Chapter 1: Introduction to Quadcopter Drones

Multicopters, drones, quadcopters. These little aircraft are all a new breed of radio control (RC) fun that is rapidly gaining in popularity. But with newness, there is limited  information available on these systems. This is particularly true for beginners who wish to participate, but do not understand how to get started. But first be forewarned, this is a very addicting hobby.  Once you start... eh, you'll find out.

Challenge taken.  You will know my capacity!

I'm sorry, but I had to include the above.  My goodeness it is a fun commercial :)

In the early days of PC's, hobbyists focused on building their own computers (many still do). Such is the case with quadcopters. But it wasn't until low-cost mass produced PC's hit the market that the average person took interest and PC's really took off.  Mass produced quadcopters are just starting to hit the market.  Get ready, they're about to "take off"!

There are some hobby sites already out there that do provide a good source of information.  But many of these sites focus on the RC hobbyist.  The information is usually more advanced than what the average person may need to know.  Also, some sites will try to sell very advanced (and costly) quadcopters to people who do not even know how to fly.  The end result of such irresponsible sites is this guy:

or this guy

Don't be those guys.  You really don't need a DJI Phantom just yet. With no RC experience, trying to learn to fly with one will likely be a costly mistake. A cheap $40 imported toy quadcopter will do just fine in teaching you the basics of flight. Don't let the low price fool you, they actually fly amazingly well (see the first video above). Once you master flight, then you can become one of those guys.

This site is intended to specifically help beginners learn how to fly a quadcopter. The majority of the articles are intended to help beginners take to the air. First you'll be introduced to a description of a quadcopter, how it works, and how it's controlled. Terminology of this hobby will also be described. Following that will be a discussion on the selection of your first quadcopter. The first steps of flight are then discussed and demonstrated. You'll start with basic hovering, then eventually transition through intermediate and advanced flight tutorials.