Cheap things that will improve your FPV flying the most.

I have learnt a few things in the last few months of flying and I would like to share it with the world. There's no use struggling when others have already made the mistakes for you.

Here goes:

1. Buy good props. (cost: $3)

Or in my case, buy unbreakable 3 blade performance props.
My recommendation is DALProp's CYCLONE Series T5045C.

I am on my second set, only because the first set started looking ugly.
These things just never break, they bend, which means they absorb the shock so your engines won't.
Bent prop? Just bend it back and rip further.

I started off with dual blade props, but seeing all the pros use tri-blades made me want to try it.
I took the plunge and happened to buy the cyclones. They were only $3 a pack, which really isn't bad.
When they arrived I bolted them to my quad and went flying.

What I experienced is stability and a quiet hum of the blades piercing the air. Such a soothing sound.
But that's not all! I got about 15% longer flight time on these babies. 3$ for that kind of improvement is totally worth it!

2. Buy the right FPV lens (about $9)

I remember watching an endless stream of FPV freestyle videos and wondering how the pilots had such confidence about their surroundings, almost a better spacial awareness if you will.
I assumed it's only the GoPros recording the flight that have a wide field of view.
I was wrong!

Following Mr. Steele's advice, I found a similar lens to the one he uses. The GoPro Hero 2 replacement lens.

On the first flight I felt like all my other flights were done while staring through a toilet roll. I could confidently roll, knowing exactly where the ground is. My moves smoothed out and were less jerky as well as crashing becoming a rare event.

Pretty good for a $9 spend!

3. Simulator Cable (price tbc)

I know, I know. You've heard this before and you're getting sick of hearing it.

I can't stress this enough though, especially if you're on a budget build like me.
Simulators have unlimited battery hours, indestructible copters and physics settings to make it harder on yourself while training.

Click here for simulator cable.

Sims I would suggest are:
1. Hotprops - Free, very good for freestyle
2. FPV Freerider - $5, good overall, but controls are a bit iffy.
3.DRL Racing Simulator - Free, nice graphics, iffy settings, can't get a realistic feel from it.

4. Set your PIDs (Free!)

So you were terrible at mathematics in highschool, that doesn't mean you can't set your PIDs.
I'll be putting together an absolute dummies guide to PID tuning. In the meanwhile, check out Joshua Bardwell's videos, he does things proper and takes you through all the steps.

Setting my PIDs has made me feel like I'm the one holding the direct controls of my quad and not the flight controller. When I roll left, it rolls left, when I stop and pitch backwards, it does so. Make your digital-iness disappear in your controls and give yourself more of an analog feel.

Joshua Bardwell's PID vids