Offline Simulator

[iam@fote]

Hi. I'm new to drone flying and was wondering if there's any good third party flight simulator to practise with before actually taking to the air.

 

[Spark4Me]

I just got a Spark - no flights, yet.

I have two other cheaper drones, a SYMA x5sw and a Hubsan H502s, and think we desperately need a good simulator; I’ve had many crashes because of disorientation, when the drone is pointing towards you, and left stick produces a right turn. Getting used to that takes practice, and it would be nice to practice without banging up your drone, or having it fly away.

There appears to a simulator in the DJI app, but I haven’t tried it yet; you have to activate your drone, to access it.

 

[Eljay]

I tried the DJI one and it was too clunky to be useful.

 

[Spark 317]

Just fire it up and take baby steps.

Low and slow.

The joysticks are sensitive to input so give a little stick and you get little movement.

Practice all of the movements...slowly.

When you have a good GPS lock or optical fix if flying inside and you panic, just let go of the sticks and collect yourself. The Spark should hover patiently and wait for you.

My first flights were no higher than 10' and in my backyard until I got comfortable with "muscle memory" and knowing how to fly the Spark without over thinking it.

 

[Spark4Me]

I understand that you can release the sticks and it will hold its position, but that’s only true if you have GPS lock. My concern is practicing what to do when you loose GPS for some unforeseen reason, and are stuck in ATTI mode. On one of my first flights with the Hubsan, I was drifting towards tall bushes, and panicked when I moved a stick and went in the opposite direction.

 

[clouseau]

This or another reliable small drone is the best simulator I've found so far, as there is no better simulator than actually flying outside in the elements.

 

[Eljay]

It's definitely amazing to me how many people don't fly some small/cheap/semi disposable drones first. The Spark is way easier to fly if everything's going OK... but obviously that's not always the case. I'm a big fan of the Holy Stone drones (on Amazon).

 

[DJ_EYE]

Chiming in on an old post, but to anyone really, just power it up and get it in the air.
My 7yo daughter flew mine perfectly on the first day without any previous remote control experience ever.
It's a very stable unit. If you freak just let go of the sticks, it will stop immediately where it is and wait for your next move. Easy!
Have fun.

 

[Eljay]

Well, sure, until it loses GPS lock then it gets EXCITING.

 

[DJ_EYE]

I've never experienced that thankfully.

 

[shutter13]

I would love a simulator to work with before I unbox my spark on Christmas Day. I just bought a parrot swing with fly pad and with just one battery worth of flying, I know I need practice. I’m not a gamer and have no RC experience whatsoever, so getting the spark in the air is going to be a bit intimidating. It would be nice to be able to practice on the controls with no chance of hurting my drone.

 

[Spark 317]

I would love a simulator to work with before I unbox my spark on Christmas Day.

I'm not sure if its been mentioned, but DJI does provide a cheesy simulator in the Go4 app.

Of course you can't practice until you receive it.

 

[Denver]

Im a bit confused here. I have flown my Spark inside a large warehouse..no gps lock, only ATTI. It took off and hovered at its preset height and whenever I let go the sticks it immediately went into hover. The only difference I found in flying it was you had to watch where you flew it very carefully. I have flown a fully manual Hubsan for a year..really difficult to begin with, constantly having to adjust the trim to get it to hover...the spark is so easy.

 

[Eljay]

Indoors the visual sensors work well enough given the lack of wind.