(Credit: Jim Fisher)
You might be tempted to unbox your brand-new drone and get right up in the air—after all, there's nothing like trying out a new tech toy. But unlike a new iPhone, camera, or game console, you need to take some time to gain some knowledge before you start flying. We've gathered everything you need to know here.
What Are the Rules for Flying a Drone?
Even though you don't have to take a class to fly a drone for fun in the US, you still have to take a basic 15-minute knowledge test and, if your new drone weighs more than 249g, register with the FAA. Neither is a huge burden—the TRUST test is free to take and impossible to fail. It's more about making sure that you understand the content, as you can tell from the one-page study guide.
As for registration, the FAA charges a reasonable $5 fee for hobbyists. This gives you a registration number to add to your aircraft and covers as many drones as you own. You'll need to remember to renew it every two years.
There are some very basic rules of the sky to follow—we have a separate article that goes over them in detail. In short, keep your drone at least five miles away from an airport, keep it at or below 400 feet of altitude, don't fly over crowds of people, and keep it within visual sight range.
Study Your Drone
Chances are you did some research before spending a few hundred dollars (or more) on a quadcopter. But if you're not sure about what your drone can do, it's time to figure that out.
The latest top-end models pack helpful safety features, but you need to understand what they do and how they work before you can rely on them. Obstacle avoidance is a big one—a lot of drones have it, but it doesn't always work the same way. Is it always on in your model? Will it automatically navigate around obstacles, or will it simply freeze the drone in place when it detects something blocking its path? Are the sensors on the front only, or on multiple sides of the aircraft?
You should also understand how the automated return-to-home function works. Pretty much every drone with GPS will fly back to its takeoff point if it loses the control signal, or on demand. You can typically set an altitude for the home flight. This is especially critical if you are flying in an area with trees or other low-altitude obstacles—make sure the drone is set to ascend to a safe height before the automated return.
You should be intimately familiar with the location of the return-to-home command, whether it be a physical button on your drone's remote control or an icon in a companion app for your phone. You should also see if your remote has a Pause button that causes the drone to stop and hover in place.
And, although it's a last resort, you should also learn how to cut power to your drone's engines in the event of an emergency. I've seen some models fly away unexpectedly, and I'd rather pick up the pieces of a crashed drone and recover a memory card than have the aircraft fly away, never to be seen again.
One of the FAA's rules for recreational flight is that you place a sticker with your registration number on your drone. If you do lose a drone in the wild, there's a chance that someone could look up your registration details and get the aircraft back to you—though I wouldn't hold my breath on that happening.
In addition to controls, you should be aware of how long your drone can fly on a full battery charge. There are typically on-screen indicators of battery life in the app that can help you plan out flights. Most consumer models fly for between 25 and 40 minutes on a fully charged battery.
You should also note where your drone's control app shows telemetry data. Typically, you get a real-time feed of airspeed, altitude, orientation, and location on a world map, in addition to the live feed from the camera. It's important to be able to recognize and process this information while you fly.
How Do I Learn to Fly a Drone?
So, you know how your drone works, how to activate its emergency safety features, and how long it can fly on a battery charge. All set? Not yet.
The next step is to actually learn to fly the thing. You can get started in a few different ways. If you're cautious, consider working with flight simulation software first. Some control apps include the feature, but if it doesn't, consider grabbing a drone flight sim from the Android or iOS app store to practice in a virtual environment.
There are a few ways to go for training. You can try the Real Drone Simulator for free, or pay for a more polished experience, complete with a dedicated remote control to use during training, with Zephyr's simulation software.
If you're more likely to do better in a classroom environment or are planning on taking the FAA Part 107 test to fly a drone for commercial purposes, consider an online training course. Drone Academy offers several packages.
If you want to skip the simulator, I recommend restricting early flights to areas without a lot of people, as well as keeping the drone close to you and at a reasonable altitude. Start by getting familiar with the control sticks—the left stick adjusts altitude and rotates the drone, while the right control stick handles forward, backward, left, or right movement.
Once you get the manual controls down, you can work with the automated flight modes included with many modern drones. You can practice automated shots, including perfectly circular orbits and reveals in which the drone flies up and away from a subject to show its surroundings. Different aircraft have different automated flight modes, so you should spend some time checking out each option.
How Do I Use My Drone's Camera?
You're probably not flying just to fly. Drones have become popular in no small part thanks to their integrated cameras, and there can be just as much to learn about the camera as the drone itself. Modern drone cameras capture distortion-free images and video, a far cry from the fish-eye look of early attempts.
Just as on the ground, the settings you use to capture stills and video are decidedly different. Drone cameras are built much like smartphones—most have prime lenses with bright apertures, so they can get low-noise footage at magic hour.
But you're not always going to fly during twilight. To get a proper shutter angle for video, you have to add a neutral density (ND) filter for flights in bright conditions. Remember that a 1/48-second shutter speed is ideal for 24fps video and a 1/60-second rate is best for 30fps. You must cut the amount of light coming into the lens to get those speeds with proper exposure.
You don't have to worry about ND for still images unless you're after a long-exposure look. For most still shots, you'll want to freeze motion with a short shutter speed. In addition to the camera settings, you should be confident with the physical controls for adjusting exposure and the tilt of the gimbal.
Preflight Checklist
My final piece of advice is to follow a checklist before every flight. Here's the one I use:
Day Before Flight
- Charge flight and remote control batteries
- Check for drone firmware updates
- Confirm memory card contents are loaded to your computer
- Format and test your memory card
- Check the weather forecast for the planned time and location
- Verify planned location does not have any flight restrictions in place
Day of Flight
- Check drone compass calibration at the location
- Verify GPS lock, battery status, and memory card before takeoff
- Visually inspect aircraft and propellers; look for any cracks in plastic or other potential issues
- Ensure your phone is fully charged before takeoff
- Confirm the manual controls are functioning properly immediately after takeoff
Those are the basic steps I recommend performing before every flight. You may find that you want to customize the list a bit. For instance, if you use filters, make sure you have the right ones. Or if you have a drone that supports interchangeable lenses, make sure you to pack the right optics.
Expertise and comfort will come with time. Remember to have fun, and get some great video and images. But most importantly, stay safe when you fly your drone.