Overview

Aerial Alchemy offers both enhanced remote control flight (via a number of intelligent 

flight modes) and the capability to fly fully autonomous missions on a variety of 

platforms.

The Ground Control Station works with all airframes and can monitor vehicle telemetry 

and perform powerful mission planning activities. Aerial Alchemy is on the cutting edge 

of aerial robotics and intended for those people who want to try advanced technology, 

leading edge techniques and new flight styles. 
Key features

Key features include:

• High quality auto-level and auto-altitude control which makes our systems one of the 

easiest drone systems to fly.

• Automatic takeoff and landing: Flip a switch and watch the drone execute its mission 

completely autonomously, returning home and landing by itself when it’s done.

• “Loiter” mode.: Drone will hold its position using its GPS and altitude sensors.

• Return to launch: Flip a switch to have the drone fly back to the launch location 

automatically.

• Fail safe: Automatically detect when the vehicle loses transmitter contact and hover 

in place at an assigned altitude or return to the launch point. Will also attempt to land 

safely if hardware failures are detected.

• No programming required: Use the desktop Mission Planner software to load the 

autopilot (with just one click) and set up the drone. The Mission Planner delivers 

visual displays for vehicle state, settings and telemetry, including a point-and-click 

mission planning interface.

• Missions with hundreds of GPS waypoints: Just point and click waypoints in a 

Mission Planner, and the drone will fly itself to them. You can automate entire 

missions, including camera control! 

• Mission planning while in flight: Using a two-way wireless connection, waypoints, 

mode changing, even changing the gains of every control parameter can be done 

from your laptop or mobile device – even while the drone is in the air!

Getting started

Your Aerial Alchemy system will already be setup, configured and tuned, ready for your 

first flight. We recommend you read your the flight instructions, particularly those related 

to safely, before flying.

Once you’re familiar with your vehicle’s default setup you may want to configure your 

RC transmitter/vehicle to use more challenging flight modes, or start flying automated 

missions.

Autonomous vehicles are potentially dangerous! Always follow best safety practices and 

pay close attention to all safety warnings. 

Drone Safety
Your first priority must be the safety of people!

1. Crashes can happen, because of pilot error, hardware or software malfunction.

2. If you are flying anywhere near other people, you are putting them at risk!

• Be sure to maintain safe distances between yourself, spectators and your drone. 

Circumstances will require that you will need to make your own determination of 

what is a “safe distance” from people and property.

• At a minimum, consider: at least 10ft but not further than 30ft from you.

• Keep all other people, property and obstacles considerably further away from 

your drone.

• Ensure that no one gets between the launch point and the drone.

• Spectators should always be a safe distance behind the pilot.

• If people intrude beyond what you have determined to be the “safe” area, land 

immediately and do not take off until they are clear.

• At full power, an average sized multirotor can exceed 20 mph, can ascend to 

hundreds of feet and easily travel more than a mile in distance before running out 

of battery.

3. If you are flying too high or near airports you are putting manned aircraft and the 

people in them at risk!

• Get to know where your nearest airports are and do not fly anywhere near them

4. Always ensure the battery cable is NOT connected to the power distribution board or 

harness until you are ready to fly.

• Always Turn on the transmitter and ensure the throttle stick is all the way down 

BEFORE connecting the battery.

• After landing the first thing you should do is disconnect your battery cable.

• Do not turn off the transmitter until after you have disconnected the battery.

• Always remove your props while you are testing motors, your hands, arms and 

face and those of your friends will thank you.

• When the battery is connected, always assume the motors are armed; You can 

check with a short throttle pulse.

• Don’t pick up the model and the radio at the same time, you may bump the Do 

not attempt to fly longer than your batteries safe capacity, it is very bad for the 

battery and can cause a crash.

5. Aerial Alchemy flight controllers incorporate a motor arming safety feature.

• Immediately prior to flight after the battery has been connected, the RC 

transmitters throttle stick needs to be held down and to the right for several 

seconds to arm the motors.
• After landing your first response should be to hold the throttle down and to the 

left for several seconds to “Disarm” the motors. * Disarm condition can be tested 

by moving the throttle stick up, if the motors do not move it is disarmed.

• Even when disarmed, the throttle stick should always be kept in the full down 

position except when flying.

6. Get used to switching back to Stabilize mode from other modes and reassuming full 

manual control.

• This is the single most important recovery technique (practice it).

• Stabilize mode can have Simple mode added to it, but if you do you should then 

practice with it till you are proficient.

• Do not start using any other modes than Stabilize or Stabilize plus Simple until 

you are VERY comfortable flying your copter.

7. It is very important to have excess power available.

• If you have insufficient power, the automatic controls can require more throttle 

than is available and destabilization may result.

• Ideally the drone should be able to hover at about 50% throttle (mid stick).

8. Especially while you are learning, it is recommended that you avoid expensive, stiff, 

ultra-sharp carbon fiber props.

• Get cheaper, more flexible and more breakable plastic propellers.

• Some of the super carbon fiber ones can cut better than a Ginsu and while they 

are almost indestructible – You are not.

9. Important primary response to a crash, inadequate landing or unknown flight 

controller state.

• The first thing to do is throw a towel over your copters propellers (Propellers may 

start spinning unexpectedly).

• Then immediately disconnect the battery.

• A large towel is your most important piece of safety equipment followed by a fire 

extinguisher and a first aid kit.

• Generally better to use the first one than the last one.

10.When testing or flying any of the (waypoint) navigation modes (using GPS):

• Ensure that your GPS has “Lock” before arming and takeoff.

• Check that your home position on the Mission Planner is in fact correct.

• If the GPS does not accurately report your home position, reboot and wait for 8 

or more satellites (not just 3D lock) and check again.

11.Always follow the law.
FLIGHT MANUAL:

Contents:

1. How To Use

2. Battery Management

3. Pre-Flight Stuff

4. Post-Flight Stuff

5. Flight Procedures 

6. Safety 

_________________________________________________________________

1: How To Use:

Radio Controls

1. J1: Roll / Left-Right

2. J2: Pitch / Forward-Back

3. J3: Throttle / Up-Down

4. J4: Yaw / Rotate Left-Right

5. SH: Flight Mode Switch

6. SF: pos 1(Nothing), pos 2(Autonomous Mode), Pos 3(Return To Home)

2. Arm/Disarm

1. Press and hold motor safety button till its solid red.

2. Arm via holding the throttle stick down and to the right until arm tones.

3. Disarm via holding the throttle stick down and to the left until disarm tone.
 2: Battery management:

1. Make sure the battery is charged by checking the voltage

2. put it in the battery(s) compartment.

3. Turn on Radio Controller then plug the battery(s) in.

4. For batteries in storage, keep the charge at ≈50%

3:Pre-Flight:

1. Make sure Propeller(s) are properly attached and rotating the correct 

! ! direction. 

2. Do a quick look around and check for any loose wires or components. 

3. Make sure that the battery is secured and plugged in. (see 2c)

4. Check pre-arm warnings. (no-gps, bad ahrs, bad gyro, low battery, throttle 

5. compass variance)

6. Upload auto mission if necessary.

7. Press motor safety button (see 1b-1)

8. Arm/Disarm drone. (see 1b-2,3)

9. Ready for take off.

4: Post-flight:

1. Arm/Disarm drone. (see 1b-2,3)

2. Remove battery(s) and store in lipo safe bag.

3. Check for any obvious broken components and make a note for them to 

! ! engnoleged or repaired before next flight.

4. Break down the Drone if needed; Like props, booms, wings, payloads, etc.

5: Flight Procedures:

1. Arm/Disarm (see 1b-2,3)

2. If craft is flying erratically land (if possible) or put craft down is a safe 

! ! manner.

3. If loss of crafts orientation, RTL mode is your friend.

4. If in Auto mode and craft doesn't do what is intended switch out of Auto 

! ! mode immediately.

5. If “no GPS fix” or “Compass variance” warnings display mid flight; stay 

! ! away from modes: Auto, RTL, Loiter, Cruise, and Position hold. Then Land 

! ! if necessary.

6. in the event of a crash (see 6e)

6: Safety:

1. Keep any body parts away from rotating propellers. 

2. Keep a safe distance from people and property.

3. Never ignore low battery warnings.

4. Never use RTL or Auto modes in a tight environment (use best judgment).

5. In the event of a crash put all switches in the down position, throttle stick 

! ! down and disarm the drone before approaching.
6. Avoid sudden or extreme transmitter control stick deflections. Move the 

control sticks in small measured increments and don’t “yank” on them.

7. If the drone is properly calibrated and balanced it should require only small 

stick inputs to control altitude, direction and speed.

8. Your copter should be more or less stable on the horizontal plane without any 

control inputs.If you are “fighting” the copter, land and fix it – something is not 

right – Hardware adjustment or software calibration may be required.

9. Be especially careful of large throttle inputs, as a drone can gain or lose 

altitude very rapidly.

10.Because multirotors are symmetrical it is especially easy to lose orientation.

11.For manual flight modes, maintaining a clear vision of the drones orientation 

(direction it is facing) is the most critical part of successful flight. Especially 

while learning it is very important to keep your drone appropriately close to 

you to aid in maintaining visual orientation. Generally: more than 10ft but not 

further than 30ft from you.

12.If the drone gets further than about 100ft it starts getting difficult to be able to 

maintain orientation and can easily crash.

13.If you lose Yaw orientation while flying in Stabilize mode, try only flying 

forward and using yaw to steer like a car.

14.It is much better to simply descend and land rather than have an orientationinduced crash or worse still – a fly away.

15.Fly-Aways often happen when the drone is commanded to tilt back towards 

the pilot but its so far away that orientation is lost. Result: the copter flies 

further away and crashes or is lost.

16.Always have Stabilize mode as the (Go To) one of your mode switch options.

17.High or unexpected winds or gusts can make flight considerably more difficult.

18.High winds can prevent forward progress or spin the drone around causing 

you to become disoriented.

19.The higher you are, the more likely high winds will be a problem.

20.Switching to Stabilize mode and landing before you reach your skill limits can 

help you save your drone.

21.Avoid flying at high speed or high altitude until you have gained considerable 

confidence in both manual and automatic modes.

22.When flying around trees or buildings it is very easy to lose visual orientation 

or even to lose sight of the drone completely.

23.Gusting winds around objects can also worsen the problem. Radio signal 

loss can also occur.

24.If your drone is approaching a potentially interfering object, immediately 

switch to stabilize mode and land or retrieve the copter to your location.

25.RTL can provide a safe Return to Launch if it starts to get away from you.

26.Set up a FailSafe on Radio Fail with an RTL or Descend response to save 

your drone and prevent Injury.

27.Do not rely solely on the above safety modes, always be ready to take back 

control in stabilize and set the copter down. Especially do not rely on the 

above safety modes to perform maneuvers or training that you would 
otherwise consider dangerous. These modes are a supplement to, not a 

replacement for sound safety practices.

7. On your first takeoff after tuning or hardware setup:

1. In stabilize mode advance the throttle very slowly until the copter is almost 

hovering.

2. If the copter is trying to flip over turn it off and correct the problem.

3. A motor could be turning the wrong direction.

4. Or a wrong direction prop could be installed.

5. If it tries to rotate on it’s axis or fly off in some direction.

6. The transmitter or RC setup in Mission Planner may be incorrect.

7. A motor or ESC may not be performing properly.

8. The wrong props may be on the wrong motors.

9. When all problems are fixed it should be fairly easy to get the copter to hover 

a foot or 2 above the ground.

10.If a stable and stationary hover a foot or 2 above the ground cannot be 

achieved, land and fix the problem until it can.

11.When flying FPV “First Person View” (with a video camera), Have your modes 

set to: STABILIZE, SIMPLE, and RTL.

12.Ensure RTL is working properly before using FPV.

13.Use Stabilize mode to fly FPV.

14.If you lose your FPV video, you can switch to Simple or RTL to get back.

15.Make sure your battery can’t fall out.

16.Use a Velcro Strap to hold it in place.

17.You can also use adhesive backed velcro under the battery.

8. First flight

Place the drone on level ground and connect the battery — do not move the drone until 

gyroscope calibration is completed (LED’s flashing red and blue). Ensure that your RC 

mode toggle switch is in Stabilize mode. Slowly raise the throttle until the copter just lifts 

off the ground.

If it seems like it’s going to flip or otherwise isn’t lifting relatively straight up, drop the 

throttle and land it. Hold the drone firmly in your hand and level in the air and with the 

props clear of your body, advance the throttle a bit to get a feel for what’s going on. 

When you move the stick forward, back, right and left, does the copter tilt that way? (If 

not, you’ve set the wrong +/x orientation, hooked up your motors in the wrong order or 

have the prop direction or pusher/puller order wrong).

If any of the controls are reversed (pitch or roll are backwards, meaning the drone 

moves in the opposite direction as your stick), you’ll need to reverse the affected 

channel at your RC transmitter side. Please see your RC transmitter’s manual if you’re 

not familiar with the process. It’s a good idea to re-do your RC calibration in the Mission 

Planner after you’ve reversed a channel.
If it lifts off smoothly, you may see a little yaw. That shouldn’t be more than about 30 

degrees and will correct itself with more flying time. There should be no pronounced 

wobble (if there is, you may have an unbalanced prop or out-of-true motor).

The drone should also tend to stay in place, and you shouldn’t have to fight strong 

tendencies to move left or right or forward or back. If you do see that behavior, do NOT 

use your RC trims to correct (this just throws off the calibration). Instead, it probably 

means that the drone may not have been completely flat during calibration or the 

airframe is out of true. Land and correct that.

If you’re having trouble and the drone is not hovering smoothly, run through the 

troubleshooting guide. Assuming that all is fine so far, you’re ready for more advanced 

modes, such as Alt Hold and Loiter.