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How to Trim a Drone

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Updated February 10, 2023

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Difficulty Medium

Steps 4

Time Required 30 - 60 minutes

Sections

Things to Know

The best drones can help you enhance your business or just your weekend fun. However, whether you are looking to know how to use a drone camera or how to race drones, you first have to understand how to program it so that it flies straight. Because of this need, below, we will show you how to trim your drone.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

A drone pilot can use trimming control to eliminate drifting or spinning when the drone is supposed to be in a steady hover.
The process of trimming a drone is easy and is done from buttons found on the drone’s control pad.
A well-trimmed drone will have a perfect balance and shouldn’t drift in any direction.

How to Adjust Trim on a Drone

If you own a drone and notice that it’s drifting in a specific direction without you guiding it, it’s time to trim it. Essentially, trimming is a way to calibrate the drone so that it stays level during flight. It’s a crucial part of knowing how to program your drone but is a simple process once you know what to do.

Insider Tip

Don’t try to trim your drone when there is a strong wind outside since it can make you overcompensate.

Once you’ve successfully trimmed your drone, it should hover steadily in one place without drifting in any direction. And if you are looking into purchasing a drone, you can check out our review of the Holy Stone Hs720 vs Hs720e.

STEP 1 Find Which Way Your Drone Drifts

Power on your drone and put it in a hover. Check to see which way it drifts.

STEP 2 Locate the Trim Buttons

The trim buttons will be on the remote control pad. They should be right around the drone controller’s joysticks.

STEP 3 Adjust Trim Setting

Once you’ve landed your drone, use the trimming switch buttons on the remote controller to set the trim. Check your drone manual to make sure which button is which. There are usually four buttons for drone trimming on the flight controller: Roll, Pitch, Yaw, and Throttle.
The roll trim button is used if your drone is drifting to the right or left. For example, if you notice the drift direction is left, push the roll trim to the right.
The pitch trim button needs to be adjusted if you notice the drone drifting forwards or backward.
The yaw trim button needs to be adjusted if the drone is spinning in a counterclockwise or clockwise direction.
The throttle button will need to be adjusted if you have stability issues during takeoff.
It might take a couple of tries to figure out why the trim button.

STEP 4 Repeat Until Drone Trim is Stable

Continue to repeat the above process on your control pad until you achieve a stable hover and balanced flight.

Warning

Never attempt to trim your drone while flying it. Doing this could cause it to fall and crash, damaging your device or even causing physical harm.

F.A.Q.S

Do all drones come with trimming buttons?

No. Cheaper drones usually don’t come with trimming buttons. However, most intermediate and advanced drones do.

What is calibrating your drone?

The calibration process sets the inertial measurement unit (IMU), a circuit that helps keep a drone flat and level.

What do the beeps mean when I trim my drone?

The beeps indicate how far from the mid-level you’ve gone and are used to help you find the way to return to factory settings.

STAT: It’s best to analyze your drone’s trim at a balance altitude of 7-10 feet. (source)

REFERENCES:

Nathan Rizzuti

An abiding consumer, Nathan cares a great deal about advocating and informing fellow users on their latest rights, options, and news updates concerning their beloved and expanding assembly of gadgets.