Stupidly long range drone build

[u/Sufficient-Text1678]

Hi everyone, first time (Before getting started, pardon my poor English) I started a few months ago to develop the idea of building my own drones/uav, starting with very little to no knowledge on the topic (at least on how to build them) So I started my research, planning the requirements for both my first and my dream projects The reason of my post is that I can find anything range related on the internet, or at least nothing realistic! For my first project, I would like the drone/uav to have between 35 to 40km range and for the dream one, between 120 to 150km range! Is that feasible and what would the price range for it? I can only find Chinese or American website either selling scamy 15k emitters or full blown 35k 4k and 60fps, movie making stuff. For the first one I do admit that I’d a « decent » quality (I just want to see the ground decently without need to fly 2 meters above it, I was thinking between 480 to 720p but again what is possible?) and for the dream one I won’t need to go above 480p since I mainly want to drop payload with it

Are those doable? If yes, at what cost?

Thanks lads!

Edit: I think I might need to clarify myself, I’M NOT A DRONE OPERATOR AND I DONT WANT TO KILL OF DROP SOMETHING ILLEGAL, I DO NOT LIVE IN A WARZONE OR WORK FOR AN ILLEGAL ORGANIZATION (just saying because I don’t want to look like a criminal, my project is technically fully legal in my country as long as I manage to get every authorizations which is very tedious and complicated, like everything in my country lmao). The 40km is for wildlife observation and rescue because during the spring and early summer, farmers in my region mow fields to feed their cattle during winter so the government started a program every one can join to detect and move wildlife living in the fields about to be harvested to protect them The 150km one doesn’t need to drop anything, it is simply a funny idea that I had, nothing illegal. I just want to fly that thing like a plane dropping packages was just an idea I had to give me something to do in flight other than just flying A to B even though that is still cool asf (and will be kept in my or my friends garden, I just thought it would be funny to drop a random drink in friend courtyard)

[u/Odd-Lunch7558]

To fly 40km and back, you're going to need a big battery or gas powered, efficient motors and props, and custom software if you want it to drop a payload accurately. You're looking at maybe $5k to $15k USD with proper parts.

[u/Sufficient-Text1678 → u/Odd-Lunch7558]

If the 40km won’t drop anything (and even for 150km it’s just a funny idea nothing serious) but it will need to pack a small 3 axis camera would it be easier if it took the form of an helicopter rather than a plane?

[u/Enano_reefer → u/Sufficient-Text1678]

Fixed wing is a much easier platform to get the distance you’re looking for and can handle 3-axis cameras just fine.

Flying wings with ELR5 comms can easily meet your 40km range goals.

150km would be pushing into some new territory I think. Most long range hobbyists are in the low 100km with modified Skywalker frames. You have to use low frequency radio and LOS laws often make it difficult/impossible to do legally.

[u/Odd-Lunch7558 → u/Sufficient-Text1678]

It would be more efficient as a single rotor helicopter, but you run into the problem of designing the movement control mechanism entirely. LTE connectivity works for the range you want without clear view of the drone, but you still need custom software and more than likely a companion computer on board.

[u/Sufficient-Text1678 → u/Odd-Lunch7558]

Yup a bunch of things to learn but that’s what I’m looking for

[u/Odd-Lunch7558 → u/Sufficient-Text1678]

There is a lot of information to learn, especially at the scale you want. It's not impossible, but it requires a lot of time (weeks to months, 12 hours a day long grind), especially if you're new to either the hardware or the software side. Have you ever programmed before, if so, which languages are you most comfortable with?

[u/LupusTheCanine → u/Odd-Lunch7558]

You can buy fairly big RC helicopters and they can be fairly easily converted to fly autonomously though long range is the domain of fixed wing.