The 10 Day RC Drone Flying Improvement Plan

Introduction - Learn to Fly!

With the recent price drop on the DJI Phantom and the new Blade 350QX quadcopter, flying a drone has never been easier or cheaper.  However, these things are still a bit pricey to learn on and nothing is worse than crashing.  That is why I bought a Traxxas QR-1 micro quad - for indoor training.  One of the most difficult things to learn when starting out is the nose in hover and side hovers because the controls are reversed if it is not pointing directly away from you.   I use a training program for exercise, so why not have one for learning to fly RC or just improve your skills?  Well here it is.. the 7 minutes a day program to improve your flying!  Soclick HERE to buy your QR-1 and be a better pilot in just 10 days!

Drone Flying Improvement Plan

When you get your QR-1, it comes with 2 batteries and a charger.  This program is designed to fit within the flight time of just one battery - about 7 minutes give or take.  The point is to feel uncomfortable, this will slowly give way to confidence and better skills at the end of the program!  For the first three days, use stable mode.  On the fourth day, click the left stick before you take off to enter advanced mode, this just makes it more responsive and thus more difficult.  The program is broken down into 7 parts, each a minute long. 

0 - 1 Minute:  This is your warm up.  Tail towards you (tail in) hover.   Pick a spot and just keep the little copter glued to that location.  This includes altitude.  It should just be floating in the air in one spot and not moving - that is your goal.

1 - 2 Minutes:  Rotate the QR-1 (yaw or left stick right and left) to the right in a complete 360 degree circle to the right, pausing briefly while the nose points directly at you (nose in hover).  Repeat to the left.  The goal is to keep it in one spot, same altitude and position.

2-3 Minutes:  Start out in tail in hover and rotate it around left or right until it is nose in, then stop.  Use your right stick and slowly bank the QR-1 to the right about 5 feet and then return.  (Remember these controls are reversed when you are nose in hovering).  Now bank it to the left 5 feet and return.  Try and return to the same spot each time.

3-4 Minutes:  This is the same as before, but instead of moving left and right while in nose in hover, you will move towards you and away from you while in nose in hover.  

4-5 Minutes:  Now get the QR-1 about 5 feet in front and to the left of you with a tail in hover.  Slowly rotate the QR-1 until its right side is towards you and slowly fly to 5 feet in front and to the right of you.  Rotate it again and go back to where to just came from.  Do this slowly and deliberately - you want to keep it in control the entire time.  Resist the urge to fly fast, fly as slowly as you can when transitioning from point to point.

5-6 Minutes:  This is similar to the last exercise but you will position the QR-1 About 5 feet in front of you and fly away from you about 5 feet, turn, and return the same spot.  Fly slow and keep your altitude constant.

6-7 Minutes:  Start with a tail in hover, turn and fly in a clockwise circle.  Stop it in front of you, turn to the right, and fly in a counterclockwise circle.  The stop and transition is very important because it will train you to have more control when you stop forward flight.  Keep your flying speed slow and in control. 

On day 5 or 6, you can start increasing the speed that you fly your patterns but resist the urge to go too fast too soon.  The whole point is to develop control.  I have found that flying fast is usually easier than a nice slow precise pattern.   If you enjoyed this training program, please comment below.  If you have anything to add, please share.  If you make a video of you flying this, send it to me and I will link it in the article!  Thanks for reading DroneAbove.