Learning to fly a drone in manual mode took me a good few hours to get my head around – and honestly, it was frustrating as hell at times. Even when I thought I’d cracked it, the precision just wasn’t quite there.
The biggest surprise?
It’s not intuitive in the way piloting other things is.
When you drive a car or ride a bike, momentum helps you out. Turn a corner, let the wheel go, and the car naturally wants to straighten itself. You initiate the movement, and physics does the rest.
That is not how drones work.
Wherever you put the drone… that’s exactly where it stays until you fix it. Turning a corner isn’t just about turning – it’s about knowing how to correct yourself after the turn. Miss that step and things unravel very quickly.
Then there’s throttle control.
Pitch forward with some throttle and the drone moves forward – makes sense.
But don’t increase throttle slightly and you start dropping.
Increase it too much and you climb.
So now you’re juggling:
- Pitch
- Throttle
- Altitude
- Direction
- Panic
A lot to juggle!
So how do you actually learn manual flight?
I watched a lot of YouTube, and the best content I found by far was from Joshua Bardwell.
If you’ve spent any time around FPV, you’ll know the name. He’s incredible at breaking complex concepts down into simple, manageable chunks, and he’s put together a full progression series – from getting off the ground to pulling off tricks.
His training compound even shows up in a few simulators, which tells you everything you need to know about his influence in the FPV world.
You’ll find the playlist for that series, here.
Use a simulator. Seriously.
Before you take anything expensive into the real world, get yourself in a sim and put the hours in.
You can grab a proper flight controller (I’m using the DJI FPV Controller 3), plug it into your PC or Mac, and you’re off.
Simulators I’d recommend:
- Liftoff
Runs on Mac and PC. Solid physics, great for fundamentals. - TrypFPV
If you’ve got a beefy PC, this thing is gorgeous. Unreal Engine, cranked visuals, very immersive.
The best part?
The skills translate extremely well to the real world.
I logged 10+ hours in the sim before flying for real, and I’m very glad I did. Learning manual flight outdoors first is… ambitious. Expensive ambition.
One extra tip: race in the sim (even if you don’t race)
I’ve got zero interest in competitive FPV racing – but practising it in the sim helped massively.
Racing forces you to:
- Make tight, controlled movements
- Manage throttle precisely
- Hold lines through turns
- React without overcorrecting
All skills that translate directly into better freestyle and cinematic flying.
Final thought
One of my old BJJ coaches used to say:
“Don’t try new shit in competition. If you haven’t trained it, don’t do it.”
Same rule applies here.
If you can’t pull a move off consistently in the sim, don’t try it in the real world.
Your drone – and your wallet – will thank you.
Good luck 👊🏾
