Athletes like Terry Vaughn and Mike Spitz both famously said in interviews that records were made to be broken. The Guinness Book of World Records holds the record for being the best-selling copyrighted book of all time, proving just how much people around the world love to break and set new records. With the advancement of modern technological devices, a whole new range of records has been made to be broken. Over the last decade, setting new records with drones has become extremely competitive. Since quarantine began, the record for the number of mini drones performing in a drone light show has been broken and reset several times. But perhaps the record with the most global impact in the world of drones is the one that marks drones with the longest flight times.

In October of 2020, two Spanish companies came together to set the record for the longest continuous drone flight. The record was set by drone manufacturer Quaternium and EFI (Electric Fuel Injector) specialists Löweheiser. The drone they designed is a quadrocopter with a hybrid engine. The drone’s hybrid engine is powered by a battery and fuel tank. Tethered and hovering over a safety net, Quaternium’s HYBRiX drone remained airborne for 10 hours and 14 minutes. Then, on March 18, 2021, Menlo Park, California based drone company, Skyfront’s hybrid drone broke the record by several hours.

Skyfront was founded in 2014 by Anton Stepanov and Troy Mestler to resolve the issue of drones that couldn’t remain airborne long enough to enable efficient missions. As explained on their website, “Back in 2013, simple mapping and surveying missions required operators to perform multiple flights over multiple days because of the limited endurance of drones. Operators had to constantly transport, charge, and swap out batteries, often in remote areas that are difficult to access. It often made more economic sense to use a manned aircraft instead of a drone.” One of the main benefits of a drone is that it can do many of the tasks that would be performed with a manned aircraft at a fraction of the cost whenever needed. But with limited flight times, those looking to use drones extensively were also limited.

Typically, a drone’s size and flight time are relative to the size of the battery it can support.  This means that most drones can maintain a 20-30 minute flight on a single battery charge. To compensate for short battery times, drone operators need to have several backup batteries on hand for each mission. It is also important to plan every minute of a mission to make the best use of the time available. Turning to a hybrid drone, one that uses fuel to support the battery greatly extends flight time. In 2017, Skyfront was able to set a world record with their drone Tailwind that completed a 4 hour and 34 minute long flight. When setting that record, Skyfront flew Tailwind in an open field free of any tethers. Setting the record with their long endurance Perimeter drone earlier this year, Skyfront went beyond just testing the drone’s flight time.

The Perimeter 8 is powered by a lithium ion battery and EFI system. The 8 rotor drone can travel at a maximum speed of 36mph and support an additional payload of 17lbs. The drone can maintain a 1 hour long flight when carrying the maximum payload. These payloads can come in a variety of forms such as parcels for delivery, cameras, and scientific sensors. When setting the record for the longest flight, the Perimeter 8 was just equipped with a 360 degree camera to document the experiment. The drone was launched at 6:08 in the morning before the sun rose. It didn’t land until 7:12 in the evening after capturing the sunset over the California coastline. But the Perimeter didn’t just hover over a field for 13 hours, 4 minutes, and 57 seconds. The Perimeter drone flew 205 miles along the coast, also setting a record for just how far a small drone can fly.

The implications of a long endurance drone are countless. For long endurance aerial projects, multimillion dollar helicopters are still the standard vehicles to use. The Perimeter 8 can outfly a helicopter while being more economically and environmentally friendly. A long endurance drone means that companies that rely on drone technology, a rapidly growing sector, can get more out of the technology. And though BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line Of Sight) operations are still being worked out by the FAA, a long endurance drone is what will be needed to complete such missions.

Skyfront positions their long endurance drones to be used in the securities and emergency sectors. However, these drones could be just as useful for scientific missions, agricultural applications, or inspections. But for Troy Mestler, he is particularly excited to see how long endurance drones like the Perimeter 8 can be used to help save lives. “This flight signals a paradigm shift in aviation for public safety and commercial applications,” Troy said. “No longer will police departments, fire departments, and utility companies have to spend huge sums of money on traditional helicopters to monitor, search, or rescue. Most importantly, no longer will we have to risk lives to save lives.” And while setting world records with drones is exciting and helps to drive the industry, these records hold importance to the demands of today’s world. As Troy said, “With this flight, we hope to show the world what Skyfront’s hybrid electric technology can do for aviation.”  Skyfront’s record will be hard to break, but then again, it was made to be broken.

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