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.