Chapter 18 · Flying
Build your course
With four PVC pipes and a few flags you have a course to train on for weeks. What you learn in the simulator, here you turn into real flying.
Choosing the spot
- An open, flat field with clear reference points.
- Away from people, animals, buildings, roads and power lines.
- With the landowner’s permission.
- Outside restricted zones: check the ENAIRE Drones map (see Safety and regulations).
- Short grass: a downed drone in tall grass is very hard to find.
A basic track
PVC gates
20–25 mm pipe, elbows and stakes. About 1.5 × 1.5 m to start with, and narrower as you improve. Paint them in bright colours so you can see them in the goggles.
Turn flags
Canes with brightly coloured fabric, for slaloms and tight turns.
Natural obstacles
A lone tree to orbit, a pole to circle, a slope for dives.
Session plan by battery
Warm-up
Figure eights between the two flags, at a constant height.
Precision
Gates in both directions, slowly.
Pace
Timed laps of the whole track.
New trick
The one you’ve practised in the simulator, nice and high with plenty of space.
What to bring
Power
Charged batteries, a fireproof bag and, if you have one, a portable charger. Log every flight in the battery logbook.
Spares
Props, screws, a spare arm and antennas.
Tools
Allen keys, 8 mm socket wrench, zip ties and tape.
Comfort
Sunshade for the screen, water, a first-aid kit and a chair.
If you want several pilots flying at once, share out the video channels with the channel planner: it avoids interference between VTXs.
Always with a spotter beside you. If someone enters the flying area, land.
Timing your laps
When you fly as a group, an automatic timer changes how you train: you know how much you’re improving and you can run real races. Open-source timing systems don’t need any transponder on the drone: they listen to each pilot’s analogue video. When the drone passes close to the timer, the VTX signal jumps up, and that peak marks the crossing of the finish line.
With a Raspberry Pi
The reference open-source system uses a Raspberry Pi and one RX5808 receiver module per pilot. It has a web interface to manage pilots, heats and results from your phone, and it’s what many clubs use.
With an ESP32
Smaller, cheaper alternatives: an ESP32 board with one or more RX5808s and an app or web page. Ideal for training alone or in a small group.
The predecessors
The first systems with Arduino and RX5808 paved the way; today it’s better to start with one of the current ones, which are easier to calibrate.
Assign channels
Each pilot on a different, well-separated channel. Use the channel planner.
Place the timer
At the finish line, on the ground or on a gate, with the antennas facing where the drones pass and away from the pilots’ goggles.
Calibrate
Two thresholds are set for each pilot: the enter threshold (the signal rises, the drone is approaching) and the exit threshold (it drops, the drone has passed). Fly a couple of test laps and adjust them while watching the signal graph.
Fly at the same power
Everyone at the same power level (25 mW near the timer is common): if one VTX is much stronger, it can trigger the other nodes.
With digital video, timing based on the video signal doesn’t always work the same way. Check which systems support it before buying anything.