The fpv community has its own distinctive vocabulary that can be perplexing to those outside the community. The fpv drone community has developed its own vocabulary over the years, be it a part, a technique, or a style of fpv.
We’ve put up this helpful list of 66 common fpv terms and slang & 6 freestyle types that every pilots should know to make sure you’re up on your fpv terminology. Let’s get started…
FPV Terms And Slang
A
ARF stands for Almost-Ready-to-Fly a model that still has to have a few “need to finish” components before you can begin flying.That’s mean install the radio transmitter and receiver.
AGL – Above Ground Level
Height above the earth at that particular location is referred to as altitude.
Autopilot
A feature that enables a drone to continue flying without the pilot’s intervention.
Ability to Hold Altitude
A mode of flying that allows the pilot to still control the roll, pitch, and yaw of the drone while allowing the drone to automatically keep a constant altitude regardless of external influences. Drone pilots who are just starting out can benefit from the altitude hold feature.
B
BNF – Bind-N-Fly
Bind-N-Fly is referred to as BNF. The only component missing from Bind-N-Fly products is a transmitter. With BNF products, you can tie your preferred transmitter to the model’s built-in receiver.
Bando:A structure or building that has been abandoned and is appropriate for fpv use. While knowing what a bando is won’t necessarily increase your technical knowledge or aptitude, it’s entertaining to say and will give you the impression that you are well-versed in the subject.
Barnstorming:Flying circuses are a type of entertainment where stunt pilots do acrobatics either solo or in groups. designed to amaze onlookers with the strength of the planes and the expertise of the pilots.
BVLOS – Beyond Visual Line Of Sight
Aerial vehicles that are too high for the pilot, operator, or VO to maintain visual line of sight of the sUAS without the use of corrective lenses or other assistive technology.
Binding:Binding is the procedure used to link and make a controller and a drone able to communicate.
C
CG – Center of Gravity:A drone’s centre of balance.
Control Surface:Aerodynamic devices allowing a pilot to adjust and control the aircraft’s flight.
CRSF:CRSF is a proprietary TBS communication protocol between the Crossfire transmitter
CLI-Command Line Interface
The Betaflight interface is where command lines are entered.
CW / CCW -Clockwise / Counter-Clockwise
Describing the direction in which motors or propellers rotate.
D
DC – Direct current
When a power source has Positive and Negative (+ and -) connections, such as a battery, it produces DC electricity. Negative is frequently referred to as GND, Ground or common in DC circuitry.
DShot-Digital Shot:A type of ESC protocol.
E
Expo:Also referred to as Exponential or just Expo. The greatest rotation speed is maintained at the stick’s extremities while the sensitivity is decreased near the center, where fine adjustments are needed for Roll, Pitch, and Yaw.
EI-Electromagnetic Interference
Interference caused by an external source that interferes with radio frequency and electronic device operation.
F
FAA – Federal Aviation Authority
Federal agency that is primarily responsible for the advancement, safety and regulation of civil aviation.
FARs – Federal Air Regulations
Federal Aviation Administration rules that govern all of aviation in the United States.
FHSS – Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum
The ability of a radio system to switch between frequencies in a known-to-the-transmitter and-receiver pseudo-random pattern to improve the control link’s dependability and clear the signal of any potential interference.
Frequency Management:The method that FPV pilots use to coordinate RF frequencies when flying in groups of two or more in order to prevent signal interference in both the control and video streams.
FOV-Field of View
A measurement how much of the environment that a camera lens can catch. Typically expressed in degrees.
G
Gap:A small area through which an aircraft can pass in close proximity. Often takes a higher degree of skill to pass through a gap cleanly.
Ground Station:The ground based components of the FPV system which provide FPV vision to the pilot.
I
IMU-Inertial Measurement Unit
A Break Out Board with sensors on it that transmits data to the flight controller and reads it.
IBUS:FlySky uses the serial communication standard IBUS. As order to send and receive data, it uses two-way communication.
IMD – Intermodulation Distortion
The amplitude modulation of signals with two or more different frequencies that is brought on by a system’s nonlinearities or time variation.
J
JST:A specific style of battery connector for mini drones with less power
JST-SH:A specific tiny connector for signaling and other low-current applications.
L
LOS (Line of Sight)
By “line of sight,” we mean that the drone must be visible from the pilot’s operating position.
M
Mode1 / Mode2
These are the different transmitter stick configurations: mode 1, throttle stick on the right; mode 2, throttle stick on the left (more common).More info
N
NOTAM – Notice To Airmen
A notification sent to an aviation authority to inform pilots of potential risks along a flight path or at a specific site that could compromise the flight’s safety.
No-Fly Zone
A zone designated by the FAA as a drone-free zone. Prime examples include the areas over airports and government buildings.
O
OSD – On-Screen Display
Overlaid on your video feed to provide flying information. When flying FPV, you may keep an eye on your telemetry by checking the UAV’s status. Battery charge, GPS heading, or altitude are some examples.
Oneshot-Oneshot125
A form of analogue ESC protocol to take the role of PWM
P
PCB – Printed Circuit Board
Silicon board with copper traces and components soldered onto it. Most electronics in this hobby are built on PCB’s, such as FC, VTX, TX, RX….
PDB – Power distribution board
A board designed to carry high current, it’s built with copper traces used to connect various electronic components such as LiPo battery, ESCs, Video transmitter, LEDs etc
PID – Proportional Integral Derivative
The three variables that you can change to alter the helicopter’s flight characteristics. According to theory, PID is a control loop that modifies a process’s control input in an effort to reduce the difference between a measured process value and its desired value.
PPM – Pulse Position Modulation
Most transmitters and receivers send information from the transmitter to the receiver via a PPM signal. The signal itself consists of a string of pulses with set durations.
PNP – Plug and Play
A PNP quadcopter kit usually comes without the receiver, transmitter, battery and FPV Goggles.
Pre-Flight Checklist:Before takeoff, pilots and other crew members should complete a number of aircraft checks.
Prop Wash：Any wake is caused by rapid and disrupted air leaving a prop.
Proximity:Flying an airplane too close to things, other aircraft, or the ground. The word, along with the associated flight technique and culture, was coined by BASE jumpers and used by fpv.
R
RTF, which stands for “Ready-to-Fly,” denotes that the model you are purchasing comes with everything you need to get going right out of the box!
RF – Radio Frequency
Electronic signal used for drone control link and video image transmission.
RFI – Radio Frequency Interference
A disturbance generated by an external source that affects signal quality.
RPM – Revolutions Per Minute
The number of motor rotations in 60 seconds.
Rip:To exceed a flight’s potential for aggression or speed. Watch me rip this bando, he said.
RTH – Return to Home
Any aircraft that is currently in flight will try to return to the launch site using the return to home option. The term “launch site” refers to the area where the flight controller was activated.
Rx -Receiver
A device that transforms an electronic signal sent across the air into useful data. In fpv, a variety of receiver types are employed. There are video receivers that take in the video signal provided from the drone to your goggles, and there are radio receivers that pair with your radio transmitter to control your drone.
S
SBUS
Futaba and FrSky both employ a sort of serial communication protocol called SBUS. It utilizes a single signal wire to accommodate up to 18 channels. An inverted UART communication signal is called an SBUS.
SA – Smart Audio
Smart Audio is a protocol for VTX Control.
T
Throttle:One of the controls on your radio transmitter, it changes the speed of all the motors in a drone.
Thrust:The force generated by the propellers and motor, measured in grams.
Tiny Whoop:A class of ultra small quadcopters with propeller guards. You could say the word was created by Jesse P.
Toothpick：A group of tiny quadcopters, often known as ultra-light micro quadcopters, that are typically fitted with 2.5″ or 3″ propellers.
TVL – TV Line
TVL is basically a measure of how good the FPV camera resolution is. The number is based on how many alternating black and white lines can be displayed in its image horizontally.
TX-“Transmitter” or the “TX pin in a UART”
TX, or radio transmitter, is a device that sends user commands to the Receiver.TX can also mean the transmitting pin in a serial connection.
Trim:The roll, pitch, yaw, and throttle controls on the side of a drone controller.
U
UART-Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter
Port for serial communications. hardware component of a computer that converts data between parallel and serial form.
UBEC-Universal Battery Elimination Circuit
Basically just a DC voltage regulator.
V
VRx – Video Receiver
A device that shows live video on our FPV goggles or screen after receiving a video signal from our video transmitter.
VTx – Video Transmitter
A device that transmits video from the FPV camera to the video receiver or the FPV goggles.
Video Latency
The lag in video transmission between a drone’s camera and the pilot’s goggles or monitor.
Y
Yaw:Rotating the drone in either a left or right direction along an axis parallel to its wings.
6 Types of Freestyle
1.Acro Freestyle
Small quadcopter that can rotate quickly To do those acrobatic movements. The drone’s pilot has complete control over the angular velocity of rotation when the drone is in acro mode. In other words, the choice is yours. The drone won’t automatically level itself. Stick input won’t be “blocked” by it.
The drone is yours to fly whatever you like, including in loops, rolls, and other acrobatic movements. Acro mode is also commonly known as manual and rate mode.
2.Flow Style
More of an overall movement of the drone in a certain location, using that location to do something that almost feels like a roller coaster ride.
3.Madi Style or Mind Bending Style
It is very high up tilt.Props being in view is not going to be a worry at all when your camera is looking well up away from ever seeing them, that’s why pilots flying this mind-bending style really like to use bottom mount battery drones with true x frame structure.
4.Juicy Style
In order to move ahead and apply a lot of thrust, juicy style pilots tilt their quad, and then snap to even out, and then let their momentum take them.
Juicy pilots usually use drones like the akro or the flow style pilots with the center body and the top mount battery, but their camera angle tends to be very low, perhaps even flat, so we’re talking between 0 and 10 degrees. With such a low camera angle, that’s really where that mixture of thrust and momentum base speed comes from.
5.Cinematic Style
Tracking a subject or showing a landscape.Even though cinematic is a genre of fpv drones itself it still remains as a type of fpv freestyle.
6.Sbang Style
The most innovative flow freestyle subgenre influenced by Juicy style, is rapidly gaining popularity but also dividing many FPV freestyle enthusiasts. People tend to either adore it or detest it because they think it doesn’t need much expertise or because they think it moves too quickly and is nauseating.
With his quick-witted approach to delicious freestyle, Farouk FPV, a French pilot, came up with the name and prompted many other pilots to experiment with Sbang.
