Hey. I got the DJI FPV last week. My first FPV drone. I started with the motion controller which was fun but limits the range over the normal controller so I started practising with N & S mode in the flight sim app and that went ok so today I switched to M mode (I adjusted the controller to remove auto centre on throtlle and unlocked the mode through the goggles). The thing I'm struggling with is making the drone fly forward in a straight line...no matter how small the movements I make on the sticks it mostly wants to fly upwards and not fowards. I watched a bunch of youtube videos but didn't help much. What can I do to practice this please? Could there be a calibration issue with the controller or it's only my brain that needs recalibrating? Thanks in advance

Maybe I'm in danger of answering my own question...seems the gimbal adjustment really helped make it easier flying mostly straight forward. I need to play around with it a bit more but felt like progress finally. Is this expected as part of setting up flying manual...it was something I didn't see in any of the youtube vids I'd watched so came as a surprise.

D@rkM@ttah Posted at 12-20 12:48
Maybe I'm in danger of answering my own question...seems the gimbal adjustment really helped make it easier flying mostly straight forward. I need to play around with it a bit more but felt like progress finally. Is this expected as part of setting up flying manual...it was something I didn't see in any of the youtube vids I'd watched so came as a surprise.

The thing to realise or remember is that you now have to manually mix forward tilt with the throttle to maintain level flight. The less tilt you have, the more the thrust is converted into lift, so you rise up. The more tilt you have the more the thrust goes into forward acceleration and the less sensitive the altitude is to it. If you are new to acro flying, then yes it's all about rewiring your brain and muscle memory.

The gimbal angle influences what forward tilt of the airframe "feels" natural.

D@rkM@ttah Posted at 12-20 12:48
Maybe I'm in danger of answering my own question...seems the gimbal adjustment really helped make it easier flying mostly straight forward. I need to play around with it a bit more but felt like progress finally. Is this expected as part of setting up flying manual...it was something I didn't see in any of the youtube vids I'd watched so came as a surprise.

Yes.  Realizing that the gimbal angle up influences how you fly forward was huge, also realizing that using two sticks to manuever and turn was a game changer.  I’m very comfortable with S mode. M nakes me a little nervous still.  

Did you use the sim, that was also some help.  

D@rkM@ttah Posted at 12-20 12:48
Maybe I'm in danger of answering my own question...seems the gimbal adjustment really helped make it easier flying mostly straight forward. I need to play around with it a bit more but felt like progress finally. Is this expected as part of setting up flying manual...it was something I didn't see in any of the youtube vids I'd watched so came as a surprise.

Yes.  Realizing that the gimbal angle up influences how you fly forward was huge, also realizing that using two sticks to manuever and turn was a game changer.  I’m very comfortable with S mode. M nakes me a little nervous still.  

Did you use the sim, that was also some help.  

In M mode you have to tilt the drone forwards and push the throttle (if you don't tilt forward the drone is level and pushing the throttle just moves it up). The more you tilt forward and the more you push the throttle the faster you fly. Then comes in the gimbal.
You have to adjust it. If you put it to say 15 degrees you "want" to fly not very fast because if you tilt the drone forwards more than 15 degrees you see the ground. If you put the gimbal to say 35 degrees you "can't" fly slowly because then you mostly see the sky. I'd try to figure out the combination of tilt and throttle starting at 15 degrees gimbal in the simulator and then work upwards.In N and S modes the software adjustes the gimbal to level or rather keeps it visually the same level even if you fly slow or fast (in realliy it points the gimbal up when flying fast and points it "less up" when you fly slow) only you don't notice it in the video.

Depp Posted at 12-20 23:15
In M mode you have to tilt the drone forwards and push the throttle (if you don't tilt forward the drone is level and pushing the throttle just moves it up). The more you tilt forward and the more you push the throttle the faster you fly. Then comes in the gimbal.
You have to adjust it. If you put it to say 15 degrees you "want" to fly not very fast because if you tilt the drone forwards more than 15 degrees you see the ground. If you put the gimbal to say 35 degrees you "can't" fly slowly because then you mostly see the sky. I'd try to figure out the combination of tilt and throttle starting at 15 degrees gimbal in the simulator and then work upwards.In N and S modes the software adjustes the gimbal to level or rather keeps it visually the same level even if you fly slow or fast (in realliy it points the gimbal up when flying fast and points it "less up" when you fly slow) only you don't notice it in the video.

Thanks everyone for the responses...super helpful. The gimbal angle is something I totally missed but made a big difference. I also fully recalibrated both controller and gimbal which further helped...all of my practices so far is within the sim...only another 74 hours of practice left before going for it IRL!

D@rkM@ttah Posted at 12-21 06:06
Thanks everyone for the responses...super helpful. The gimbal angle is something I totally missed but made a big difference. I also fully recalibrated both controller and gimbal which further helped...all of my practices so far is within the sim...only another 74 hours of practice left before going for it IRL!

Good luck. And don't forget: N/S modes or stop are just one switch away.

D@rkM@ttah Posted at 12-21 06:06
Thanks everyone for the responses...super helpful. The gimbal angle is something I totally missed but made a big difference. I also fully recalibrated both controller and gimbal which further helped...all of my practices so far is within the sim...only another 74 hours of practice left before going for it IRL!

Good to hear that you are taking sim practice seriously. It's invaluable.

Since all stabilisation features are off in M mode, you have to fly it really manually like the M implies.
When you increase the power with the left stick, the done will climb of course. You have to compensate for it with the right stick by tilting it more forward.
It is just practice, practice, practice.
Same in semi tight turns. You have to use all stick movements simultaneously.
In a turn you use  aileron (right stick) for banking , rudder ( left stick) for the turn coordination and have to add some power, because in a turn there is a horizontal component of the lift, which asks for power compensation to hold the same altitude.

There used to be a youtub video explaining how to adjust the rates and gains.  If you slow them down and back the responsiveness off they are much easier to fly learning.  I had a hell of a time untill I fooled around enough to tune it how I liked it.  Make small adjustments one thing at a time and go fly see how it responds and adjust again.   It is a time consuming deal but to be honest DJI's tune stinks so bad, you will thank yourself for learning how.