FPV Freestyle Tricktionary
So you want to take your FPV Drone flying to the next level?
Why not learn from the pros! Le Drib, Alex Vanover, and Josh Bardwell discusses the most popular freestyle tricks
Before we get to the advance, we need to learn the basics first. Almost all of the tricks in FPV Freestyle involves these three basic categories:
Roll or Barrel Roll
Roll is in essence just flipping the kwad along the roll axis while the Barrel Roll is where you use power to actually go spiral.
Flipping or Looping
Flipping is the fast movement that happens when you try to maneuver on objects and instantly getting back to flying motion afterwards.
Yaw Spin
Yaw Spin is when you spin in place and just keep on going. When you do the same thing but slowly that is more similar to a turn.
So those three are the basics. Everything else we will discuss below is some kind of combination or variant of the basics.
The amazing thing about Freestyling is it is what it is! You can do whatever you want! So experiment and see what tricks you are best at.
There are different categories doing FPV Freestyle. Some involve being in an open air and some need objects that you work on.
Open Air Tricks
Open Air Tricks are the ones where you need vast space to work on like forests, mountain ranges, and even in a wide parking lot.
Rubiks Cube - you do a half flip forward and then a 360 roll and then a half flip forward again or some combination of those things.
Inverted Yaw Spin - you turn over, you do an ordinary Yaw Spin and then turn over again
Juicy Flik - you go forward, aggressively flip upside down, have some look back recorded, and then go back.
Stall - you freeze the kwad, then let it drop
Throwback - you fly forward, go back, throttle up, keep going backward, and then go on
Vanny Roll - you need to keep the kwad going, a lot of backward spin, swing the kwad, then do a roll
Object-Based Tricks
Object based tricks are ones that you need to interact with your environment. It is more similar to going in an obstacle course where you try to maneuver the kwad based on your surroundings.
Gaps - you basically just fly through a gap. Name speaks for itself :)
Knife Edge - gaps have different sizes and one of the most challenging is the knife edge gap where the gap is narrow so you need to knife edge stall in order to fit the kwad.
Power Loop - is trying to over or under something then going back again. It’s similar to U turn slot where you turn and then go back to the opposite direction.
Orbits - trying to go around a stationary object and orbiting it 360 degrees.
Split S - you fly forward, roll 180 degrees, then you go back to the opposite direction you came in
Immelmann - you climb, go back, then roll out
Mattyflip - you go over an object, pitch forward, keep pitching forward, apply power, and end up thrusting backwards under the object
Trippy Spin / Cyclone - similar to orbiting but the camera angle is different
Dives - you are diving by using a nose down stall
Wall Ride - you are gliding by the wall without touching it
Backwards Dive - you are diving by using a nose up stall
Contact Tricks
Contact Tricks are ones that you are intentionally trying to make contact with an object. You can usually do these inside the city and not in an open air environment.
Wall Bonk - you are trying to use the bottom part of your quad to make contact with walls or ceilings
Slides / Grinds - similar to skateboarding where you grind rails, floors, and other areas where your kwad can slide.
Perches - you just go and land on something, sounds simple right? But you should be accurate and time your landing well.
So there you go! Here is the list of the most common tricks in FPV Freestyling. Of course there are a lot of tricks out there unnamed and that is the fun thing about this hobby. Go experiment on your own and combine, create, and master these tricks!