Got a new drone? Start here.

Step 1 · At home

Before you go outside

Do the setting up at home, where you have Wi-Fi, a charger and somewhere warm. Doing it in a field uses up battery and daylight you would rather spend flying.

• Charge everything

  Every flight battery, the controller, and your phone if it is the screen.

• Activate and update

  Most drones need activating in the maker's app the first time, and many ask for a firmware update when they first connect. Updates can take a while, so do them on home Wi-Fi.

• Set the Return to Home height

  It needs to clear the tallest trees and buildings where you fly, or the drone can fly into them on its way back.

• Switch on Return to Home for low battery

  So the drone comes back on its own before the battery runs out.

• Learn the two controls you will need in a hurry

  How to pause the drone in mid-air, and how to cancel Return to Home. Find them in the manual now, not when something unexpected happens.

Step 2 · Your IDs

Check which drone IDs you need

Depending on your drone, you may need a Flyer ID, an Operator ID or both before you fly outdoors. The CAA sets these rules and changes them, so this page does not explain them.

Step 3 · The weather

Choose calm days for your first flights

Wind catches out more new pilots than anything else. A drone's published wind limit is the most it can handle, not a comfortable level to learn in, so leave yourself room.

The numbers

Learner limits for popular first drones

These are the figures DroneChecker uses. The usual limit is the Do Not Fly line, based on the manufacturer's published wind resistance. The learner limit is the same line in learner mode, at 75% of it. Each applies to both steady wind and gusts.

On the day

Your first flight

Pick a big open space for the first few flights: a field well away from people, roads, trees and power lines, where a mistake costs nothing. Look at the airspace map in the app before you set off, so you know what is near you.

1. 1

   Plan where you will stand

   Somewhere you can keep the drone in sight the whole time.

2. 2

   Let it find GPS

   Wait until the drone's app shows a strong GPS signal and confirms the home point, and calibrate the compass if it asks.

3. 3

   Start with a hover

   Take off, climb to a couple of metres and let it hover for a minute. Check that it holds steady and that the sticks do what you expect, then land.

4. 4

   Practise the basics close by

   Forward and back, side to side, slow turns, and landing where you meant to. Stay low and close until those feel easy.

5. 5

   Land with battery to spare

   Leave plenty for the flight back, especially if it is into the wind.

The pre-flight checklist covers the checks to run before every flight.

Winter

Got it for Christmas? Flying in a UK winter

Most new drones are unwrapped in the shortest, coldest weeks of the year, which brings a few problems of its own.

Your first month

Step up as you improve

Learner mode is free. The app offers it when you set up (“New to flying?”), or you can switch it on later in Settings. Fly window alerts and the Friday heads-up use the same learner limits.

1. LStage 1 75%of your drone's limits

   Where learner mode starts. Warnings come early, while every flight is still new.

2. LStage 2 85%of your drone's limits

   Offered after 10 logged flights or 30 days.

3. Full limits 100%of your drone's limits

   Offered after 25 logged flights or 60 days at 85%. Accepting turns learner mode off.

It only moves up when you say so. While it is on, the in-app pre-flight checklist adds four beginner checks, and a new install gets a first-month checklist on the dashboard: picking your drone, saving your drone IDs, reading the Drone Code and looking at the airspace map.

Find your drone