Howdy! If you’re looking to get started in FPV then this is the post for you! Actually, the best thing you can do if you’re looking to get started is to make an important decision — buy a drone, or get a simulator first.

How To Fly FPV Drones – Why a Drone Sim Is Smart

When I first got into FPV I started out with a tiny whoop that my girlfriend bought me off Amazon. It was cool, and a lot of fun! But it didn’t have a camera, and as I learned more about the hobby I soon realized I’d need to invest a little money into some gear to take that next step into FPV.

One of the big ‘facts’ of FPV is that you’re going to crash. A lot. Say it with me now… “I Will Crash! A Lot!” Doesn’t matter what you think it’ll be like — you’ll crash! And that’s all part of the learning process. The more you crash, the better at it you’ll get — crashing in such a way that you don’t necessarily smash everything to bits — and flying in general because you’ll gain a massive amount of motor skills along the way.

I usually direct people interested in the hobby to start first with a Radio, and a sim like Velocidrone. A radio like the Radiomaster Boxer is $99 which is just about as cheap as you’ll get with something of quality. I also direct people towards Velocidrone because it’s the most realistic out of the sims (in my opinion!) and it’s also like $20, and it runs on any computer good or bad. It’s just a good way to get started.

My recommendation is to use that sim for a few hours getting used to the stick feel, playing with the rates, and actually practicing taking off, landing, disarming, and basic maneuvers. The best part is that you can crash 10,000 times and not spend a dime. It’s a win-win if you’re brand new to the hobby.

Best Beginner Drone Kit

But what happens when you need a drone to get started? What’s the best basic kit out there, and should you build it yourself or just buy one that’s already built?

I recommend building it yourself because you’ll need to learn how to fix it regardless of who built it. Think of it like a car, but there is no mechanic you can take it to. You’ve got to change the oil yourself. Is it better to learn the ropes when you get the car from the dealer, or is it better to stumble around and try to figure it out when you need an oil change? Maybe my analogy sucks, but I guess I’m trying to explain that a pre-built drone (called a Bind and Fly) is a drone that was built buy a dude in a warehouse. You don’t know how much time or effort was put into it. You don’t know what choices they’re making in the build process. And half the fun is making it to your liking. The only way to figure any of that out is to build it yourself.

Okay but where do I start?

Hands down my favorite entry-level drone kit is the Joshua Bardwell quad kit. It’s a box of all the parts you’d need to build your first drone yourself — and it’s got a step-by-step video that holds your hand in the build process. It’s great because it gives people the support they need when doing their first build, and it allows the owner to really learn and understand what’s going into their build. The parts are good, and you can use his video to backtrack when you need to fix something. Or if you need to replace a motor or something — that video reference is always there. Plus, you can always swap the parts for something else as you become more interested in different types of parts. I think it’s a win-win situation.

There is a ‘choice’ you’ll need to make when choosing though. There is an analog video version, or a HD ready version. If you’re super tight on budget, analog is gonna be the way to go. But if you can squeeze the budget for HD — I’d say get the HD version for simplicity but just know you’ll need to pick a HD system like a DJI O3 Air Unit or similar. Just know that you’ll need DJI Integra goggles or V2 goggles with that. Analog has more options, I would look at the HDO 2s.

Practice Practice Practice

Learning to fly an FPV drone might be one of the most unnatural hobbies you could pick, and it takes a lot of practice to get ‘good’ — whatever that means in the eye of the beholder. The bottom line is that you’re gonna crash a lot. And if you’re not crashing, then you’re not pushing yourself hard enough to get better. Personally, I think that lesson carries over into life itself… I’ll leave it at that.

What you’re gonna want to do is practice taking off and landing. Throttle control, turning, and the basics before attempting anything more advanced like Rubik’s cubes. Nail that, and the world is your oyster!