My history in RC goes back to flying pattern planes so I'm used to going out to the field and 'practicing'. No, I was never great at it but it was much more interesting than just flying around aimlessly. When I go out to just keep my thumbs loose with the I1P, I've tried to come up with different drills that would enhance my skills. This is the one I've found to be the hardest to get  perfect and the most rewarding.

Let's assume a football field and you are standing on the sidelines on the 50 yard line. Flying the bird from goal post to goal post, back and forth while constantly making 90 degree yaw turns. The goal would be to keep flying in a straight line and not have any loss of speed or jerkiness as you perform each turn. Obviously you can mix in left and right yaw turns at will or do only one or the other at first. It might sound easy but it really does give your thumbs a workout and it's the best orientation drill I've found.

I haven't done as much flying this past month as I'd like so I forced myself to go through all 6 batteries with nothing but drills today and it's amazing how much better that last battery looked, compared to the first.

I'd be happy to hear of any other routines folks are using to improve their skills.

I do kind of the same thing, by flying in Atti mode and doing some skilled flying rather than having the GPS taking on the flying duties.

I try to do glide in landing ( I have a sailplane background )  so from a distance  Of say 500 feet out and 300 feet of altitude I drop the power stick all the way down and try to do a spot landing , moving to the left or right or doing large or small  circles to bleed off airspeed and altitude to l make a spot landing on a predetermined spot, the is accomplished with adding NO POWER.  This becomes challenging and exciting .  ( More fun when you add a bit of wind, it is a huge factor )

Also I enjoy making smooth coordinated turns  and landing at a distance of say 100 to 500 feet away so I can be ready for an emergency landing , these practices make us  better pilots.

We are on the same Page, flightime 1, guess

Great Minds Think Alike ,

donnie

Thanks for the ideas.  I often pick out chalk lines, hash marks on a field and fly various patterns with different orientations  or changing orientations (box, box w/X, etc.)  Two others I work and struggle with are setting a lawn chair in a field and fly POI circles alternating directions and radius, also tracking past the same chair at various straight angles of flight.  All of these in both GPS and ATTI.  Yes, each time better as I work 10 batteries but I'll admit, sometimes I get frustrated and back step to basics.  

thanks for the ideas!

davidbsamuels Posted at 2016-8-2 13:35
Thanks for the ideas.  I often pick out chalk lines, hash marks on a field and fly various patterns  ...

davidbsamuels...
The lawn chair, or whatever object is a must unless you plan on only ever doing selfies.

Another benefit to having a standard flight drill is that it can serve as an excellent shakedown test for your UAV after repairs or firmware updates.
When you are used to your schedule of manoeuvres and how the Inspire performs you will quickly pick up on any performance changes or issues in a safe and controlled environment.

Much better than finding an unexpected problem while out on location!