Some rules are written down: the law, the club rules and the race rules. Break them and someone will stop you. But there is a second set of rules that nobody writes down. Good pilots just follow them, and new pilots learn them by watching, often the hard way. This guide writes them down.
They all come down to one idea: fly so that everyone else can fly too.
Before you plug in
Your video signal doesn't stay in your goggles. It reaches every pair of goggles in the hall, so the moment you plug in a battery is the moment that matters. Look at the channel screen first. If your channel is free, book it, then plug in. If it is taken, wait your turn.
There are no quick tests in the pits. Powering up "just for a second" at your bench puts your video into the air while other pilots are flying, and a quick test in the pits is someone else's crash on the track. And when you land, unplug: your video is on until the battery is out.
On the track
The track belongs to whoever is flying right now. Before you walk onto it, ask, and wait until you hear "track clear!". Never walk out while anyone is in the air, not even to pick up your own drone.
If you crash, say "down!" so everyone knows, take your goggles off, and leave the drone where it is until everyone has landed. On a busy practice night, take turns: fly a battery, then let the next pilot go.
In the pits
Everyone's gear is precious, fragile, and usually bought with saved-up money. Ask before you touch someone else's drone, radio or goggles, every time. If you borrow a tool, a battery or a charger, bring it back to its owner in the same shape you got it. And keep your bench tidy: broken props, zip ties and wire ends off the table, cables off the floor.
People
Everyone in the hall was a beginner once, and most of them still remember who helped them. When a new pilot asks a question, answer it. Show them how, but don't take the radio out of their hands. Cheer every heat, whether it ended with a win or a crash: a high five after the heat costs nothing, and losing well is a skill. And the track doesn't build itself: help set it up, and stay until it's packed away.
When it goes wrong
We fly frying pans: nothing does the flying for you, so whatever happens is yours to sort out. If you hit someone's drone, say sorry and check both drones. If you broke a gate, tell the trainer and help fix it. If someone loses a drone in the grass, everyone helps look: next time it might be yours. And if your video was bad or your heat went wrong, fix what you can. It isn't somebody else's fault.
Leave it better
We are guests everywhere we fly: in the hall, on the field, in the forest. Pick up broken props, zip ties, tape and rubbish, your own and the ones you find. Thank the owner of the place and the people who organised the day, and keep it quiet for the neighbours. If walkers or dogs come by, land and wait until they have passed.
Fly so that everyone else can fly too.
Read
- Transpordiamet: drones
the written rules, from the law. - Drone sport in Estonia (edrl.ee)
the leagues and their race rules.
For trainers: the 10-minute plan
| Time | Slide | Talking points |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 | Title | Ask: "Who has ever had their video knocked out by someone else?" Hands up. "Nobody did it on purpose. They just didn't know." |
| 0:45 | Fig. 1 | Written rules: the law, the club, the race. Break them and someone stops you. Unwritten rules: what good pilots just do. Nobody fines you, but everybody notices, and that is how people decide whether they like flying with you. |
| 1:30 | Safety: flying together | Quick reminder of the written basics: book your channel, 25 mW, say it out loud, never over people. Everything after this builds on them. |
| 2:15 | Fig. 2 | Your video reaches every pair of goggles in the hall. Look at the screen, book a free channel, then plug in. No quick tests in the pits: a quick test in the pits is someone else's crash on the track. When you land, unplug: the video is on until the battery is out. |
| 3:30 | Fig. 3 | The track belongs to whoever is flying right now. Ask "can I go on?" and wait for "track clear!". Crashed? Say "down!", take your goggles off, and leave the drone where it is until everyone has landed. On a busy night: fly a battery, then let the next pilot go. |
| 4:45 | Fig. 4 | Everyone's gear is precious and fragile, and usually bought with saved-up money. Ask before you touch anyone's drone, radio or goggles. Borrowed a tool, battery or charger? Back to the owner in the same shape. Your bench, your mess: broken props and zip ties off the table, cables off the floor. |
| 6:00 | Fig. 5 | Everyone in the hall was a beginner once. Help the new pilot: answer, show, don't take the radio away. Cheer every heat, win or crash: losing well is a skill. The track doesn't build itself: stay until it's packed away. |
| 7:15 | Fig. 6 | We fly frying pans: nobody else is cooking. Hit someone's drone? Say sorry and check both. Broke a gate? Tell the trainer and help fix it. Lost a drone? Everyone helps look. Bad video or a bad heat? Fix what you can, it isn't somebody else's fault. |
| 8:30 | Fig. 7 | We are guests everywhere we fly. Pick up broken props, zip ties, tape and rubbish, yours and the ones you find. Thank the owner and the organisers. Walkers and dogs? Land and wait. |
| 9:30 | Remember | "Fly so that everyone else can fly too." Ask the room for one unwritten rule we forgot, and add it to the list. |
Demo: Play "Bad pilot, good pilot". The trainer acts out a situation the wrong way (walks onto the track during a heat, plugs in without looking at the screen, picks up someone's goggles), and the group shouts what the good pilot would do instead.