FPV — Simulators
#fpv/sim · Note 2 of 7 · part of Drones
The cheapest flight hours you will ever buy. Twenty hours here is worth more than any component you could spend the same money on.
What you need
A radio connected over USB in joystick / game controller mode. Most modern radios (RadioMaster, Jumper, Radiomaster-clone TX16S family, anything running EdgeTX) do this natively — plug in, pick "USB Joystick" on the radio, done.
You do not need goggles for the sim. A monitor is fine and arguably better while you are learning, because you can glance away.
The simulators worth the disk space
| Sim | Why |
|---|---|
| Velocidrone | The most respected physics, especially for racing lines and track work. Paid, cheap, worth it. |
| Liftoff | The nicest freestyle feel, big map library, very popular. Paid. |
| Uncrashed | Newer, beautiful, good feel. Paid. |
| DRL Simulator | Frequently discounted or given away; genuinely good tracks. |
| FPV Freerider | Has a free demo that is enough to learn a hover. Very cheap in full. |
| TryP FPV | Free, rough around the edges, entirely adequate for the first hours. |
Start with a free one to confirm your radio works and you enjoy it, then buy Velocidrone if you want to get good fastest.
Do not fly the sim's default rates for a year and then discover your real quad feels alien. Pick something modest — around 600–700°/s max rate — and keep the sim and the real machine in agreement. More in FPV — Tuning and flying.
What to actually practise
In rough order. Do not move on until the previous one is boring:
- Hover in one spot at eye level for sixty seconds. This is the whole game.
- Figure-of-eight around two points, both directions.
- Orbits at constant radius and altitude — teaches coordinated roll and yaw.
- Dives from height, arresting smoothly rather than yanking.
- Power loops around a gate or a tree.
- Split-S and Immelmann into a line, so tricks connect instead of standing alone.
The instinct is to practise tricks. The thing that stops you crashing is throttle control, and that is drills 1 to 3.
Honest limits
The sim gives you muscle memory and orientation. It does not give you a feel for prop wash on a real quad, wind, or the way a battery sags at the end of a pack. Expect the first real flights to feel heavier and more urgent than the sim.
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