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Comment by magic_man | Hacker News Reader

You won't be able to hover with that type of drone. With quad copter design you have more control on how the drone moves.

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What if I slow down midair, let the nose drop and then go full reverse? Like a helicopter. Sure, it will spin uncontrollably, but I would be hovering.

This airframe is unlikely to have that capability, but so-called "3D flying" is a very well-established niche in the RC model aircraft hobby.

Start at 5:15 for an exciting transition from fast flight into steady hovering (note that yaw from the propeller can be corrected for): http://youtu.be/DDyRpiv5_ps

I haven't seen this much, but people have put collective pitch propellers on 3D models to support fast thrust reversing: http://youtu.be/6YkkZw9GVaU

Full-scale stunt planes can hover too: http://youtu.be/qvXGATdWhEk

Reading another post[1], it appears that the drone will reject maneuvers that could crash it.

"During the flight, the autopilot prevents any false maneuver which could bring the flying wing down."

[1] http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/4/10711178/new-parrot-disco-d...

Think of it like a propeller plane: the prop is enough to pull the thing forward but it doesn't generate more thrust than the weight of the plane

(thrust generated by the prop + the lift generated by the wings gets the plane in the air)

all of this attempting to have the prop helicopter the plane in the air is called a 'stall

I'm guessing (and really, just guessing) that they did a lot of surveys and found that a majority of their customers were using the flight plans, and moving over distances rather than spending a lot of time hovering. If that's true, a winged model makes all kinds of sense.

In return you get longer flight times.

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