Pilot skills advice

[4006448]

Hi all. I’ve been watching some videos recommending honing flying skills rather than just relying on quick shot automation. While I understand some of the drills being discussed, nobody seems to say how to operate the joysticks to achieve the drills. For example, to manually perform the orbit move. I tried moving forward on the R stick with a little sideways movement (also no the R stick at about the 1-2 o’clock position), but that didn’t keep the same radius.

Does anyone have any advice or resources on how to use the sticks to ‘fly’ my Mavic Air? Keen to learn! Thanks in advance.

 

[Dave Maine]

Read the manual. It has good descriptions of how the controls work, and what control modifications exist. Then practice in a wide open area with good WiFi coverage.

 

[old man mavic]

@4006448 the biggest problem that we as humans have is judging the movement of the drone from a fixed position,its totally different from actually being in the machine as it flies,
it takes a lot of practice just to do an orbit around yourself,keeping the camera pointed at you, never mind an object some distance away,its like everything we do ,some people find it easy and others struggle to get to grips with it,
the only real way to master it ,is to practice ,practice ,practice ,using very gentle stick movements ,with a combination of yaw ,forwards or back and some side stick, all at the same time to achieve the desired result ,practicing flying figure of eights is a good way to start as it has a lot of the stick controls that are required

 

[rick209]

Tony Northrup.
Has a youtube video on manuel orbit that is spot on.
Search: manuel orbit tony northrup

 

[G Saunders]

I'm an ancient commercial pilot and flight instructor and found that decades of time in a cockpit where the pilot moves with the aircraft isn't helpful for flying a drone remotely.

After some un-productive time 'flying around' and crashing a lot I decided to practice similar maneuvers with the drone in sight as in the private pilot exam guide, simple things like picking a point and flying out to it and back, flying circles around a stake using right stick forward and steering with the left to steer, using only the right stick, and using both to keep the drone pointed at me or the stick.

A little breeze is like a strong crosswind with a drone only going a few miles per hour, so things like tracing the lines in a parking lot and being very careful with the radius of your turns-about-a-stake pay off for developing skills.

I felt like I had 'got it' when I could fly a drone out and back around my head without flinching. It took slow practice with me verbalizing things like 'the drone needs to go to _its_ left' to get the 'haptic memory' or 'muscle memory' to make the fingers move correctly without thinking about it.

FPV on a remote in your hands helps a lot, but IMHO you need to be able to control the drone in difficult situations by looking at it. I've had several instances where the app died or the drone 'lost connectivity with the app', there was no FPV, but the controller was still connected.

It's times like these, when the GPS drops out, or it gets too dark under the drone for its vision system to work, when you need to be able to actually fly the thing and not enjoy its ability to fly itself.

 

[4006448]

Read the manual. It has good descriptions of how the controls work, and what control modifications exist. Then practice in a wide open area with good WiFi coverage.

Thanks Dave. I read the manual from the link that Old Man Mavic provided when I joined - nothing in there about how to use the sticks. I flew earlier today, I think I'm getting there using a combination of some roll, some thrust and some yaw. I tried flying using camera straight down and track along the goal semi circle on a soccer (football) field. Might try next time in cinema or tripod mode to slow the flight down some more.

 

[4006448]

@4006448 the biggest problem that we as humans have is judging the movement of the drone from a fixed position,its totally different from actually being in the machine as it flies,
it takes a lot of practice just to do an orbit around yourself,keeping the camera pointed at you, never mind an object some distance away,its like everything we do ,some people find it easy and others struggle to get to grips with it,
the only real way to master it ,is to practice ,practice ,practice ,using very gentle stick movements ,with a combination of yaw ,forwards or back and some side stick, all at the same time to achieve the desired result ,practicing flying figure of eights is a good way to start as it has a lot of the stick controls that are required

Thanks for the advice. I realise practice is what will do it, but want to start off practicing correctly (presuming same concept as any other skill).

 

[4006448]

I'm an ancient commercial pilot and flight instructor and found that decades of time in a cockpit where the pilot moves with the aircraft isn't helpful for flying a drone remotely.

After some un-productive time 'flying around' and crashing a lot I decided to practice similar maneuvers with the drone in sight as in the private pilot exam guide, simple things like picking a point and flying out to it and back, flying circles around a stake using right stick forward and steering with the left to steer, using only the right stick, and using both to keep the drone pointed at me or the stick.

A little breeze is like a strong crosswind with a drone only going a few miles per hour, so things like tracing the lines in a parking lot and being very careful with the radius of your turns-about-a-stake pay off for developing skills.

I felt like I had 'got it' when I could fly a drone out and back around my head without flinching. It took slow practice with me verbalizing things like 'the drone needs to go to _its_ left' to get the 'haptic memory' or 'muscle memory' to make the fingers move correctly without thinking about it.

FPV on a remote in your hands helps a lot, but IMHO you need to be able to control the drone in difficult situations by looking at it. I've had several instances where the app died or the drone 'lost connectivity with the app', there was no FPV, but the controller was still connected.

It's times like these, when the GPS drops out, or it gets too dark under the drone for its vision system to work, when you need to be able to actually fly the thing and not enjoy its ability to fly itself.

Appreciate the advice. I tried tracing a line today with some success. I get the right stick forward and using left stick steer and ventured with a little right stick for roll in conjunction with left stick yaw. Hopefully I can get to the point of right stick only as you mention. I'm certainly only flying VLOS - not game to fly too far.

 

[4006448]

Tony Northrup.
Has a youtube video on manuel orbit that is spot on.
Search: manuel orbit tony northrup

Thanks Rick. Just watched it and will try that out tomorrow. Great tip!

 

[maggior]

One of the wonderful things about the DJI drones are the precision you can fly them with using the sticks. It just takes practice.

I do my own orbital shots and to do them I visualize how the drone has to move to accomplish what I am looking for. So if I was to orbit to the right, the drone needs to fly sideway to the right with the camera facing the point of interest and it needs to slowly spin to the left to keep the camera facing the point of interest. So that means I need to push gently on the right stick to the right to get my lateral right-ways movement and I need to gently push left on the left stick to get a very slow yaw to the left. I look at my camera view to gauge how it's going and adjust as needed. Doing that the drone will fly in a circle.

The built in poi shots are cool, but they are too perfect sometimes. Doing it manually lets you give it a more natural flow.

This video has some cool drone moves and he explains how to move the sticks to accomplish it. I actually do a lot of these myself. I particularly like the descend as you approach...it feels like you are coming in for a landing.

 

[Gringorio]

Some good advice here. Specifically for the orbit you ask about, when I fly them, using both sticks of course, I could not tell you exactly what rudder/aileron inputs I give. I only watch the screen to make sure I'm capturing the scene I want. I recommend you pick a pointy hill top or other object and practice doing orbits around it in both directions only looking at the screen. Let what you see control your inputs. And like everyone else has said, practice a lot. Eventually it will become second nature and you'll be able to apply your skills to other types of creative manual flying shots.

 

[4006448]

One of the wonderful things about the DJI drones are the precision you can fly them with using the sticks. It just takes practice.

I do my own orbital shots and to do them I visualize how the drone has to move to accomplish what I am looking for. So if I was to orbit to the right, the drone needs to fly sideway to the right with the camera facing the point of interest and it needs to slowly spin to the left to keep the camera facing the point of interest. So that means I need to push gently on the right stick to the right to get my lateral right-ways movement and I need to gently push left on the left stick to get a very slow yaw to the left. I look at my camera view to gauge how it's going and adjust as needed. Doing that the drone will fly in a circle.

The built in poi shots are cool, but they are too perfect sometimes. Doing it manually lets you give it a more natural flow.

This video has some cool drone moves and he explains how to move the sticks to accomplish it. I actually do a lot of these myself. I particularly like the descend as you approach...it feels like you are coming in for a landing.

Great video with the explanation of stick movements i was looking for. Appreciate the help.

 

[4006448]

Some good advice here. Specifically for the orbit you ask about, when I fly them, using both sticks of course, I could not tell you exactly what rudder/aileron inputs I give. I only watch the screen to make sure I'm capturing the scene I want. I recommend you pick a pointy hill top or other object and practice doing orbits around it in both directions only looking at the screen. Let what you see control your inputs. And like everyone else has said, practice a lot. Eventually it will become second nature and you'll be able to apply your skills to other types of creative manual flying shots.

Is it best to watch the screen or the drone when flying these moves? I guess if it’s an area free of trees/poles etc, watching the screen is good?

 

[Aerial Edge]

Practice without looking at the screen. Wait until you can get a nice smooth orbit. Once you do that practice watching the screen and doing the same thing. You will be amazed at how much better you will get. Flying in a commercial setting where you have a pilot and a sensor operator the pilot almost never looks at the screen their eye are on the drone. Little harder to do that with a Mavic lol

 

[Gringorio]

Is it best to watch the screen or the drone when flying these moves? I guess if it’s an area free of trees/poles etc, watching the screen is good?

Right, yeah you want to make sure you're above or clear of obstacles so that you know you're safe watching the screen to control the drone as if you're the pilot inside flying. Of course, look at the drone when needed. I found once I mastered the technique watching the screen I was able to watch the drone to make the same kind of shot. It all may be a matter of personal learning style. It worked for me, but maybe not others. What ever your technique practice often like others has said.

 

[maggior]

Some good advice here. Specifically for the orbit you ask about, when I fly them, using both sticks of course, I could not tell you exactly what rudder/aileron inputs I give. I only watch the screen to make sure I'm capturing the scene I want. I recommend you pick a pointy hill top or other object and practice doing orbits around it in both directions only looking at the screen. Let what you see control your inputs. And like everyone else has said, practice a lot. Eventually it will become second nature and you'll be able to apply your skills to other types of creative manual flying shots.

That is some great flying right there!

 

[Rupuze]

Some good advice here. Specifically for the orbit you ask about, when I fly them, using both sticks of course, I could not tell you exactly what rudder/aileron inputs I give. I only watch the screen to make sure I'm capturing the scene I want. I recommend you pick a pointy hill top or other object and practice doing orbits around it in both directions only looking at the screen. Let what you see control your inputs. And like everyone else has said, practice a lot. Eventually it will become second nature and you'll be able to apply your skills to other types of creative manual flying shots.

aWESOME! did you hand land? Were you on a different boat?

 

[Gringorio]

aWESOME! did you hand land? Were you on a different boat?

Thanks! I was on the starboard side below the bridge. We slowed down after the shot and a crew hand caught it for me on the aft deck.

 

[DJJ95]

Thanks for the advice. I realise practice is what will do it, but want to start off practicing correctly (presuming same concept as any other skill).

there ARE vids on youtube, im a tinhorn so i started practicing with drone hovering in front of me doing maneuvers, then again most are preprogrammed to do alot of maneuvers u want i believe. Ive learned everything from utube vids as they dont put manuals in the box anymore b/cause they're online. i spent a probably a month watching vids before i even started using my drone. One thing ive leaned from this guy on youtube from EU i think is that some of maneuvers you do can be done in editing, however Ive yet to get into editing, i will find his user name and get back to you. He is a editing /video God and does it full time making films and most of his videos is on this topic, maneuvers/editing and making professional looking videos with ease , cough cough.

 

[MS Coast]

Thanks Dave. I read the manual from the link that Old Man Mavic provided when I joined - nothing in there about how to use the sticks. I flew earlier today, I think I'm getting there using a combination of some roll, some thrust and some yaw. I tried flying using camera straight down and track along the goal semi circle on a soccer (football) field. Might try next time in cinema or tripod mode to slow the flight down some more.

"Might try next time in cinema or tripod mode to slow the flight down some more."

I'd definitely suggest that you stick with Cine mode when getting familiar with the drone and learning maneuvers. The slower speed lets you focus on stick inputs and reduces the opportunities for things to go sour, or at least limits how quickly they go sour.

Also, keep in mind that you have little to no input from the proximity sensors when flying sideways. I found it easy to focus too much on the screen and loose awareness of obstacles to the sides of the drone,.. An observer was very helpful in avoiding drone/tree interactions.