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How to learn to fly?

Yashax

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A little history. I wanted to get in the hobby a year ago and purchased FrySky X12S, but did not do anything with it. I do own DJI Spark which I have been flying for a while.

Following the advise of other forums I downloaded the Velocidrone and LiftOff and hooked it up to my X12S. It calibrates OK and everything seems to setup OK. I even used settings recommended to start very very basic.

No matter what I do, I can not figure out how to fly. Even if my movements are tiny. The drone just takes off. I can barely fly straight between pylons. Forget about turning.

I really want to learn, but being really discouraged.

Please help.

Jake
 
You don't actually fly the Spark, it flies itself, you just tell it where to go, these quads are not like that. Other than practice, practice, practice, I would suggest you
might try posting your sim settings and maybe we could make some suggestions. The other thing I would suggest is to get a whoop class quad and start learning on the real thing, sims are not very realistic in my opinion.
 
Thank you so much for your response. Can you please recommend the quad that I should purchase to learn to fly?
 
I think one of the most durable whoops to learn on is the EMAX TinyHawk series, look for the Frsky BNF of the TinyHawk S or the TinyHawk 2. For a decent pair of beginner goggles get the Eachine EV800D, they are the best in the $100 price range. Start outside on a day with calm wind since these little ones can't handle much blowing, that will allow you to fly in the open and get used to flying through the goggles. Each part of this hobby requires you do it for a while so your brain becomes familiar with the odd sensations, for instance you will want to be sitting down when you start in the goggles because the visuals can make you very dizzy and disoriented at first, with practice it becomes more and more natural.
 
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I remember asking the same question not thst long ago. Don’t get discouraged, It takes lots of stick time.

Learn about the different flight modes, the onboard sensors needed to support them, and how they can help you learn to fly. There is angle mode that limits pitch and roll angles (needs gyros and accelerometers), altitude hold mode that helps to maintain altitude with less throttle management (needs an altimeter/pressure sensor), position hold mode that holds the drone’s position over the ground even in the wind (needs a GPS and/or optical motion sensor/camera), auto leveling mode that levels the aircraft if you let go of the sticks, headless mode that flys away from you if you push the stick away and toward you if you pull the stick toward you regardless of which way the drone is facing (requires a magnetic sensor/compass if not a GPS), and then there is acro mode, which turns off many of the sensors to facilitate acrobatic flight.

Acro mode is the hardest to learn how to fly in and to master. Kids that learn fast because they have fast reflexes and no inhibitions with respect to risk and cost can learn in acro mode, but the rest of us probably need to start with help of the sensor mentioned.

Save your expensive acro mode drone or race quad for later. Buy a $20 quad with altitude hold and switchable angle mode or self-leveling mode to fly in the house or yard. When flying outside, learn how the wind affects the drone. Consider the Syma X20 or similar drone.

Also, get a drone simulator that includes drones with different modes like RealFlight and practice - a lot. When you crash, you just press a button to get a new drone. There are also free simulators.

Get a simulator that uses an RC style controller. You may be able to get a cheap USB dongle that lets you use your regular RC controller with the PC simulator. Or, you can buy a cheap USB RC style controller for $20 or so. Google these things to find them. You can get versions of RealFlight that come with a wired RC style controller.

I’ve been flying RC for 20 years and have a bunch of fixed-wing and a bunch of multi-rotor aircraft that span the price and capability spectrums. I also use RealFlight, LiftOff, and other simulators. I have something that I can fly anywhere and at any time. I consider myself an intermediate pilot and I’m still learning. I rarely fly acro mode and then only for a short while at a time, but I’m still having fun. RealFlight and LiftOff have helped with my acro mode skills.

If you fly outside, put small pieces of reflective tape on all sides of your drones as they will be easier to find in the woods/weeds after dark with a flashlight. I spent an hour looking for a small quad that went down in the woods and probably walked within 10-ft of it several times without seeing it. I went home and returned with a spotlight, and found it in 30-seconds from 100-ft away because I put reflective tape on it the night before. I also label my drones with the FAA registration number as well as my name and cell phone number.

There’s lots more to learn that can’t be covered here, especially for acro mode. Properly-tuned multi-rotors are easier to fly in any mode than improperly-tuned multi-rotors. Find videos on YouTube that teach you how to fly for more.

Don’t give up and have fun!!!!
 
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Thank you SO very much for your response. Can you please recommend a good cheap drone that will take a beating and one i can learn good habits that will translate to the larger, more expensive drone. Also thinking that I don’t want a toy, but something with realistic controls and handling that will show me how it supposed to fly.

PS Just got my Mobula 7HD and followed the steps to configure the BetaFlight.

Thank you so much in advance.
Jake
 
Thank you SO very much for your response. Can you please recommend a good cheap drone that will take a beating and one i can learn good habits that will translate to the larger, more expensive drone. Also thinking that I don’t want a toy, but something with realistic controls and handling that will show me how it supposed to fly.

PS Just got my Mobula 7HD and followed the steps to configure the BetaFlight.

Thank you so much in advance.
Jake

I have a Mobula 6, which flys better than the other cheap quads of its size that I have. I
Thank you SO very much for your response. Can you please recommend a good cheap drone that will take a beating and one i can learn good habits that will translate to the larger, more expensive drone. Also thinking that I don’t want a toy, but something with realistic controls and handling that will show me how it supposed to fly.

PS Just got my Mobula 7HD and followed the steps to configure the BetaFlight.

Thank you so much in advance.
Jake

I have a Mobula 6, which flys better than the other two or three quads of its size that I have. Watch this review of the Mobula 7 by Joshua Bardwell:

You may be able to find additional videos online that help with learning.

I suspect that you do not need another drone, you just need lots of stick time and to figure out how to learn to fly without getting discouraged or breaking your Mobula 7.

I suggest that you stick with the Mobula 7 and try flying in Angle Mode, which will limit the pitch and roll angles and I think auto-level the drone if you let go of the sticks. You can learn how to fly without Angle Mode later.

Take small steps to learn. Don't try to do everything at once - you won't be able to.

Start by practicing to hover a few feet off the ground in a big room indoors or an open field outdoors to get a sense of how difficult it is to fly a quad that doesn't have GPS and position hold like the Spark (I own a Spark). Hovering is easier if the front of the drone faces away from you, but you'll notice that you will never get the quad to hover in one spot hands-free, and you have to constantly control it to keep it hovering in a small area. Rather than react to its movements, be proactive, and make it fly from side to side, fore and aft in a small area as it hovers. Stay ahead of the aircraft, by getting it moving in one direction then make it fly in the opposite direction, then repeat. You'll be doing this for all directions at the same time - fore/aft, port/starboard, and up/down, so it's not easy.

You'll find that smaller control inputs are better than big inputs.

Staying close to the ground allows you to cut the throttle and land when you get into trouble.

Learning to fly the drone in any orientation is another skill that you have to learn, but learning each skill separately is easier than trying to do them all at once.

Once you can hover reasonably well, try sliding small distances to port, starboard, fore, and aft without changing the heading of the aircraft. Once you get that down, add changing the heading.

It's much easier to learn each skill separately. At some point, after tons of stick time, stuff will click and you will progress faster. But, you still have to put in lots of stick time to get to that point.

Having difficulty with this is normal. It's more difficult than flying a Spark or similar drone that's equipped with an altimeter and GPS. It sounds like it's more difficult than you may have expected. In any case, don't get discouraged.
 
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