Drills and exercises to build expertise?

[maVik-Venkat]

Hey guys - I don't merely want to fly my drone, I want to become a *pilot*. I've heard that one should practice going straight, then running 8's -- but then what? How does one get really good?

 

[rfc]

Practice...a lot. Try manually flying a POI shot. That takes good coordinated control input.

 

[AeroJ]

Drones like the Mavic do have Sports Mode etc, but ultimately they are designed with photography as the priority, and will do all they can to help the pilot keep them stable and level and gently sail-planing around as best gets decent video. If you can fly squares, then circles, then figure-of-eights at slow speeds you have probably maxed out all the control you need to be able to fly that machine well.

But if you want to be a 'proper' multirotor pilot and develop the sort of skills that make people's jaws drop in wonder, then you can't do it on a Mavic. You need a racing quad, which can operate with no GPS, upside-down and at any other angle; a machine that you truly manually control, and can handle multiple crashes every time you fly. That sort of flyer lets you take 'regular' drone skills to a waaay higher level, as in Mr Steele etc...

 

[2nckayakers]

So if you aren't trying to race and want to hone up your skills do a little of what rfc said and find a good point of interest and let it be your focal point. practice a manual orbit keeping the camera focused on that point. Fly at it from different directions and altitudes and keep your focus on a single point. When you get really good at that, try POI of a moving object. I like to film farming operations so you have all kinds of moving objects there. Try that same orbit on a moving tractor. Once you get it good and smooth and consistent then you are on your way to having good skills. There is a lot more to it though, but they are good starting points.

 

[maVik-Venkat]

Terrific suggestions.

Candidly, @AeroJ - My primary motivation is photography, and not racing. That said, I'd LOVE to be able to film a bicycle chase in Brooklyn (or something), and getting good at Point of Interest is great guidance.

 

[2nckayakers]

Terrific suggestions.

Candidly, @AeroJ - My primary motivation is photography, and not racing. That said, I'd LOVE to be able to film a bicycle chase in Brooklyn (or something), and getting good at Point of Interest is great guidance.

My primary motivation is also photography and amateur cinematography, what I have found also, in my case anyway, is also work on low level stuff. I am really not that enthusiastic about filming from 400 agl, most of what I do is between 7 and 50 feet. I use my drone to get super smooth dolly and crane shots. That isn't to say I don't like doing high aerials, but that isn't always my primary focus.

 

[Ronidog]

Can someone explain what poi flying is and how you do it?

 

[2nckayakers]

Can someone explain what poi flying is and how you do it?

So it is poi (point of interest) and you fly around that point doing orbits or different approaches or flybys. Here is one that I did.

 

[2nckayakers]

Can someone explain what poi flying is and how you do it?

Here is another one with a dynamic poi. All of this I did flying manually.

 

[Ronidog]

Thanks those two posts are really useful. Seems like a lot of experience and skill is needed plus a good degree of planning

 

[2nckayakers]

Thanks those two posts are really useful. Seems like a lot of experience and skill is needed plus a good degree of planning

It does take some skill to make it all smooth, but there isn't a lot of planning you can do when it is a dynamic POI. I mean with farming operations you are sort of able to guess what their next move will be so you can prepare, but for the most part it is just a best guess and try to stay focused. You need to use a really light touch on the controls, no sudden moves.

 

[Drone on]

Hey guys - I don't merely want to fly my drone, I want to become a *pilot*. I've heard that one should practice going straight, then running 8's -- but then what? How does one get really good?

YT has some advanced piloting skill maneuvers. Generally, they are similar, and not particularly advanced, but there are some cool moves

 

[Rbruz]

My poi from last month of a surfer https://instagram.com/p/BpikSvgnJbq/

 

[breid]

Here is another one with a dynamic poi. All of this I did flying manually.

Very nice!!