A guide to flying small drones
Anyone interested in learning how to fly a drone can quickly perfect the basics and manoeuvre through the controls. There are advanced drones often used in commercial businesses as delivery drones, and others by governments or institutions as surveillance drones.
Here are a few tips for flying small drones.
-
Conduct a pre-flight inspection
Before putting your drone up in the air, there are various things you need to check. Firstly, learn the range of your transmitter to avoid flying out of range.
Next, ensure you have a well-charged drone and transmitter battery. Finally, remove delicate items nearer to your flying limit to avoid accidents.
Before taking your drone outdoors, it is essential to ensure it is functioning properly. Turn the drone on and let the backlight face you. Then, turn on the transmitter and ensure it is connected to your drone. If there is light on the drone, then it means the batteries are working. For new drones, hold the bind button on the transmitter to connect.
After conducting a pre-check, now it’s time to fly the drone for the first time. First, ensure you are in an empty room or spaces free from delicate items. Stay back from the drone.
The left joystick is responsible for controlling the elevation while the right determines direction. Push the left joystick up gently, and the drone will lift from the ground. Use the right joystick to move the drone horizontally and either forward or backwards. Practise hovering, turning, stabilising, and landing gently.
Now that you know how to lift, control, land, and hover your drone, it is time to take it out into the open. Find a quiet and spacious area such as remote parks to practise drone flying. Choose bright days with no wind to prevent your drone from being carried away by the wind.
As practised at first, lift your drone gently from the ground while being cautious of light breezes that are common even on sunny days. Understand your battery duration to avoid flying with low power. And finally, avoid flying over water in case it fails!
