Click the drone in the Fleet sidebar. The node header shows its name, link state and tabs. On the Cockpit tab, the safety band below it shows the armed state, mode, battery, GPS and link.
Node header and Cockpit safety band for a connected drone.
2
Run pre-flight checks
On the Flight tab, confirm:
GPS has a 3D fix or better, if you plan to use Loiter or Return to Home.
Battery voltage matches a full charge.
The attitude indicator is level with the drone on flat ground.
RC channels move with your sticks, if you use an RC transmitter.
The flight mode is Stabilize or Alt Hold.
Work through the Pre-flight checklist in the Cockpit tab. Fix any flight controller pre-arm failure before arming.
3
Set up the gamepad
Connect the gamepad, then bind and calibrate it in Settings → Input Devices. In the Cockpit tab, turn the STICK chip to ON.Mission Control sends stick input to the flight controller only while stick control is on, a gamepad is reporting, the drone is connected and armed, and the flight mode gives the pilot stick authority (for example Stabilize, Alt Hold, Loiter or PosHold). The keyboard does not fly the drone; keys trigger skill-bar actions only. Hotkeys are listed on Cockpit.
4
Arm
Step back from the drone. In the Cockpit skill bar, use Arm and slide the confirm control to the end (or hold Enter or the bound gamepad button).If the pre-flight checklist has open items, the confirm sheet lists them under Pre-flight checklist incomplete and needs Override checklist before it will arm. The override is recorded as a safety event. If the flight controller refuses to arm, Mission Control shows the reason it gave.
Cockpit tab with the drone armed.
5
Take off and hover
In Stabilize, raise the throttle slowly until the drone lifts off. In Alt Hold, the throttle stick centre holds altitude, above centre climbs and below centre descends.Hover at 2 to 3 metres. Keep inputs gentle until the drone behaves as you expect. If anything feels wrong, use Loiter in the skill bar to hold position (GPS required).
6
Change flight modes
The default skill bar has Loiter (F1), Alt Hold (F2) and Stabilize (F3). Guided and Auto are in the skill drawer and can be added to an empty slot. The flight controller confirms each change.
7
Land
Fly back over the landing spot and lower the throttle until the drone touches down, or use Land (hold to confirm) to descend in place. Return to Home (hold to confirm) flies back to the launch point and lands, and needs GPS.After touchdown, use the Arm slot again if the flight controller has not disarmed itself: while the drone is armed it runs Disarm, which you hold to confirm. Kill Motors cuts the motors immediately, in the air too, and uses a guarded two-step hold. Use it only in an emergency.
8
Review the flight
Open Logs in the top navigation for the record of each flight, or the drone’s Logs tab for that drone’s history. See Flight logs.
