Quadcopter Orientation Tips for Distant Flying

What would you do if one day you flew further away than you would be able to visually distinguish your quadcopter's front or back? All you see is a single dot or single light in the sky, what would you do then?

It's very important to learn how to maintain orientation of your quadcopter just by its movement alone. The following orientation tips are especially important for night flying. Visual quadcopter orientation aids alone, such as colored propellers, lights, or quadcopter paint schemes, should not solely be relied upon. 

First thing to remember is don't panic.  It's very easy and very simple to bring your quadcopter back to you.  Simply push forward on the pitch control to gain forward movement on the quad. Then notice which direction the quadcopter is moving in the distance. 

If it seems to have some left movement, then turn left to turn the quadcopter toward your direction. If it's moving to the right in the distance, turn right to point it toward you. If it alternates between right and left, just keep matching the direction that you turn with its movement.  Remember, if it's:

 moving left, turn left    moving right, turn right 

And here's a video example showing how simple it is to do such.

And some parting words for those early beginner flyers who are still only comfortable flying with the back end of the quadcopter pointed toward them. Note that these directions apply equally well flying backwards, or for that matter in any direction. 

Think about it, the direction that you would need to turn does NOT reverse. It works the exact same way whether you're moving forward or backwards. Just pull back on the pitch to get some backward movement. If the quadcopter in the distance is moving right, turn right. If it's moving left, turn left. 

Now think a little bit harder. There really is no front/back/sides of a quadcopter. A quad can fly equally well in any direction.  So you can also give right or left stick to give it "sidewards" movement. If the quadcopter is moving right, turn right. If it's moving left, turn left. It will still fly inward towards you.