4 Drone Drills to Instantly Improve Your Flying

The dreaded drone flying plateau is a common issue for pilots who are trying to improve their precision and skill. However, it’s important to remember that this plateau of skill level is a practice problem, not a piloting problem. By incorporating advanced drone control drills into your training, you can break through the plain and elevate your skill set.

Drone coordination exercises are best for pilots who already have basic stick control and who are ready for the next tier of precision, coordination, and spatial awareness. Anyone who wants to practice with intermediate drone flying drills should already know how to achieve steady hover, straight-line flight, and clean landings.

When focusing on drone skill progression, use a drone with manual flight mode and GPS disabled (such as DJI Mini, Air, or Mavic). In manual mode, your drone will not autocorrect, and sloppy inputs will be magnified, allowing you to better correct your mistakes and sharpen drone flying precision in real time.

Why Most Pilots Stall at the Same Skill Level

The plateau pattern happens to many pilots: They become comfortable hovering their drone and taking gentle turns, and then no new challenges arise after that, so their skills level off. For months and years, they may be stuck flying the same drone in the same way, in turn eliminating the excitement and possibility of commercial drone flying.

Drone skill progression is only possible through increased difficulty, which is why drone practice exercises play an integral role in pilot growth and development over time. The four drone drills below are designed to add challenge in stages, with each drill building on the previous one. Progressing through the drone coordination exercises, you can shatter the plateau and improve drone flying precision overall.

Build Your Course

Intermediate drone flying drills require you to use a drone course. The first three drills share the same course setup, so you only need to build it once.

To set up your course:

Place two rows of cones 4 to 6 feet apart. Cones can be placed outside or along a hallway if indoors.
You have the option to include hoops or low barriers at strategic points to force height changes. Height-change obstacles let you learn how to climb and descend through a gap; this is what separates confined-space flying from open-field flying.

This course setup mirrors the light, obstacle-filled conditions of industrial mapping and inspection work, which is common in commercial drone flying.

Drill 1: Slow and Steady

The first drill involves a slow and steady approach, helping you improve precision while taking your skill to the next level. During this drill, take a smooth, unhurried first pass through the course, and fly a clean, straight line end-to-end. During this pass, hold your altitude steady through every obstacle, and resist the urge to rush.

The goal of this drill is to complete a single, uninterrupted run with no stops, centerline drift, or altitude wander. Avoid watching the obstacles instead of the whole flight path, as this can cause small uncaught drifts.

Practicing this drill regularly lets you establish a strong foundation for advanced drone control drills and drone spatial awareness training.

Drill 2: Yaw Adjustments

When you are ready to move on, start with the yaw adjustments drill. For this drill, you can run the same course again, but this time, add 90-degree yaw turns at set points within the course.

This added challenge enables you to coordinate forward movement with rotation rather than a single fixed heading. It adds an extra element to your flying technique as well as helps enhance the precision of your turns.

The goal is to get to the point where you can complete clean 180-degree turns with no overshoot before you take on the next leg of the course. Keep working at it so that you are not overshooting the turn, which could force you to include a second corrective yaw input.

By building on your existing knowledge and improving your precision overall, you can prepare for more complex conditions that are common in commercial drone flying.

Drill 3: Side to Side

To continue pushing past your plateau, work on intermediate drone flying drills that emphasize side-to-side movement. For this drill, take a third pass through the course that you built. This time, add lateral zigzag movements while moving forward. This allows you to combine pitch, roll, and yaw within your flight.

As you perfect this drill, you should be able to complete a full zigzag run with no clipped obstacles or altitude drift. Don’t let your altitude creep up while you are focused on the lateral movement, though. Your altitude should remain consistent during this drill.

All three of these passes are designed to help you hone the motor skills and reaction time needed for tight-quarters work, which is the standard in commercial drone flying. For example, the DJI Matrice 4T is widely used for industrial mapping and inspection, requiring pilots to employ extreme precision when flying in confined spaces.

When you have wrapped up your drone practice routine on the course you built, you will be ready to take on new and more challenging conditions.

Drill 4: The Orbit Lock

The orbit lock drill manual replicates what an automated orbit or Point of Interest mode does for you, helping you learn how to complete a perfect circle using your own advanced drone controls.

To complete this drill, pick a fixed subject nearby, such as a cone or stationary person. The key is to use a subject that provides a consistent distance. Once you have identified your focal point, begin to fly sideways around the subject while yawing simultaneously. This allows you to keep the subject centered in the frame.

The purpose of this drill is to complete a perfect circle with the subject locked in the frame. You should not have any wobble in altitude or radius. Remember that you should not be correcting using yaw alone. Instead, blend with lateral movement to achieve that steady, circular motion.

Make Practice a Routine, Not an Accident

Drone skill progression calls for structured, consistent practice. Rather than simply building a course at random and flying your drone a few times, you should embed advanced drone control drills into your routine. Likewise, as opposed to occasionally enjoying a few long training sessions, it’s recommended to spend between 15 and 20 minutes focusing on drone drill work two to three times per week. This ongoing practice lets you continue building your skills and improving your precision while you advance in your flight techniques.

To support the best possible results, run your drills in the same order each session, and only progress once a drill feels smooth, not just survivable. In addition, you may want to consider recording practice sessions on your phone. Rewatching these videos can help you catch small wobbles and hesitations that are hard to identify in real time.

Remember, you must maintain a visual line of sight of your drone during all outdoor practice as well as stay below 400 feet. This Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirement applies to both recreational drone usage and Part 107 flights.

Improve Drone Flying Precision at MzeroA Online Ground School

Becoming a commercial drone pilot entails improving flying skills and building regulatory knowledge. MzeroA’s Remote Pilot Course is designed for drone enthusiasts, commercial operators, and anyone interested in pursuing remote pilot certification, equipping students with a firm grasp of airspace, weather, regulations, and safety procedures. In this program, learners benefit from hands-on, scenario-based lessons that teach practical skills for real-world drone operations.

This course has prepared more than 55,000 pilots and helped them earn their Part 107 certificate. The Remote Pilot 101 course costs $179 for lifetime access, plus is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Better stick control makes you a safer pilot, but the right ground school makes you a certified one. Request more information about MzeroA’s Remote Pilot 101 Course today.