top tips: how to fly a drone

or, more accurately, how not to crash one after five minutes

Stick to auto

If your quadcopter comes with a manual setting, it’s tempting to get cocky and take full control straightaway. Don’t. Switching off all the flying aids that automatic mode offers is a sure-fire way of sending your precious aircraft groundward. Spend time practising your technique before building yourself up to those stick-flicking rolls and loops. Speaking of which…

Go light

Up. Down. Left. Right. Keep it simple and go as light as possible on the controls. Practise making fine movements, gaining and reducing altitude slowly and carefully, and most importantly get the hang of hovering at around 4-5 feet off the ground. Going heavy and whacking a stick all the way to one side will inevitably end up with your ’copter spiralling out of control.

Consider conditions

You may have allocated a day to taking your drone out for some fun, but if it’s blowing a gale – or, indeed, if it’s just a bit breezy – you might want to think again. Certainly, at least in the early stages of quadcopter flight, practise in conditions that are as still as possible. That’s not an excuse to fire it up indoors, though, unless you’ve got a micro model specifically made for such a purpose.

Kill the throttle

If you do get into a spot of bother, the last thing you want is your blades spinning wildly, as this is a great way for your drone to tear itself – or whatever it’s crashed into – to pieces. Save yourself some replacement rotors or even more expensive repairs by learning to cut the power in a pinch.