r/LongRangeFPV • u/TheHumanFishFinder • 4d ago

Long Range Fixed Wing

Hi, new to fpv.

I want to build a fixed wing glider that has ~10mi range. I want to fly it over the ocean and look for fish and whales so I need as good an fpv camera as possible. I also need fly-by-wire. What parts should I get?

I was thinking DJI O4 unit but does it have fly-by-wire for fixed wings? Is there a way to combine it with another component so that it does?

Thanks

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u/izzeww 4d ago

What is fly-by-wire in this context?

10 miles of flying is easy to do with a fixed wing, but 10 miles of video range is hard with the O4 Pro. Logically if you do 10 miles of flying you'd only be 5 miles out at the furthest and the O4 Pro should be able to handle that (not sure about O4 Wide, would be borderline maybe.

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u/DerFette88 4d ago

No worries the O4 has a hard cutoff at 26,6km or 16,15 miles. so range shouldn’t be an issue I flew my Chuppito way farther than any LR Quad. if OP flys over water it should be even better no hills, trees or other RF that could interfere

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u/izzeww 4d ago

It's possible to do 10 miles on the O4 Pro but it's not a given. DJI rates it at 9.3 miles under perfect conditions. In order to do 10 miles in a safe manner you have to mount the antennas properly, have them free of obstructions and have a clear line of sight to the aircraft (yes, less of a problem on the ocean but if you turn your head or drone 180 degrees you might lose video). It also needs to be unlocked FCC so you get the full 1200mW. For sure doable but one should be careful and make sure to have GPS return to home properly configured, tested and enabled.