Multirotor

Multi-rotors are the most common sUAS aircraft due to their ease of use.

Common multirotor sUAS for mapping:

• They take off and land in tight spaces. No runway is required. A reasonably flat surface about 10 feet in diameter is adequate for auto landing. A skilled pilot can manually land in a 3-foot diameter landing zone.
• They are lightweight, so they do little damage in the case of an accident.
• They are small, thus easy to travel with. Many can fit into the overhead bins on commercial aircraft.
• Battery size can be small. The maximum battery size which can be transported onto a commercial airplane is 100-Watt Hours. This is found printed on each battery. It is found by multiplying battery voltage by capacity. The smaller drones pictured below use batteries which are just under 100Wh. It is legal to carry on as many batteries as you can put into your carryon luggage.
• Multi-rotors fly very easily if they operate under GPS control. Simply let go of the control sticks and the copter will stay in position. The wind will not move it.
• They are quite durable. They can survive many imperfect landings often without even breaking a propeller.