First Manual Mode FPV Flight Session
Initial attempt at manual flight control with the DJI Neo. From simulator training to real-world flight testing, experiencing the complexity and thrill of FPV drone piloting.
By Toshiyuki Yoshida
During a recent aerial photography session at Lake Sasagawa, I forgot my DJI Air 3S and had to rely on the DJI Neo as a backup. While capturing standard high-altitude shots, I noticed the potential for more dynamic, FPV-style cinematography.
This sparked my interest in maximizing the Neo's capabilities, so I've been grinding simulator hours to master manual mode control. Today marked my first real-world manual flight test with the actual hardware.
My current setup consists of DJI Goggles N3 paired with the DJI FPV Remote Controller 3. As expected, the physics and latency characteristics differ significantly from simulation environments, but after approximately one hour of iterative testing, I managed to develop basic muscle memory for the control scheme.
Still requires substantial practice to achieve proficiency, but the low-level flight dynamics offer a completely different piloting experience compared to traditional high-altitude aerial photography workflows.