altitude control problem

[Triampala]

Hi! I'm completely new to the all FPV thing and now I'm struggling to keep the altitude:
in Horizont mode it keeps slowly going up or down with both handlers centered. No way to make it hover.
In Acro mode I can hold the altitude by holding throttle very slightly above the zero, although it is rather hard. But When I start moving it goes up or down, impossible to keep the altitude.
I tried to watch tutorials, but on second one it says "Video unavailable", and the third just says: go in and out the colored circles.
So no progress, every next attempt only gets me more angry.

Am I missing something? Or maybe it's an issue with my conroller?
I use an analogue of Xbox controller, that works perfectly fine in other games. I've also calibrated it in the game and in Steam itself.

[LuGus Studios]

Welcome to Liftoff and to the world of FPV.

What you describe is completely expected behaviour. FPV racing drones are not made to hover in place, they are made to be constantly on the move, so it's a constant balancing act. I suspect you are using a game controller (hence the centre stick reference), this means you are always giving throttle input (so making your propellers spin) when you centre your stick, indeed your drone will slowly fly upwards. There's no easy way to make your drone hover perfectly in place.

[JuniorDiscart]

That's expected behaviour since having your throttle centered doesn't mean 0 throttle, it means half throttle. Depending on your drone setup, half throttle is enough to make it go up, or if it isn't powerful enough, it will go back down again. Very little setups actually have their hoverpoint at half throttle. In 3D mode, a centered throttle will give 0 throttle though, and pushing it down will generate negative thrust which allows you to actively go backwards.

Part of learning FPV is managing your throttle, and that's especially more difficult with a game controller because you lack precision (real radio transmitters have sticks that are higher and make it easier to do). That's not to say it can't be done, as I personally learned to fly with a PS4 controller with thumbstick extenders and can perfectly fly now without them, but it's an extra hurdle to get to learn it faster than you otherwise would with a proper radio.

I'm afraid this is part of the routine and you'll have to get used to that.

Regarding the tutorials: I would say to dismiss those (these were made in a very early stage of development, and flight behaviour between setups back then versus now is almost not comparable anymore). Just start flying Freeflight in Straw Bale, and set some simple goals to reach for first, like flying around and then going through the barn, etc. You can also follow other real life learn to fly tutorials and apply them to Liftoff.

[Triampala]

thanks for the explanations, I'll try to make thumbstick extenders and watch some tutorials on Youtube
I use $30 controller from Aliexpress, it's a decent one, but I guess it looses in precision to the PS original

[Sek]

Setting some expo on your throttle curve should help in the flight controller settings, along with setting the mid point for that curve to be close to the quad's throttle hover point.

[Amen_Ra_187]

As previous responders mentioned, this is normal. It took me about 50 hours in Acro mode to be able to stay in the air and fly a decent path on The Green level. I've logged about 120 hours as of today and after playing with rates, I can almost get the build I'm flying to do what I want it to do. Going out IRL is a little different but the sim definitely helped my actual flying. Keep at it. The muscle memory will take over and soon you'll be wondering why you were struggling. You'd be surprised how stepping away and coming back helps.

[Triampala]

Thank you for the support, guys! I finally kinda nailed it down, putting my controller on the table and moving thumbsticks with index finger and thumb. At least I can now fly and turn without crashing every 5 seconds. Yay!)))

[RakTheGoose]

I have my DJI FPV controller plugged in and im using the DJI FPV drone ingame. The drone still wants to keep climbing in altitude even if my throttle is centered. Which isnt the behavior of the drone normally.

[JuniorDiscart]

Originally posted by Goose:

I have my DJI FPV controller plugged in and im using the DJI FPV drone ingame. The drone still wants to keep climbing in altitude even if my throttle is centered. Which isnt the behavior of the drone normally.

The DJI FPV drone setup in Liftoff is limited in the number of flight modes to what we already simulate. We haven't added all available flight modes and features to the digital twin of the DJI FPV in Liftoff. Only Manual and Sport mode are available here, which equates to ACRO and Level mode for other available drones in Liftoff.
The flight mode you're referring to in real life is likely not available in Liftoff, and I guess this is where your expectations don't match.

[ian.solway]

So very useful advice, thank you all