LDO vs Switching Voltage Regulator for Drone Application
When comparing LDO's and Switching Voltage Regulators, which are generally the better performing option in terms of output voltage noise when considering an already noisy power supply.


As you have probably found searching internet, a LDO has generally less ripple/noise/EMI than a SMPS.


  heat is not my only concern when considering which power supply


You could distribute the heat using resistors in front of the LDO. Adding capacitors to form RC filters help to filter "an already noisy power supply" at the same time.
For example:





You can also preceed the circuit above with a SMPS to gain better efficiency. You probably don't need the RC filters.


  When the drone's motors are on, the voltage supply becomes very noisy


But addressing the cause of the problem rather than patching the effect of the problem would be a better approach.