When flying FPV, one of many choices obtainable in your OSD (on-screen show) is a crosshair—a small marker within the heart of your display screen. Some pilots swear by it, whereas others discover it pointless and even deceptive. So, do you have to use a crosshair for FPV flying? The reply is each sure and no, relying in your expertise stage, flying type, and private desire. On this article, I’ll break down when a crosshair may assist, why I personally don’t use one, and when it is perhaps time to show it off.
What Does the Crosshair Truly Do?
DJI Avata 2’s Crosshair: A Extra Purposeful Design
The DJI Avata 2, when flown with the Movement Controller, encompasses a transferring crosshair that dynamically shifts based mostly on the drone’s flight path. This generally is a sport changer for newbies, because it visually signifies the place the drone is heading, serving to pilots make exact actions and changes.
Betaflight’s Crosshair: A Fastened Level
In distinction, the crosshair in Betaflight is only a mounted marker on the heart of your display screen. It doesn’t transfer, doesn’t mirror the place the drone goes, and will be deceptive generally—particularly for newbies who assume it acts as an aiming reticle.
Why I Don’t Use a Crosshair in FPV
Personally, I by no means obtained used to utilizing a crosshair as a result of I discovered to fly with out it. I depend on my instincts, peripheral imaginative and prescient, and the precise movement of the drone to information my flight, not a man-made level on the display screen.
Right here’s why I feel the crosshair will be problematic:
1. It Doesn’t Present The place the Drone Is Truly Going
A standard false impression is that in case you line up the crosshair to the hole you need to fly by. However that’s not how FPV works.
Think about your drone is flying straight ahead. You assume the crosshair aligns together with your trajectory, proper? Probably not. When the drone is flying ahead it pitches ahead and so the crosshair could be pointing down barely, and never straight forward. And what if the drone can be descending or climbing? The crosshair might stay centered, supplying you with no indication of altitude adjustments. You may assume you’re lined up, solely to clip the highest or backside of an impediment.
2. It Can Be a Distraction
New pilots generally fixate on the crosshair as an alternative of studying the surroundings. Flying FPV is about feeling the drone’s motion, understanding its drift, and reacting to real-time circumstances. When you’re too centered on maintaining a crosshair heading in the right direction, you’re lacking out on spatial consciousness, which is essential for tight maneuvers.
3. FPV Isn’t Counter Strike
A crosshair is smart in a primary individual shooter online game like Name of Responsibility, the place your bullets go precisely the place you purpose. However in FPV, your drone is consistently in movement, tilting, rolling, and adjusting. A static crosshair simply doesn’t mirror the fluidity of actual flight.
4. Racing Line Syndrome
This jogs my memory of racing traces in some FPV simulators, the place there could be a guiding marker that helps you the place to go, newbies may need to substitute crosshair for these markers. However in an precise flights, you want to concentrate on obstacles and different drones within the air. Equally, a crosshair is perhaps a crutch that stops you from studying real-world flight strategies.
When a Crosshair Would possibly Truly Be Helpful
Whereas I don’t use crosshair, I’ll admit there are some conditions the place it may be useful:
1. FPV Racing
For racers, the crosshair isn’t about aiming at a gate however serving as a visible reference for fast corrections. It helps with timing maneuvers, particularly at excessive speeds, the place minor changes make a giant distinction.
2. Skilled Cinematic Flying
When monitoring a transferring topic—like a automobile in a chase scene—a crosshair may also help you keep framing, just like having a grid, which cinematographers use to compose pictures extra successfully.
3. Stopping Movement Illness
Some pilots report that having a set reference level like a crosshair reduces movement illness by giving their mind one thing secure to deal with. When you wrestle with dizziness or nausea in FPV, it is perhaps value attempting.
4. Studying to Fly Stage
In simulators, a crosshair may also help new pilots keep stage when studying fundamental controls. As a result of newbies are likely to fly comparatively sluggish and secure, so the crosshair stays roughly within the heart many of the occasions. Nevertheless, as quickly as you begin flying sooner and doing acrobatics, it will possibly beomce counterproductive—like coaching wheels that want to return off.
Allow Crosshair in Betaflight
- In Betaflight Configurator, navigate to the OSD tab.
- Search for “Crosshair” within the listing of accessible OSD parts (below Craft Identify).
- Click on the checkbox subsequent to Crosshair to allow it.
- Drag and place the crosshair the place you need it on the display screen (sometimes centered).
Last Thought: Ought to You Use Crosshair?
Right here’s my take:
- When you’re a newbie, a crosshair may assist with fundamental flight stability, however don’t depend on it an excessive amount of and too lengthy.
- When you’re into racing, it will possibly function a reference for fast maneuvers.
- When you fly professionally, it might assist with shot composition.
- For most individuals although, personally I don’t assume you want it and you may flip it off.
In the end, it’s a private selection, however in case you assume the crosshair will make FPV flying simpler, it received’t. As an alternative, deal with studying your drone’s movement, utilizing your environment for reference, and creating actual FPV instincts.
