Time
Like the long flight range, fixed wing models also come with long flight times.
If you are going to be using it for commercial purposes, battery life is of utmost importance.
Payload
In multirotor units, the different cameras are the typical payload.
However, in fixed wing aircraft, the payload varies.
Cameras are one of them but other things like laser scanners, sensors and other components can also be placed on a fixed wing drone.
For this reason, you’ll need one that has a sufficient payload average to support what you want to mount on the unit.
Conclusion
Fixed wing drones make use of both new and old technology.
Just like quadcopters, there are many different types of fixed wing drones to choose from and more and more advanced models are introduced to the market every day.
However, due to the difference from normal drones during the landing and takeoff, beginner drone pilots tend to avoid them.
The units mentioned in this article are perfect to give you your first feel for these fixed wing units so that you won’t be intimidated anymore.
They are all easy to fly and come with beginner-friendly features to get you flying a fixed wing unit with ease.
Drone
Features
Price
- Flight Range: 90 meters
- Flight Time: 14 minutes
- Weight: 1.51 pounds
- Flight Range: 300 meters
- Flight Time: 11-12 minutes(vertical), 15-16minutes(level)
- Weight: 10 ounces