How To Fly A Drone or Quadcopter

You have finally received the ultimate gift, a drone or quadcopter. Thrilled and excited, you now wonder how to fly a quadcopter. Here is a brief overview of how to fly a quadcopter.

First, you need to read up on the basics of your new quadcopter. Familiarize yourself with each part of the quadcopter: Frame, motors, electronic speed control (ESC), flight control board, radio transmitter and receiver, propellers, and the battery and charger. Once you understand how each of these parts works and what it does for the overall function, then you may move on to the fun part of flying the quadcopter.

Before you attempt to fly the quadcopter, you will need to make a pre-flight checklist, much like a real pilot would do. Some things to include on the check list are batteries, sd cards, calibrations, securing propellers, ensuring there are no loose parts, and keeping a safe distance.

Once you have ticked off your checklist, you will need to determine a safe place to practice and learn how to fly your quadcopter. It is not recommended to attempt flying a quadcopter inside. Choose a practice space such as a field or park where you will minimize damage to your quadcopter in the event of a mishap. Also, ensure that people and animals will not be hurt where you are flying. And last but not least, consider the wind factor and try not to fly in a lot of wind.

Remember that quadcopters can be dangerous when you do not take caution in their operation. Considerations in a crash situation include reducing the throttle to zero and keeping body parts away from moving propellers. Always unplug the battery before performing any work or maintenance on the quadcopter.

Now, to the fun part, learning to fly the quadcopter. You will want to practice getting the propellers going with the throttle. Learn the nuances of the throttle’s sensitivity. Check for yaw, roll and pitch and trim them out as necessary. Once you have made these adjustments, you should be able to obtain a hover just above the ground with the throttle only. You are now airborne.

Once you have learned to get the quadcopter airborne, you will need to continue to practice different moves to attain proficiency. The next steps to learn are landing and hovering in mid-air. In order to obtain hover, you will lift the quadcopter using the throttle and make adjustments to the left and right sticks to maintain this hover. In order to land, you will slowly reduce the throttle until you are approximately one to two inches above the ground. At this point, you will shut off the throttle completely and land the quadcopter.

After you have mastered hovering and landing, you will want to learn how to turn, and fly in different directions such as backwards, forwards, left and right. These movements are achieved through manipulation of the left and right sticks.

As you can see, this a basic guide of how to fly a quadcopter.

Case Study: Why These are the 2 Best Quadcopters with Camera?

If you are considering purchasing a quadcopter with a camera, you may be wondering which one is the best. The quadcopters listed below are two the best quadcopters with camera currently available in their respective price ranges.

Okay, let’s get started.

The DJI Phantom 3 Professional and Advanced are the top quadcopters with cameras available on the consumer market today. The only extra equipment needed outside of the quadcopter is a smartphone of iPhone or Android nature.

This allows coordination with the controller. With excellent video footage capabilities, this quadcopter has the ability to stream live to YouTube.

Of course the video will record to your sd card simultaneously. You can choose shutter and frame rates in addition to setting white balance. The 4K camera has a 94 degree field of view. With the stability of a tripod, the camera is capable of taking excellent, stable videos.

The Professional and Advanced models have a difference in sensor from Panasonic to Sony Exmor, respectively. Additional differences include increased shooting speed of 2.7K at 30fps on the Advanced. You now have the ability to take pictures and make adjustments from the controller.

The Parrot Bebop Drone is an alternative quadcopter to the DJ1 Phantom Line. This quadcopter comes with camera capable of shooting 14 MP pictures. The 180-degree view field utilizes stabilization technology to give you clear photos and videos.

The dust and splash proof lens add additionally clarity to your photos and video. You can easily share your photos and videos on social media instantly. Propellers automatically stop if the drone crashes and there is an emergency feature that will automatically land the drone if there is some type of malfunction.

An app allows you to control the camera with easy thumb controls with the free Parrot free flight app. Compatible with Android and iOS devices, you have the ability to control the drone, take photos and videos, create a flight plan, and tweak user settings.

The Parrot Cloud is an additional benefit which allows you to track your flights and share your photos and videos with other users. While the price of this drone is not cheap, it is still significantly less than the DJI Phantom 3 Professional and Advanced models.

These two models are currently available with cameras already built into the drone. This is an advantage to the alternatives of having to purchase a gimbal and mount a camera to a drone.

All the worry is taken out of utilizing a camera merely by building the model with the camera as an integral part of the drone. Many other models offer the option to install a camera, but these two come ready for you to use right out of the box.

This is especially handy if you are itching to get out there and use the camera feature on your drone.

Whether you choose the top rated DJ1 Phantom 3 models or the Parrot Bebop drone, either would be considered a best quadcopter with camera in its price range.