Use your real radio, not a gamepad
Both sources are firm on this. Oscar Liang does not recommend console gamepads or a keyboard because the skills "rarely translate" to a real radio. The FPV Handbook says gamepad hours do not transfer at all. Any EdgeTX radio can act as a USB joystick, so there is nothing extra to buy.
Connecting an EdgeTX radio over USB
- Make a separate model for the sim. Oscar Liang duplicates his drone model and turns off both the internal and external RF modules. The EdgeTX manual also says both modules should be off in joystick mode, and adds that the mixer then runs at 1000 Hz. Oscar Liang's reason is radio battery life. It also means a powered quad on your bench will not react to sim practice.
- Switch the radio on, then plug in a USB cable that carries data. Some radios have separate ports for charging and data, so use the data one.
- When the radio asks for a USB mode, choose USB Joystick (HID).
- Start the sim, open its controller settings and run calibration.
The EdgeTX manual describes two joystick modes. Classic sends the output channels in numerical order to fixed joystick axes (on Windows, channel 1 is the X axis, channel 2 Y, channel 3 Z, channel 4 X rotation, and channels 9-32 become buttons 1-24). Advanced lets you choose per channel whether it is an axis, a button or a named sim axis such as Thr or Ail. Classic is enough for flying. Advanced is useful if you want a switch to act as a button, for example to reset the quad. The manual warns that Windows may still detect the radio only as a joystick, whatever interface type you pick in Advanced mode.
If a Mac shows nothing and the radio never asks for a USB mode, Oscar Liang found the cable to blame. A USB-C to USB-C cable that worked on Windows did not work on his MacBook, while a USB-A to USB-C cable (with an adapter if needed) did.
Wireless: ExpressLRS BLE Joystick
If your ExpressLRS transmitter module is ESP32-based, its Lua script has a BLE Joystick option that pairs with a computer over Bluetooth. The ExpressLRS docs say you exit that mode by rebooting or changing models. Oscar Liang lists two catches: leaving the Lua script turns Bluetooth off, so you cannot change radio settings mid-session, and beyond about 3 m the inputs became very unstable for him. He also notes that wireless methods may add latency compared with USB. For regular practice the cable is simpler, and it charges the radio at the same time.
First settings in the sim
The FPV Handbook gives a short checklist that is worth following on day one:
- Calibrate so full stick travel gives full input.
- Check the mapping: throttle low must read zero, and roll, pitch and yaw must move the right way.
- Start with a camera angle of 10-20° and raise it as you get faster.
- Leave the sim quad's rates near the defaults for now.
Oscar Liang agrees on the last point for beginners: stick to default settings or someone else's proven ones until you know how a real quad should feel. Once you have a real quad, he names rates as one of the first settings worth matching to it.
Frame rate matters more than graphics. Oscar Liang aims for a frame rate equal to or above the monitor's refresh rate and runs low-to-mid graphics settings. He recalls that Liftoff first felt floaty and unresponsive to him, and the cause was a PC that was too slow, not the physics.
Which sim
The FPV Handbook's view is that any of the well-known sims will do. Liftoff, VelociDrone and Uncrashed all teach the same physics, and you should pick by feel. Oscar Liang's August 2026 round-up gives more detail:
- Liftoff - his pick for beginners because of its structured training program. Windows, macOS and Linux.
- VelociDrone - his pick for racing, with relatively low PC requirements. Not on Steam, sold through its own site.
- Uncrashed - his pick for freestyle, but it needs a powerful PC and has fewer structured tutorials.
- Liftoff: Micro Drones - a separate sim built for tiny whoops and indoor flying.
He also warned in January 2026 not to buy the DRL simulator after its servers shut down.
If you are unsure whether a Steam sim will run well on your computer, Steam's refund policy covers games requested within two weeks of purchase with less than two hours of playtime. That is enough to check frame rate and controller detection.
Fly acro from the first hour
The FPV Handbook puts it bluntly: acro mode only, from minute one, because angle mode teaches habits you later have to unlearn. Oscar Liang's beginner guide also tells you to learn acro (manual) mode. The first hour is miserable. Expect that and keep going.
Hold the radio the way you will at the field. Oscar Liang's advice: if you stand when you fly, stand in front of the sim, and if you use a neck strap, wear it.
How to spend the hours
Aimless laps plateau quickly. The FPV Handbook suggests splitting each session roughly like this:
| Share | Activity |
|---|---|
| about 40% | deliberate stick drills |
| about 40% | free flying around a map |
| about 20% | one thing that scares you, such as low passes, gaps or orbits |
It also prefers 30 focused minutes a day over a long weekend session.
Oscar Liang's list for beginners adds two habits that are easy to skip in a sim:
- Disarm before you hit reset. After every crash, flick the arm switch off first. He calls it a critical habit to form, and it is the reflex you want on a real quad.
- Land properly. Hover close to the ground, then disarm. He notes that plenty of pilots can do complex tricks but still struggle to land without crashing.
After that come gaps for precision, then rolls, flips and split-S, which he calls the fundamentals of freestyle.
When you are ready for a real pack
The FPV Handbook gates on skills, not hours. In acro you should be able to:
- hover inside a box of about 2 m for 60 seconds, nose-out;
- fly a figure-8 with coordinated turns in both directions at walking pace;
- descend under control without wobbles;
- land gently within a body length of a chosen spot;
- recover to level from any random attitude without thinking.
If that works at 12 hours, go and fly. If not at 20, keep going. The sim is still cheaper than the field.
What the sim will not teach
Expect a step back on your first real flights. The FPV Handbook notes that real quads sink into their own propwash on fast descents in ways most sims soften, and the sim cannot build the disarm-on-crash reflex on its own because nothing is at stake. Oscar Liang adds wind, latency and video glitches, and nerves when you know a crash will cost money or someone is watching. The sim gets your thumbs ready. Only real packs get the rest of you there.