Hi !

I'm a beginner in the fpv scene, but there is something I'm struggling A LOT, its going slow, especially in tiny space. I can't stop going back and forth without being able to stabilize myself, or left and right ... On any simulator, in "bedroom/flat" kind of terrain (tinywhoop), I'm absolutely terrible !
As soon as I'm on a bigger field, it's okay, but I really struggle going at a slow speed, which is a big problem when I want to land or be precise somewhere ... Is this normal for a beginner? What should I do, putting the hours in a simulator and keep grinding until I'm confident? It hinders me from continuing in real life, I'm afraid of breaking my drone each time I go out (which already is almost the case haha), breaking something else ... I feel a bit discourage. So any tips would gladly appreciated !



Thanks !

It's normal. It is very difficult to get precise throttle and stick control as a beginner. It will come with time and practice. Some people suggest adding expo and throttle curves but I personally think it is better to try and learn stick control without that, otherwise you will then start to become dependant and reliant on those type of "helper" settings. Of course it's each to their own and it's entirely up to you if you want to go down that route or not.

While you are learning to fly the real thing, try to fly over soft ground (grass / vegetation) to limit the amount of damage you will do if you have a crash or a hard landing.

Flying in tight spaces is hard. I would recommend open field until you feel more confident. Practice slow smooth stick movements. It just comes with experience. I remember when I started out, watching youtube videos of the good pilots made it seem so natural and easy! Then I tried flying myself for the first time, what a shock!

A problem a lot of people seem to struggle with in beginning is over-compensating. IE: Jerking the sticks. We all do it starting out. It takes time to get the smoothness down, and smooth control is necessary for tight flying spaces.

For new pilots, I recommend a large grass field. Don't fly very high, but high enough you won't hit the ground as soon as you make a small mistake. Then practice flying around in a figure 8, or just cruise around the field making left and right turns, speeding up and slowing down. Concentrate on being SMOOTH with the sticks, no jerking movements. Moving both sticks smoothly together in same direction to make a turn. Just work on taking off, cruising around the field making both left + right turns, then try brining it back towards you nice and slow/easy until you are just above the grass then hit the arm switch. I see some new pilots try to land going straight down, this is not a good idea as it is hard to see where ground is, and you will be descending into your own prop-wash. Try to come in nice and slow at an angle, as if landing an airplane. Use pitch back a tiny bit to slow yourself, while throttle controls your height. Once you are close to the grass, just kill it and let it drop that last little bit onto the grass. Put in a new LiPo, rinse and repeat.
Also- a low camera angle with help flying slowly. Don't try to copy experienced pilot's camera angels.

That's how I taught myself, anyway.

I know it sounds boring compared to the cool flying you see experienced people doing, but it takes mastery of the basics to get to that level.

I’ve been flying quads for about half a year now, and I’m still really bad at slow speeds, fast speeds… flying in general. I get better every time I can put a few packs through one of them in a row. It took me until about two months ago to be able to fly through an entire battery without crashing, now I can usually make it through 4 out of 5 packs with out crashing unless I’m pushing my limits.

I tried simulators but it’s just not the same thing. What really helped me was hanging the 6” quad I started with up on the wall for now and just flying whoops. It’s amazing how hard you can slam into a wall, the ground, or your own head without causing any damage. I’m now slowly working my way up in size as I get better. I’d suggest trying to do something similar.

It all depends on your
1. size
2. power to weight
3. latency.
4. camera angle!!

Even if I can do a rubiks cube with eyes closed, there is no way Id make it through the house in a 5"

A 3" is much easier. And much smaller tighter turns.

Whoops dont have much power. Often see people doing yo yo up and down.

If you have lots of filters or bad RC link because building walls.. then you will fly like drunk.

Finally.. high camera angle is a must for carving fast turns. But to go slow indoors you need very low angle.

I can only agree with @MrSolo @SnowLeopardFPV and specially @Lemonyleprosy. It takes time to master Acro flying.

(23-Aug-2021, 07:02 PM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: I’ve been flying quads for about half a year now, and I’m still really bad at slow speeds, fast speeds… flying in general. I get better every time I can put a few packs through one of them in a row. It took me until about two months ago to be able to fly through an entire battery without crashing, now I can usually make it through 4 out of 5 packs with out crashing unless I’m pushing my limits.

I tried simulators but it’s just not the same thing. What really helped me was hanging the 6” quad I started with up on the wall for now and just flying whoops. It’s amazing how hard you can slam into a wall, the ground, or your own head without causing any damage. I’m now slowly working my way up in size as I get better. I’d suggest trying to do something similar.

 I did went to a slightly different route and build a 3inch. I find that the whoops flys very differently to a bigger quad, and they are useless to fly outdoors. For my environment my acrobrat  did a much better job. Anyways flying something smaller helps.

See this thead from early 2021: https://intofpv.com/t-my-yard-feels-smal...ld-a-3inch.

8 months have passed now I can do every thing in my 5inch as I did in my 3inch, well, almost everything as a 5 inch crash does much more damage to my wife garden... and she is quite unhappy with my proximity flying training.

I've only been flying since April and it took quite a bit of flights real world and sim before I was able to slow everything down. It's all stick feel keep practicing and it will eventually start working for you. Weird thing is I was able to fly slow on my real quads long before I could on the sims but eventually I found it as well.

As for confidence fly in a fields vs places with hard surfaces so the quad takes less damage. We barely mangle more than props and battery cables when we crash in the field we fly at. Between the overgrown grass and straggling tree branches, everything gives when you hit it out there. For us nearly all crashes result in cleaning out the debris the prop sucked in, set it back down, take off and finish the pack.

If your at the point that you can Manouver around then you suddenly get all squirly and do one over correction after another Until you crash your rates are probably way to high. Try dropping them down to something around 350deg/sec and I bet your over corrections will almost instantly disappear.

I fly acro exclusively when indoors and that's my go to rates to get me back used to tight spaces. For comparison Its completely comfortably around 1000deg/sec outdoors.

I personally started by practicing hovering/flying slowly foward towards a building (i my case a standalone shed at home) and by keeping focus on the shed and keeping it as refrance for staying level I could get slower and slower, from there I went down to road cones going around in a loop with two straights slower and slower/closer and closer. from there a figure eight both ways, then a track cut into the lawn that I could change every 2 weeks, flying as low and slow as I could
I honestly felt having a road cone in veiw and hovering left/right of it etc was a big help, for me I was all about having a fixed visual refrance, hope this is somthing you can think about trying

slow flying in controll isnt an easy task, the view is in 2d and it needs mouvement for 3d interpretation.

you can add a throttle limit to increase the stick range per throttle%.
you need to have a well cam angle settup, very low for slow flying 15-30%
a wider field of view can help, you can replace your cam lens with a 1.8" lens to get a huge field of view.

to progress fast, aim a goal and crash as much as it needs to achieve it, discipline... focused flying will bring you ahead.. but dont miss the main task :-) enjoy the pleasure :-)

Hi hachac,

I started with tiny whoops...the first few days, I was bouncing around like a ping pong ball; off the walls, ceiling, and floor. It took some time to realize that you have to really minimize the stick movement. It is all in your hands. 

In order to help ME, I added stick extensions to the transmitter (radio remote controller). This helped quite a bit. In fact, all of my transmitters now have stick extensions. This helps to reduce the effect of your thumbs and fingers.

If you are flying inside a house, you do NOT have to fly fast or be that great ACRO stunt pilot. In the beginning, you just want to be able to control the thing, have a little fun, and just cruise easily (almost like controlled hovering with easy forward motion). It is important to learn to have minimal stick movement.

   Contrary to what others have said, I would NOT start with ACRO...it is the hardest to fly,
   the hardest to learn, and definitely the hardest to maneuver in a house.  In my opinion,
   start with the easiest fly mode. You can move up to ACRO later after you get the hang
   of flying. Consider that REAL stunt pilots in REAL airplanes do NOT start there. They 
   learn to just fly first...just easy flying, nothing fancy. That will come later.

Also, there are vast differences in quads and transmitters; there are brushed motor
("Toy") tinywhoops with Flight Controller boards that run  propriety firmware, propriety RC links,
and cheap transmitters. Most of these do NOT run Betaflight firmware and have very limited
settings and adjustments. Basically, very little that you can change. The transmitter might have
as switch to select the fly mode; low, med, high...or just low and high. They generally don't
reference them with any more detail because that is all you need to know. After all, these
are toys and are designed as such.

The brushless tinywhoops and most open prop quads have Flight Controllers that utilize
the Betaflight firmware, have standard RC protocols, and make use of standard transmitters
that are running OpenTX. These quads have more options like switches on the transmitter
that can be configured. Plus, Betaflight is highly configurable and customizable. It is these
quads that can be set to fly in the modes known as ANGLE, HORIZON, and ACRO. By default,
the quad flies in ACRO mode. If you want to use the other modes, then these have to be 
set up in Betaflight. I have mine set up on a 3 position switch so that I can easily change it,
even during flight. 

So, it sort of depends on what gear you are running...

Now, I believe that you inferred that you are flying a tinywhoop...is that correct? 
What type of transmitter (radio controller) do you have? Do you know the RC protocol?
Do you know if the quad is using Betaflight?

Hey ! Thank all of you for taking time to reply ! Really appreciate. Looks like there are no secret except the grind !

@iFly4rotors yes I'm under BF ! I have not set my quad to angle or horizon because I really want to learn how to control it, but I will consider it !
And no, I'm flying a similar build to the KOPIS 2 SE (in fact I copy it, so the same )