The best fixed wing drones in the industry are making tasks faster, more economical and collecting data to a higher quality than traditional methods. In this article I’ll go through the top 5 fixed wing drones changing the way we do business.
The main advantage of fixed wing drones is their long flight time and the amount of land they can cover in a single flight.
To the unfamiliar, fixed wing drones less popular sister of the multi-rotor type drone. Multi-rotors make up 97% of the drone market. They are easier to fly, more compact and often significantly cheaper. However, the main limitation of multi-rotor drones is flight time which is commonly limited to 30 minutes, this is where fixed wing drones excel!
Check out the full breakdown on the uses, pros and cons of fixed wing drones here.
| Price | Features | Flight Time | Area Coverage | Weight | Temperature Range |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DeltaQuad VTOL UAV | $$$$ | 61MP Camera Thermal/IR RGB, Multispectral | 3 hrs | 12km2 | 3.3kg (+12kg payload) | -20 to +45 °C |
PrecisionHawk Lancaster | $$$$ | LiDAR RGB, Multispectral Thermal | 45min | 2.5km2 | 2.4kg | TBC - 40 °C |
SenseFly eBee X | $$$ | RTK & PPK 3D RGB, Multispectral Thermal | 90mins | 5km2 | 1.6kg | -15 to 35 °C |
Aeromapper Talon | $$ | 24MP Camera PPK RGB, Multispectral Thermal | 2 hrs | 8km2 | 3.6kg | -20 to +40°C |
WingtraOne | $ | RGB, Multispectral | 59min | 2.4km2 | 3.6kg | -10 to +40 °C |
The Best VTOL Fixed Wing Drone
DeltaQuad Pro VTOL UAV
The most advanced fixed wing drone that covers the widest range of applications over and above orthomosaic mapping is the DeltaQuad.
This drone’s customizable 12kg payload and fully automated functions open this drone up to industries such as:
- Railway and Roads: The long range of DeltaQuad makes it ideal for railway and road damage detection, this drone can cover up to 100km in a single flight. The high resolution camera can pick up details on a cm scale for vegetation and erosion management, measure frost heave, and detect snow and ice related problems.
- Search and rescue: Deliver water and medical supplies to emergency response survivors , fly in rain or snow, 180x zoom, quick set up and deploy (<1 minute). The thermal camera and night vision also makes this drone suitable for search missions.
- Surveillance and security: Track an object or person and follow automatically
- Mining and construction: The use of PPK means surveys created with the DeltaQuad have centimeter level precision without the hassle of ground control points, ideal for stockpile volume calculations in unreachable areas, 3D mapping of new mining sites and creating elevation profiles.
- Humanitarian: The long flight time makes this drone suited to surveillance of large parks for wildlife observation, anti-poaching efforts, detecting forest fires and identifying detect illegal deforestation.
- Oil and gas: Both onshore and offshore oil and gas rigs can benefit from the DeltaQuad. Pipeline inspection can be automated to detect leaks and corrosion, live video surveillance can monitor right of way areas, the customizable payload assists off-shore deliveries, automated flights map and monitor road development or laying of pipeline, the high resolution thermal camera can detect hydrocarbon seeps and assist in prospecting areas for oil and gas.
Most Reliable Fixed Wing Drone
PrecisionHawk Lancaster 5
PrecisionHawk are one of the most well-known manufacturers of fixed wing drones. Based in the US, they’ve been manufacturing drones since 2010 and have built a reputation for dependable UAVs.
The Lancaster 5 has been around for a while, released in 2016, this is a 5th gen fixed wing drone. This version is designed to master auto-piloted missions in a more robust build. The PrecisionHawk Lancaster 5 has the second highest payload capacity of all these top 5 fixed wing drones, it’s able to carry up to 1.15kg making it’s max take-off weight 3.55kg . However, unlike the DeltaQuad, the payload is not customizable. It’s restricted to the PrecisionHawk attachments.
The PrecisionHawk Lancaster 5 is a versatile fixed wing drone that can be used for multiple industries. The sensors that are compatible with the PrecisionHawk fixed wing drone are:
- Multispectral: 5 Channel. 2 sensors available with a maximum resolution of 1cm per pixel.
- Hyperspectral: 270 Spectral Bands, 400-1000nm
- LiDAR : 300,000 points per second (LiDAR can be used for point clouds for digital elevation models and measuring plant height from the ground)
- Thermal Infrared: 8.9cm ground resolution at 100m altitude (640x 512p resolution)
- Visual: 18.4MP Camera with 1.3cm ground resolution at 50m altitude
These sensors are purchased separately depending on your needs. Most of these sensors can be flown as low as 50m and up to 500m altitude. The recommended altitude is generally over 120m if the vegetation is dense.
Planning the Flight Path for the PrecisionHawk Fixed Wing Drone
The software used to prepare a flight path for the PrecisionHawk Lancaster 5 is Flight Planner, this can be installed on any standard laptop or computer. Set the altitude or required resolution and area of interest to plan the route or import shape files that have been designed in other drone survey software. The route is saved to a USB which gets plugged into the drone.
Putting the Drone Data to Work
The data acquired with the drone can be used with Data Mapper which uses a range of algorithms used to analyze the data for farming and other industries. The algorithms available are tailored to specific sensor types. For example, the GLI (green leaf index) can be run with data acquired from the RGB or Multispectral sensor.
Some of the algorithm outputs/ purposes are:
- Plant count
- Volume measurements
- Plant height
- Water pooling
- Wind damage
For more detailed information on monitoring plant health with the Lancaster 5, check out the outcome of this paper showing how this drone reduces labor, conserves resources and reduces the environmental impact of chemicals.
eBee X Fixed Wing Drone
The eBee X is one of the lightest commercial fixed wing drones on the market, weighing in at 1.6kg. This lighter design gives the eBee X the benefit of a longer flight time. It can fly up to 90 minutes and comes with two batteries for an impressive combined flight time of 3 hours. The maximum coverage achievable with a single battery is 5km2 at 120m altitude.
This UAV has multiple compatible visual cameras purchased separately.
eBee X Sensors / Payloads
- Aeria X: 24 MP RGB
- S.O.D.A. 3D : 20 MP RGB + 3D for 3D mapping
- S.O.D.A. : 20 MP RGB
- Corridor: 20 MP RGB Portrait format for linear mapping
- Duet T: Thermal + 20 MP RGB
- Duet M: 4 Multispectral bands + 20 MP RGB
Precesion Surveys & Mapping with PPK & RTK
Precision surveys and mapping are the main purpose of the eBee X. This model includes PPK and RTK which are tools used for accurate GPS correction. If you’re not familiar with RTK and PPK, I go through these terms in this drone mapping article. Basically, these are an advancement on ground control points (GCPs) to create a spatially correct survey, they stand for stand for Real Time Kinematic and Post Processing Kinematic.
Why fixed wing drones should have RTK and PPK for surveying:
Using GPS alone doesn’t give a high enough level of accuracy, when using RTK and PPK the survey is accurate enough to estimate volumes and measure distances etc. These two GPS correction technologies don’t require the hassle of setting up ground control points.
How much take-off and landing space does the eBee X need?
The eBee X requires a clearing with 5m radius for take-off followed by a 40m unobstructed region for gaining altitude.
When launching, the eBee X is held by both hands and faced into the wind. The drone nose is then tilted up 45 degrees, push the drone forward and back 3 times until you hear the motor kick in, then release into the oncoming wind.
There are two options for landing; steep and linear. Both landing styles require 90m of unobstructed runway for landing. The steep landing route grounds the drone within 50m but a 40m obstruction free zone should follow as a safety measure.
The eBee X is fitted with a hardened plastic landing plate, but it isn’t suited to landing on steep slopes, rocky terrain, wet surfaces snow or soft sand.
Controlling eBee X
One thing to be aware of if you’re considering the eBee X is that it can’t be flown without a laptop connection. The eBee X doesn’t come with a controller. eBee uses the software package eMotion to map flight paths and fly the drone. This is used in the field to track the drone’s location and send additional commands. The software will need to be connected to the internet at least once every 30 days if you have a license that required internet connection.
A constant line of site is needed between the modem and drone for strong connectivity. Buildings, steep terrain and electronic using the 2.4GHz frequency like mobile phones will cause interference.
Affordable Fixed Wing Drone with VTOL
WingraOne
One of the main benefits of the WingraOne is that it’s a VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) hybrid fixed wing drone. It only requires 10m of clearance space to safely take off. On take-off, the drone hovers at 2m altitude above the take off location to wait for your flight commands.
The WingraOne is the cheapest fixed wing drone in this top 5 list. However, it isn’t as robust in windy conditions as the eBee X and PrecisionHawk Lancaster 5, it can’t be flown in wind gusts greater than 5.5m/s.
Flight Path Planning & Manual Control
The WingtraOne can be flown manually with the controller or via a pre-planned mission. Planning an automated flight is straight forward. This involves setting the home point and the area of interest, then the software automatically plans the route and altitude to optimize the coverage.
The ground sampling distance or preferred altitude can be set manually if required. The survey plan will give an estimated time to complete the mission so you can make sure that it can be flown with a single battery or have enough spares ready to go.
There are 3 user modes;
- Basic: plan and conduct a survey mission or manual flight
- Advanced: manually adjust the start and landing procedures, add custom waypoints and tailor the flight plan i.e. amount of overlap.
- Wingtra: This mode is for use when troubleshooting a beta model with the Wingtra support team. Wingtra mode gives additional access to technical settings such as sensor calibration and should only be used with Wingtra’s assistance
One potential downside of the WingtraOne is that it doesn’t come with RTK or PPK. A PPK payload can be added seperatly.
AeroMapper Talon
The AeroMapper Talon has one of the longest flight time of these fixed wing drones after the DeltaQuad. This is thanks to its dual battery system. It flies for a continuous 119 minutes.
The AeroMapper Talon fixed wing drone has been tried and tested over the years becoming a well known UAV in the commercial space. The AeroMapper talon was first released in 2014 and is now a fully autonomous surveying option for BVLOS (beyond visual line of site) missions all over the world. There is now also the AeroMapper Amphibious which can land on water, designed for maritime operations.
Like the DJI Matrice, this model has ADS-B which detects nearby aircraft and reports back the coordinates for safer operations.
The Aeromapper Talon can attach payloads from other manufacturers much as Parrot, Flir and Emlid. This fixed wing drone comes with a 24MP RGB camera which can be upgraded to a 36MP sensor.
Wrap up on the Top 5 Fixed Wing Drones
The UAVs in this list have been selected as the best fixed wing drones for commercial use across a range of price brackets which cover a wide range of purposes from agriculture to emergency response.
The most common feature and use of fixed wing drones is to create orthomosaic maps but, as demonstrated by the DeltaQuad, they are serving many other purposes. The DeltaQuad is the most advanced fixed wind drone but it also is one of the most expensive.
The cheapest option that I recommend is the WingtraOne. While this drone has the most limited wind resistance and smallest coverage it does have 1cm accuracy and is compatible with multi-spectral and RGB lenses. This drone is ideal for mapping smaller areas and performs better than standard fixed wing drones in tight take off areas thanks to it’s vertical take off and landing capability.
For more information on this impressive style of drone, check out this article on the pros and cons of fixed wing drones.
Related posts:
The Breakdown on Fixed Wing Drones: Commercial Uses, Pros and Cons
Farming Drones ; What are Drones Used for in Agriculture?
Best Agriculture Drone for Spraying Fertilizer and Pesticides
Drone Imaging
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The Pros of Drones to the Environment, Society and Industry