Schematic airflow, not a measured flow field. Press Play to return to the automatic hover-to-forward loop.
Side view of a multirotor with a camera payload, with streaks showing the air. In a hover the rotors draw air from above and push it down in a mostly vertical column, which spreads out along the ground. The drone then tilts forward and accelerates. In forward flight the rotor disc meets clean, undisturbed air arriving from ahead, the rotor wake sweeps back behind the aircraft, and air flowing around the frame and payload leaves a turbulent drag wake. The drone then slows, flares and returns to a hover. With the near-a-wall option, the hover downwash hits the wall, rises and curls back toward the rotors as disturbed air. Schematic, not a measured flow field.
