Moonshot: Building a Long-Endurance Cinewhoop for Demanding FPV Shoots

Moonshot is a custom FPV platform developed by Lewis Whyld to combine capabilities that would normally require several completely different drones. Smaller than many comparable 2.5-inch cinewhoops, it can deliver endurance beyond much larger 7- and 9-inch FPV platforms while remaining compact enough to fly through tight gaps, work close to talent and operate with fully protected propellers.
The platform can be configured below 250g while retaining class-leading endurance, or built to carry high-quality cameras with 1-inch sensors when image quality is the priority. Despite its size and endurance, Moonshot is not a slow efficiency platform: it has enough power and control authority for high-speed tracking and drift-car chasing, giving it an unusually wide operating envelope from delicate close-proximity cinematography to fast-moving action.
In real-world testing, Moonshot has completed a 35-minute continuous FPV flight through a trainyard and approximately 20 minutes of high-speed drift chasing. That endurance fundamentally changes what is possible on a shoot, allowing exceptionally long continuous takes, extended vehicle tracking and complex routes without the interruption and limitations imposed by conventional cinewhoop battery life.
What makes Moonshot particularly valuable is the combination. Long-endurance drones are normally larger and less suitable around people or confined spaces; tiny cinewhoops normally sacrifice endurance, payload and speed; high-performance FPV platforms usually expose their propellers and require more operating space. Moonshot was engineered to bring those normally conflicting capabilities into one highly versatile aircraft.
That gives Lewis Whyld filming capabilities far beyond those available to other drone operators relying on conventional platforms. Moonshot can take on shots that would normally require several different aircraft - or that may not be possible at all with standard cinewhoops - allowing Lewis to move from tight indoor gaps and close-proximity work around talent to long-duration tracking and high-speed vehicle filming with the same underlying platform.
This is not simply a longer-flying drone. It is a specialist production tool that expands the range of shots Lewis can realistically offer, creating opportunities for continuous takes, complex routes and demanding tracking sequences that other FPV operators cannot offer.
The project also reflects a wider approach to specialist drone cinematography: when the equipment needed for a brief does not exist, Lewis can design and develop the aircraft around the shot rather than limiting the shot to the equipment already available.

Moonshot combines the size and protected-prop safety of a compact cinewhoop with endurance and performance normally associated with much larger FPV platforms, allowing long continuous takes, tight close-proximity flying and high-speed tracking from a single custom-built aircraft.

Project Details

Project: Moonshot — Custom Long-Endurance Cinewhoop
Designer / Pilot:Lewis Whyld
Development: Originally developed while Lewis was working at Warner Bros. Discovery, then progressively refined for wider commercial and broadcast use
Platform Type: Bespoke compact cinewhoop / specialist FPV camera platform
Size: Smaller than many comparable 2.5-inch cinewhoops
Weight Options: Configurable below 250g while retaining class-leading endurance
Camera Capability: Capable of carrying 1-inch-sensor cameras for high-quality cinematic capture
Propeller Protection: Fully protected props for close-proximity work around talent, interiors and confined spaces
Endurance: Up to approximately 35 minutes in continuous trainyard testing
High-Speed Endurance: Approximately 20 minutes during drift-car chasing
Performance: Capable of tight indoor flying, close work around people, long-duration tracking and high-speed vehicle pursuit
Technical Approach: Custom optimisation of frame geometry, propulsion, battery capacity, weight distribution, control response and camera payload
Key Advantage: Combines compact size, protected props, sub-250g capability, 1-inch-sensor camera support, unusually long endurance and high-speed performance in a single platform
Production Use: Warner Bros. Discovery London / Notre-Dame Cathedral / Ashridge House / Imperial War Museum London / Plan B Recycling / Self Storage Concierge / Craig David live performance / Castle Combe Superbikes / King’s Lynn Drifting / Kobe: The Making of a Legend / CNN Ukraine war coverage
Award-Recognised Productions: Used on Emmy-nominated Kobe: The Making of a Legend and Emmy-winning CNN coverage of the war in Ukraine
Commercial Relevance: Enables continuous takes, extended tracking, constrained-space filming, close-proximity work and high-speed shots that are difficult or impractical with conventional cinewhoops and standard FPV platforms
Specialism: Bespoke Drone Engineering / Cinewhoop / Long-Endurance FPV / Indoor FPV / Automotive Tracking / Live Performance / Specialist Camera Platforms

Proven Across Broadcast, Commercial & High-Speed Productions

Moonshot was originally developed while Lewis Whyld was working at Warner Bros. Discovery, then progressively refined and improved for use across external commercial productions. Since then, the platform has been deployed on a wide range of shoots spanning indoor FPV, heritage, live performance, industrial environments and high-speed tracking.
Its production credits include work on CNN’s Emmy-nominated Kobe: The Making of a Legend and Emmy-winning coverage of the war in Ukraine, as well as commercial and institutional projects including Warner Bros. Discovery London, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Ashridge House, Imperial War Museum London, Plan B Recycling, Self Storage Concierge and numerous other FPV flythroughs.
The same underlying platform has also been used for faster, more demanding work including British Superbike filming at Castle Combe, drifting at King’s Lynn and live FPV coverage of Craig David for CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast.
That breadth is one of Moonshot’s biggest strengths. The aircraft is not optimised for a single niche: it can move from delicate close-proximity work around people and sensitive interiors to extended tracking and high-speed action without requiring Lewis to switch between completely different drone platforms.
For productions, that means one highly developed system can cover a much broader range of shots than a conventional cinewhoop, giving Lewis a level of versatility and continuity that is impossible to replicate with standard commercial FPV equipment.

Why Moonshot Changes What an FPV Shoot Can Be

Most cinewhoops are built around compromise. Smaller aircraft are agile and safer around people but usually sacrifice endurance and payload. Larger long-range FPV drones can stay airborne for longer, but their size, exposed propellers and wider operating envelope make them poorly suited to interiors, close-proximity work and tight gaps.
Moonshot was developed to remove as many of those compromises as possible. Its compact protected-prop design allows it to work in confined spaces and near talent, while its endurance opens up continuous routes and tracking sequences that conventional cinewhoops would normally have to break into multiple flights. The same platform can also carry larger cinematic cameras and deliver the power required for high-speed vehicle tracking.
That combination gives Lewis far more freedom when designing a shot. A route can begin inside a building, continue through a long sequence without interruption, move around people or obstacles and, depending on the configuration, transition into faster tracking without immediately running into the limitations of a conventional cinewhoop.
For productions, the practical benefit is simple: fewer compromises between safety, size, endurance, speed and image quality, and access to shots that would otherwise require multiple aircraft, repeated battery changes or a completely different creative approach.

From R&D Platform to Production Workhorse

Moonshot began as an internal development project while Lewis Whyld was working at Warner Bros. Discovery, where it was first built to solve the limitations he was repeatedly encountering with conventional cinewhoops. The platform was then refined through real-world use and further developed for external commercial and broadcast productions.
That process turned Moonshot into a proven production aircraft rather than a one-off prototype. It has since been used across heritage interiors, offices, industrial facilities, live performance, sporting venues and high-speed automotive shoots, as well as award-recognised CNN productions.
Projects including Warner Bros. Discovery London, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Imperial War Museum London, Ashridge House, Plan B Recycling and Self Storage Concierge demonstrate its ability to work precisely in complex interiors and around sensitive environments. Castle Combe superbikes, King’s Lynn drifting and Craig David’s live performance show the same platform operating in faster, more dynamic conditions.
It has also been used on CNN’s Emmy-nominated Kobe: The Making of a Legend and Emmy-winning coverage of the war in Ukraine, giving the system a track record across both high-end commercial work and demanding international broadcast production.
The result is a platform whose capabilities have been shaped by years of actual filming rather than bench testing alone, with each production feeding back into the aircraft’s development and expanding what Lewis can realistically offer on the next shoot.

Related Case Studies

Warner Bros. Discovery London — Multi-floor indoor FPV filming and the environment where Moonshot was originally developed.
Notre-Dame Cathedral — Precision FPV filming inside an exceptionally sensitive heritage interior using specialist equipment and carefully controlled flight.
Kobe: The Making of a Legend — Emmy-nominated FPV and drone cinematography through sporting venues and locations connected to Kobe Bryant’s story.
Castle Combe Superbikes — High-speed FPV pursuit alongside British Superbike riders, demonstrating Moonshot’s performance beyond conventional indoor cinewhoop work.
Explore All FPV & Drone Case Studies →

Planning a Shoot That Needs More Than an Off-the-Shelf Drone?

Through Whyldthings, I develop and operate specialist FPV systems for productions where standard cinewhoops or conventional drones cannot deliver the required combination of size, endurance, speed, payload and close-proximity control.
Moonshot was developed specifically to overcome those limitations, combining unusually long flight times with protected props, sub-250g configurations, 1-inch-sensor camera capability and enough performance for high-speed vehicle tracking.
For commercial productions, that means the creative brief does not have to be constrained by what standard FPV platforms can do. Where necessary, the aircraft, camera configuration and operating setup can be adapted around the shot, opening up longer continuous takes, tighter routes and more technically demanding sequences.
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