Chapter 17 · Flying
From first hover to flow
Everyone struggles in the first few hours and then, one day, it clicks. The key is to practise a lot, raise the difficulty bit by bit and not rush.
Flight modes
| Mode | How it behaves | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Acro | The drone holds the angle you give it. If you let go of the sticks, it stays tilted. | Whenever you can. It’s the only one that lets you fly smoothly and do tricks. |
| Angle | It levels itself when you let go of the sticks and limits the tilt. | First tries, if it gives you confidence. Don’t get used to it. |
| Horizon | It levels near the centre and allows flips with the stick fully deflected. | Not very useful. Better to go straight to acro. |
| Air mode | Keeps control with the throttle at zero. It’s on by default. | Always in acro. Allows flips and dives with no throttle. |
Line-of-sight exercises, no goggles
Flying while looking straight at the drone, with a tiny whoop or in an open space, helps you understand how it responds.
Hover
Keep the drone a metre off the ground, high enough to avoid the ground effect that makes it unstable.
Landing
Lower the throttle slowly and smoothly. Chopping it all at once is the most common crash.
Out and back
Move with pitch and roll to a point and come back.
Circling an object
Fly circles around something, combining pitch and yaw.
Progression with goggles
Take off, go out, come back and land
Control your height and speed.
Squares
Four precise 90° turns.
Circles around a pole
Combining roll, yaw and throttle at the same time.
Figure eights
Smooth turns while holding the same height.
180° turns
Learn to manage momentum: the drone keeps sliding after the turn.
Gates
Fine control at speed. Look at the point beyond the gate, not the gate itself.
Split-S
Half a roll and half a loop downwards: the basis of many freestyle tricks.
Flow
Minimal, smooth movements, anticipating what the drone will do.
Rates: how it responds to the sticks
Rates define how fast the drone rotates depending on how far you move the stick. Betaflight has several types; the most intuitive is “Actual”, with three values:
Center sensitivity
How sensitive the drone is near the centre of the stick. Lower makes small corrections easier.
Max rate
Maximum rotation speed, in degrees per second, with the stick fully deflected.
Expo
How it transitions from the centre zone to the end. More expo, softer centre.
To start, soft rates of about 500 °/s max will make it easier to fly cleanly. With Betaflight-type rates, a starting point is RC Rate 0.90, Super Rate 0.65 and Expo 0.20. Many freestyle pilots raise them later on. Use the same ones in the simulator and on the drone.
You can try how some rates feel in the browser simulator before putting them on the drone.
Want to copy the rates of another pilot who uses a different type? The rates converter translates them for you and gives you the CLI commands.
Tips to learn faster
Fly forwards
As if you were driving a car. Don’t try flying sideways or backwards at first.
Open spaces
Big, flat and with clear reference points.
A buddy
To watch the drone and call out your height. It helps you judge distances.
Camera
Start with a low tilt and raise it as you fly faster.
Stick grip
Pinch, thumbs or hybrid. Whichever feels natural to you.
Good goggles
A clear image helps you learn much faster.
Beginner mistakes
- Chopping the throttle all at once when landing.
- Flying too close to the ground: it leaves no margin to recover.
- Moving the sticks too much instead of feeling the drone’s momentum.
- Increasing speed and distance too soon.
After a crash, disarm straight away, disconnect the battery when you reach the drone and check the props and wires before flying again.