Shatters Previous Guinness World Record By Nearly An Hour

SiFly, a developer of long-endurance electric UAVs based in Santa Clara, California, announced it completed the longest duration flight of a fully electric-powered multirotor drone in the 5-20 kg weight class. The 3-hour, 11-minute flight broke the previous Guinness World record by almost an hour.

SiFly’s flagship drone prototype Q12 was observed and officially documented with video and photography by eight witnesses. Among them were Chris Silva, a Research Aerospace Engineer at NASA Ames, and Paul Baker, a Distinguished Engineer with Apple. The flight was conducted at Amaral Ranches in the Salinas Valley of California.

The Q12 system is a patented, next-generation VTOL drone designed for long duration hover and forward flights. The company says this achievement reinforces the drone’s capacity to support persistent aerial presence missions such as Drone-as-First-Responder or DFR programs, large-scale surveys, and extended duration infrastructure inspections.

Leading capabilities of the Q12 system are:

• 2 hours of continuous hover
• Over 3 hours of forward flight
• 10-pound payload capacity
• 90-mile flight range
• Modular, all-electric architecture

Brian Hinman, Founder & CEO of SiFly said, "This world record goes far beyond endurance—it signals a fundamental shift in what's possible for drones. With helicopter-level performance at drone economics, the Q12 creates entirely new markets, redefining industry expectations. Our growing order book already validates that customers see the value. We believe this achievement will inspire a new wave of innovation, transforming drones from niche devices into essential tools."

The Q12 blends helicopter performance with drone economics to form a new long-endurance drone category. It positions SiFly to capture demand from existing drone users as well as many of the missions currently dominated by helicopters to open up new market opportunities.

FMI:  sifly.co/