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Drone Flying 101 – An interactive tutorial for beginners

fpvsim.com

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Re: Drone Flying 101 – An interactive tutorial for beginners

#91

Post by the__alchemist »

bambax wrote: post #22

There are two big families of drones: FPV and non-FPV (sometimes called cinematic). Flying non-FPV, GPS stabilized drones (like the DJI Mavic family of drones) requires almost no training, you just put the drone in the air and it stays there, waiting for your instructions. Flying FPV (in acro mode) has a steep learning curve (but is, arguably, much more fun). The way to learn is to use a proper simulator. The most ve…

Great point. Using Liftoff and similar is a game changer. Flying in acro mode is something where you will crash repeatedly at first. (At least I did... in Liftoff thankfully!) Then after a relatively short time, the controls will be intuitive, it will feel easy, and you don't forget. Like riding a bicyle is a perfect analogy.

I think 20 hours is excessive. I'd say 30 mins to 2 hours is fine, depending on the user. The most dramatic learning will happen in the first 10 mins or so.

Re: Drone Flying 101 – An interactive tutorial for beginners

#92

Post by the__alchemist »

NicoJuicy wrote: post #23
bambax wrote: post #22

There are two big families of drones: FPV and non-FPV (sometimes called cinematic). Flying non-FPV, GPS stabilized drones (like the DJI Mavic family of drones) requires almost no training, you just put the drone in the air and it stays there, waiting for your instructions. Flying FPV (in acro mode) has a steep learning curve (but is, arguably, much more fun). The way to learn is to use a proper simulator. The most ve…

What dedicated controllers would you recommend? Is there a FPV that works for both drones in real life and in games? Any ones in particular you like?

Radiomaster Zorro. This is a matter of taste, but I don't understand the form factor of the rectangular ones!

Re: Drone Flying 101 – An interactive tutorial for beginners

#93

Post by meheleventyone »

the__alchemist wrote: post #91
bambax wrote: post #22

There are two big families of drones: FPV and non-FPV (sometimes called cinematic). Flying non-FPV, GPS stabilized drones (like the DJI Mavic family of drones) requires almost no training, you just put the drone in the air and it stays there, waiting for your instructions. Flying FPV (in acro mode) has a steep learning curve (but is, arguably, much more fun). The way to learn is to use a proper simulator. The most ve…

Great point. Using Liftoff and similar is a game changer. Flying in acro mode is something where you will crash repeatedly at first. (At least I did... in Liftoff thankfully!) Then after a relatively short time, the controls will be intuitive, it will feel easy, and you don't forget. Like riding a bicyle is a perfect analogy. I think 20 hours is excessive. I'd say 30 mins to 2 hours is fine, depending on the user. Th…

Depends on what you intend to do IRL if it's just fly around then a couple of hours in acro will get people up to the point where they can bimble about and sort of land but will easily get way out of their depth.

Re: Drone Flying 101 – An interactive tutorial for beginners

#94

Post by chasd00 »

avidiax wrote: post #2

It's quite annoying that every stage of the lesson requires you to recalibrate your controller. When I learned to fly racing drones, I used Velocidrone; I have no experience of FPVSim. Even if you don't plan to eventually fly an acrobatic or racing drone, the sim experience can be a bit relaxing & focused. I used to practice on a 2nd monitor while I was in large mandatory group meetings for work. If you do plan to bu…

I was in to drone racing for a while then got out of it and in to high powered rocketry. Interestingly, a friend is moving and wants me to take over his passion project. A rocket powered glider using an 'M' (pretty powerful) rocket motor. He has a smaller POC working with an ardupilot autopilot launching on 'H' motors. The basic gist is the rocket takes the glider up and the autopilot handles the flying until the altitude is low and then manual takeover for landing. On an M motor, the glider is going to go far out of site so the ardupilot will have to get it back to the flight line where i can see it and land.

I need to check the rules closely because there's exceptions for rocket powered gliders but I don't think i'll be able to launch at a sanctioned event and will probably have to go out to FAR (friends of amatuer rocketry) which is a multi-day drive for me. Tripoli, the main governing body for experimental high powered rocketry, has rules about guided recovery with some exceptions for gliders. I have a feeling a rocket powered glider would have to remain in sight at all times which wouldn't be the case with an 'M' motor sending it up. Someone building a rocket that can fly to 100k feet and then land at a waypoint would attract a lot of unwanted attention from authorities and be bad for the hobby which is why those rules exist.

Re: Drone Flying 101 – An interactive tutorial for beginners

#95

Post by fp64 »

Aachen wrote: post #84
fp64 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am a registered pilot. Had to do an online course and learn about restrictions, took an hour and was free and is valid across most countries in EU. Most stupid restriction is that for FPV, a spotter is required. But if I stay away from people/buildings I am permitted to fly up to IIRC 6kg drones

Is being in the vicinity of roads okay? And what does "stay away" mean, just not fly up to or over them, or maintain hundreds of metres distance? I remember the Dutch laws said, before European alignment in 2020: 150 meters from any uninvolved person, any road, or any building. Since fields generally have less than 300 meters between two roads, that means you can try to fly between trees in some forest (somehow makin…

If I recall correctly, the wording is "people and structures". If you want to fly close-by (10m or so) buildings and people, you can file for a special class/permit which requires an in-person exam. I might do that at some point, but haven't yet. Otherwise it's about what you said, couple hundred meters.

A 5" fpv quadcopter is already terribly dangerous, it happily pulls up to 50A, goes above 100km/h easily, and the rotors shred through flesh like butter, so it makes sense to at least regulate it somewhat. When I started, I had drones fall out of the sky because my battery connection was not firm enough and while I have by now quite some confidence in my soldering and building abilities, that's always something that can happen, so I naturally stay away from roads, regardless the rules.

For flying 5" drones, I usually take a trip to the country side where there's plenty of space. It's already stressful enough, and that way you can enjoy your flights much more without endangering people. Nobody ever asked for my permit, though, and nobody ever measured my signal strength and asked whether I have the required HAM license (which is far more involved getting). I don't fly in densely populated areas, at least not with my bigger drones. Sub-250g drones are barely regulated, and while they can hurt as well, the risk of serious injury is quite low - so you can try tinywhoops (which come even under 50g)

Re: Drone Flying 101 – An interactive tutorial for beginners

#96

Post by madhato »

matthew-wegner wrote: post #64
NicoJuicy wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What dedicated controllers would you recommend? Is there a FPV that works for both drones in real life and in games? Any ones in particular you like?

Some replies to this already, but quick notes: * "Controller" isn't used much as a term, when you start looking around. You'll see things listed under "transmitter" or "radio" * The majority of FPV transmitters use OpenTX or EdgeTX software (EdgeTX is newer and a fork of OpenTX). Both of these support plugging the transmitter in to a host computer over USB, where it can appear as a HID joystick * ExpressLRS (ELRS) is…

ELRS is fine but Crossfire is considered by many to be the superior radio link. The TBS Tango 2 is a great transmitter and comes with Crossfire built in.

Re: Drone Flying 101 – An interactive tutorial for beginners

#97

Post by NicoJuicy »

matthew-wegner wrote: post #64
NicoJuicy wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What dedicated controllers would you recommend? Is there a FPV that works for both drones in real life and in games? Any ones in particular you like?

Some replies to this already, but quick notes: * "Controller" isn't used much as a term, when you start looking around. You'll see things listed under "transmitter" or "radio" * The majority of FPV transmitters use OpenTX or EdgeTX software (EdgeTX is newer and a fork of OpenTX). Both of these support plugging the transmitter in to a host computer over USB, where it can appear as a HID joystick * ExpressLRS (ELRS) is…

Thanks, that's excellent info!

Re: Drone Flying 101 – An interactive tutorial for beginners

#98

Post by th0ma5 »

cjonas wrote: post #76
bambax wrote: post #22

There are two big families of drones: FPV and non-FPV (sometimes called cinematic). Flying non-FPV, GPS stabilized drones (like the DJI Mavic family of drones) requires almost no training, you just put the drone in the air and it stays there, waiting for your instructions. Flying FPV (in acro mode) has a steep learning curve (but is, arguably, much more fun). The way to learn is to use a proper simulator. The most ve…

I was able to fly the DJI avata in full manual mode with maybe only 4 hours in a sim. I'm not sure if that's because it just "clicked" or if the avata is just way easier than other FPV drones. I definitely think the ability to exit FPV with a click of a button and it's crazy durability have allowed me to be comfortable taking risks, which has made me a better pilot.

It is not quite the same as FPV acro and has some additional safety features

Re: Drone Flying 101 – An interactive tutorial for beginners

#99

Post by smallerfish »

Does anybody fly Ardupilot? Last time I was really into flying I used DRonin, which sadly got abandoned. I have a real aversion to BetaFlight, though I know it's got 90% of the market; however, Ardupilot seems to have a reasonably active community.

I don't really care about freestyling - I'm more interested in cruising over forest canopy, and having a reliable return to home function if radio signal gets lost. (I have probably 15 built out airframes; over time I probably need to replace defunct hardware, but a lot of it still seems reasonably acceptable. Quite a few f7 controllers for example.)

Re: Drone Flying 101 – An interactive tutorial for beginners

#100

Post by lnsru »

fvdessen wrote: post #39

Not entirely unrelated, but FPV drones are now the main weapon of the Ukraine war. They started using them against tanks, then groups of soldiers, but have now found that they are cost effective enough to go against individual soldiers. The drone soldiers operate in small teams from underground bunkers close to the front from which they launch hundreds of drones a day, with different types of drones for different tar…

Today I left major European defense company. It’s fantastic how tax payer pay for real outdated, but properly certified crap. Long story short: Bundeswehr soldier can’t use improvised drone at all. In fact he also needs a license and insurance. This renders earlier mentioned Bundeswehr useless in modern conflict against an enemy with many improvised drones. With certification 500-1000$ diy drone costs suddenly 10 times more. Maybe this is nice business opportunity to team up for?
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