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Drone/UAS Practice Group 35 E Wacker Drive

Suite 1875

Chicago, IL 60601

Tel. 312.201.8310

 Jeffrey@Antonelli-Law.com

U.S. Department of Transportation October 13, 2015

Docket Management System

1200 New Jersey Ave S.E. 

Washington, D.C. 20590

Re: Request for Exemption under Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 

2012 and Part 11 of the Federal Aviation Regulations from Certain Provisions of 14 C.F.R.

SkyFly Cinema, LLC

Dear Sir or Madam:

Pursuant to Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (the Reform 

Act) and 14 C.F.R. Part 11, Antonelli Law files this petition for exemption on behalf of SkyFly 

Cinema, LLC (“SkyFly Cinema”) an operator of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (“UAs”) for 

the commercial purposes of aerial photography, videography, and cinematography. Specifically, 

petitioner seeks an exemption from the Federal Aviation Regulations (“FARs”) listed in Appendix

A to allow commercial operation of its UAs, so long as such operations are conducted within and 

under the conditions outlined herein or as may be established by the FAA in a grant of this petition. 

This request is substantially similar to other data collection petitions previously approved, and 

should be considered under the expedited summary grant procedure.

Approval of the exemption for petitioner will allow operation of the Cinestar 8 HL and 

Copterworks Af25b for the proposed uses in Class G airspace nationwide, or as otherwise 

prescribed by an Air Traffic Organization (ATO) issued COA. The Cinestar 8 family has been 

previously approved for the proposed uses in the exemption grants identified in Section VII of the 

petition. The Cinestar 8 HL is a small battery-powered aircraft weighing 18.7 lbs. The Copterworks 

Af25b is larger, has a dry weight of 35 lbs., a maximum takeoff weight of 71 lbs. and is powered 

by a fuel mixture of gasoline and oil. Operation of these UAs under the strict conditions proposed 

below will provide an equivalent level of safety, as Congress intended, while still allowing 

commercial operations. Operations using these UAs are far safer than conventional operations 

conducted with helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft that weigh thousands of pounds, carry large 

amounts of highly flammable fuel, and operate in close proximity to the ground, trees, 

infrastructure, and people. 

Congress directed the FAA to consider seven factors in deciding whether to approve

Section 333 exemption petitions - size, weight, speed, operational capability, proximity to airports, 

proximity to populated areas, and operation within visual line of sight. In this case, each factor 

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Table of Contents

I. Publishable Summary............................................................................................................ 5

II. Petitioner’s Contact Information ........................................................................................... 5

III. Proposed Operations.............................................................................................................. 6

A. The UA........................................................................................................................... 6

B. The Crew ........................................................................................................................ 6

C. Flight Conditions............................................................................................................ 7

D. Flight Operations............................................................................................................ 7

IV. Aircraft and Equivalent Level of Safety................................................................................ 8

VI. Proposed Conditions of the Exemption................................................................................. 8

VI. Privacy................................................................................................................................. 12

VII. Public Interest and Safety...................................................................................................... 12

VIII. Regulations from Which Exemption is Requested .............................................................. 13

Appendix A: FARs as to which SkyFly Cinema wishes the same determination to be made 

as has been made previously. ................................................................................................ 14
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Exhibit List

Exhibit 1: SkyFly Cinema sUAS Flight Operations Manual............................................................

................................................................................................Submitted Confidentially to the FAA

Exhibit 2: SkyFly Cinema Movie Production Television Operations Manual.................................

................................................................................................Submitted Confidentially to the FAA

Cinestar 8 HL Exhibits

Exhibit 3: Cinestar 8 HL Specifications ................................Submitted Confidentially to the FAA

Exhibit 4: SkyFly CineStar 8 sUAS Aircraft Flight Manual ............................................................

................................................................................................Submitted Confidentially to the FAA

Exhibit 5: MikroKopter Autopilot User Manual .......................................................................... 16

Copterworks Af25b Exhibits

Exhibit 7: Copterworks Af25b Specifications.......................Submitted Confidentially to the FAA

Exhibit 8: SkyFly Copterworks Af25b sUAS Aircraft Flight Manual .............................................

................................................................................................Submitted Confidentially to the FAA

Exhibit 9: DJI Ace One Autopilot User Manual........................................................................... 34

Ground Control Station Exhibits

Exhibit 10: Futaba 12Z Transmitter User Manual............................................................................

............................................................................ Submitted Separately Due to Upload Restrictions

Exhibit 11: Connex HD Video Downlink..............................Submitted Confidentially to the FAA

Exhibits 1-4, 7-8, and 11 have been submitted confidentially to the FAA and are not available 

to the public.

Exhibit 10 has been submitted separately to the Regulations.gov website due to upload 

restrictions.
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I. Publishable Summary

Pursuant to 14 C.F.R. §11, the following summary is provided for publication in the 

Federal Register, should it be determined that publication is needed:

Petitioner seeks an exemption from the following rules: 

14 C.F.R 21(h); 14 C.F.R. 43.7; 14 C.F.R. 43.11; 14 C.F.R. 45.11; 14 C.F.R. 45.27; 14 C.F.R. 

45.29; 14 C.F.R. 91.7(a); 14 C.F.R. 91.9(b)(2); 14 C.F.R. 91.9(c); 14 C.F.R. 91.103(b)(2); 14 

C.F.R. 91.105; 14 C.F.R. 91.109; 14 C.F.R. 91.113(b); 14 C.F.R. 91.119 (c); 14 C.F.R. 91.121; 14 

C.F.R. 91.151(a); 14 C.F.R. 91.203(a) and (b); 14 C.F.R. 91.215; 14 C.F.R. 91.403; 14 C.F.R. 

91.405(a); 14 C.F.R. 91.407(a)(1); 14 C.F.R. 409(a)(1) and (2); and 14 C.F.R. 91.417(a) and (b) 

to operate commercially small unmanned aircraft systems (UAs) (71 lbs. or less).

Approval of the exemption requested by petitioner will allow commercial operation of the 

Cinestar 8 HL and Copterworks Af25b for the purposes of aerial photography, videography, and 

cinematography in Class G airspace nationwide, unless otherwise prescribed by an ATO-issued 

COA. The requested exemption should be granted because operation of UAs weighing no greater 

than 71 lbs. (32.2kg), inclusive of battery and/or fuel, and payload, conducted in the strict 

conditions outlined below, will provide an equivalent level of safety, while still allowing 

commercial operations. The lightweight aircraft covered by the exemption are far safer than 

conventional operations conducted with helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft weighing thousands of 

pounds and carrying large amounts of highly flammable fuel, and operating in close proximity to 

the ground and people. The seven factors Congress directed the FAA to consider when approving 

Section 333 exemption petitions - size, weight, speed, operational capability, proximity to airports, 

proximity to populated areas, and operation within visual line of sight – each support the request. 

In particular, the aircraft are small, and will operate at slow speeds, and close to the ground. The 

substantial increase of safety and decrease of risk to human life, coupled with the low risk use of 

UAs to conduct these operations, weigh heavily in favor of granting the exemption.

II. Petitioner’s Contact Information

Tim Foster

Owner

SkyFly Cinema, LLC

5087 South Old Peachtree

Norcross, GA 30092

Counsel for Petitioner:

Jeffrey J. Antonelli

Antonelli Law

35 E Wacker Drive, Suite 1875

Chicago, IL 60601

Tel: 312-201-8310

Email: jeffrey@antonelli-law.com
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III. Proposed Operations

A. The UAs

The requested exemption will permit petitioner to operate the Cinestar 8 HL and 

Copterworks Af25b. The Cinestar 8 HL weighs no more than 18.7 lbs. (8.5kg), inclusive of 

batteries and technical payload has been previously approved for commercial operation in, among 

others, the exemption grants identified in Section VII below.

The Copterworks Af25b has a maximum take-off weight of 71 lbs. (32.2 kg.), inclusive of 

fuel and technical payload. This UA has a dry weight of 35 lbs. (15.9 kg.) and can carry up to 10 

lbs. (4.5 kg.) of fuel. Petitioner requests permission to operate the Copterworks Af25b at its full 

takeoff weight of 71 lbs. However, if the FAA requires additional information or additional time 

to consider the safety aspects of UA operations at greater than 55 lbs., petitioner requests 

permission to operate the Copterworks Af25b at a weight of no more than 55 lbs. 

Although the Copterworks Af25b has not yet been approved by the FAA, the FAA has 

previously approved the Yamaha RMAX remotely-piloted helicopter, weighing no more than 218

lbs. (99 kg.) in Exemption No. 11448.

The specific conditions of the proposed exemption that relate to the characteristics of the 

UA are numbers 1, 5, and 16-20 in Section V below. Each has been adopted or imposed by the 

FAA in numerous previous grants of Section 333 exemption petitions.

For more information regarding the Cinestar 8 HL, please refer to Exhibits 3-5 and 10-11. 

For more information regarding the Copterworks Af25b, please refer to Exhibits 7-11.

B. The Crew

The crew will consist of a pilot in command (PIC) and a visual observer (VO). The PIC 

and VO will have been trained in operation of UAs generally and received up-to-date information 

on the UAs to be operated pursuant to this grant. The PIC will have, at a minimum, a sport pilot 

license and either a third class medical certificate or a U.S. driver’s license.

The specific conditions of the proposed exemption that relate to the training and 

characteristics of the crew are numbers 3 and 6-9 in Section V below. Each has been adopted or 

imposed by the FAA in numerous previous grants of Section 333 exemption petitions.

For more information regarding the flight crew and training, please refer to the following 

exhibits: 

Exhibit 1, SkyFly Cinema sUAS Flight Operations Manual

Section 7: Flight Team

Exhibit 2, SkyFly Cinema Movie Production Television Operations Manual

Section 2.7.6: Pilot in Command

Section 2.7.10: Visual Observer

Section 7: Flight Team
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C. Flight Conditions

The UAs will be used for aerial photography, videography, and cinematography in Class 

G airspace (unless otherwise prescribed by an ATO-issued COA) under 400 feet above ground 

level (“AGL”) and under controlled conditions over restricted property. Petitioner will work with 

the local FSDO when planning operations. Petitioner will only operate the UAs in visual 

meteorological conditions (VMC). The UAs will at all times be no less than 500 feet below and 

no less than 2,000 feet horizontally from a cloud, and petitioner will not conduct operations unless 

visibility is at least 3 statute miles from the PIC. The flight crew will always make a safety 

assessment of the risk of every operation, and will only operate when it is determined that no 

hazards are present.

The specific conditions of the proposed exemption that relate to the flight conditions in 

which the UA will be operated are numbers 2, 4, 16, and 28-29 in Section V below. Each has been 

adopted or imposed by the FAA in numerous previous grants of Section 333 exemption petitions.

For more information regarding flight conditions, please refer to the following Exhibits:

Exhibit 1: SkyFly Cinema sUAS Flight Operations Manual

Section 8: Operations Area/Airspace Control

Section 9.2: Pre-Flight Planning

Exhibit 2: SkyFly Cinema Movie Production Television Operations Manual

Section8: Sterile Area/Airspace Control

Exhibit 4: SkyFly CineStar 8 sUAS Aircraft Flight Manual

Limitations, Operational Environments

D. Flight Operations

The purpose of the UA flights for which exemption is requested will be for aerial 

photography, videography, and cinematography. Every UA flight will use at minimum a two 

person flight crew: a PIC and a VO. 

The specific conditions of the proposed exemption that relate to flight operations are

numbers 11-12, 17-25, and 32-34 in Section V below. Each has been accepted or imposed by the 

FAA in numerous previous grants of Section 333 exemption petitions.

For more information regarding flight operations, please refer to the following Exhibits:

Exhibit 1: SkyFly Cinema sUAS Flight Operations Manual

Section 2.2: Safety Policy and Procedures

Section 9: Normal Operations

Section 10: Non-Normal Procedures

Section 11: Accident/Incident Reporting

Section 12: Aircraft Maintenance

Section 13: Record Keeping

Section 14: Emergency Contingency Plan

Section 15: Risk Management

Exhibit 2: SkyFly Cinema Movie Production Television Operations Manual

Section 2.3 Field operations of the sUAS Aircraft

Section 5: Plan of Activities

Section 9: Normal Operations
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Section 10: Non-Normal Procedures

Section 11: Accident/Incident Reporting

Section 12: Aircraft Maintenance

Section 13: Record Keeping

Section 14: Emergency Contingency Plan

Section 15: Risk Management

Exhibit 4: SkyFly CineStar 8 sUAS Aircraft Flight Manual

Safety Guidelines

Limitations

Normal Procedures

Supplementary Procedures

Non-Normal Procedures

Exhibit 8: SkyFly Copterworks Af25b Aircraft Flight Manual

Safety Guidelines

Limitations

Normal Procedures

Supplementary Procedures

Non-Normal Procedures

IV. Aircraft and Equivalent Level of Safety

Petitioner proposes that the exemption apply to UAs that have the characteristics and that 

operate with the limitations proposed herein. These limitations provide for a level of safety at least 

equivalent to or higher than manned aircraft operations under the current regulatory structure. 

Section V below identifies the limitations and conditions to which petitioner agrees to be bound 

when conducting commercial operations under a grant of this petition. Appendix A contains a 

matrix connecting (i) the specific proposed condition with (ii) the FAR provision for which it 

provides an equivalent level of safety and (iii) one or more recent Section 333 exemption grants 

in which the FAA recognized this equivalent level of safety.

Approval of the commercial operations outlined in this petition presents no national security 

issue. The PIC will possess, at minimum, a sport pilot’s certificate. Therefore, he or she will have 

been subject to security screenings by the Department of Homeland Security.

V. Proposed Conditions of the Exemption

1. The UAs, including battery and technical payload, will weigh no more than approximately 71 

lbs. (32.2 kg).

2. UA operations under this exemption will be limited to conducting operations for the purpose 

of aerial photography, videography, and cinematography in Class G airspace nationwide, 

unless otherwise prescribed by an ATO issued COA.

3. Flights will be operated within line of sight of a PIC and VO.

4. Flights will be operated at an altitude of no more than 400 feet AGL, as indicated by the 

procedures specified in the operating documents. All altitudes reported to ATC must be in feet 

AGL.
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5. The UAs will not be flown at an indicated airspeed exceeding 39 knots.

6. Minimum flight crew for each operation will consist of the UA PIC and a VO.

7. The PIC will possess at a minimum sport pilot license and either a third class medical certificate 

or a U.S. driver’s license.

8. The petitioner will not permit any PIC to operate the UA unless the PIC meets its qualification 

criteria and demonstrates the ability to safely operate the UAs in a manner consistent with how 

the UAs will be operated under this exemption, including evasive and emergency maneuvers 

and maintaining appropriate distances from persons, vessels, vehicles and structures. PIC 

qualification flight hours and currency will be logged in a manner consistent with 14 CFR 

§61.51(b). A record of the PIC training will be documented and made available upon request 

by the Administrator. Training operations will only be conducted during dedicated training 

sessions. During training, proficiency, and experience-building flights, all persons not essential 

for flight operations will be considered nonparticipants, and the PIC will operate the UAs with 

appropriate distance from nonparticipants in accordance with 14 CFR § 91.119. 

9. The VO will not perform any other duties beyond assisting the PIC with seeing and avoiding 

other air traffic and other ground based obstacles/obstructions, and will not be permitted to 

operate the camera or other instruments.

10. The PIC will be designated before the flight and will not be allowed to transfer his or her 

designation for the duration of the flight. The PIC will ensure that the VO can perform the 

functions prescribed in these conditions and the operating documents.

11. A briefing will be conducted in regard to the planned UA operations prior to each day’s 

activities. It will be mandatory that all personnel who will be performing duties in connection 

with the operations be present for this briefing. 

12. Prior to each flight, the PIC will inspect the UAs, including the Ground Control Station, to 

ensure it is in a condition for safe flight. If the inspection reveals a condition that affects the 

safe operation of the UAs, the PIC will not operate the UAs until the necessary maintenance 

has been performed and the UAs are found to be in a condition for safe flight. All maintenance 

and alterations will be properly documented in the aircraft records.

13. Petitioner will conduct a functional flight test on any UA that has undergone maintenance or 

alterations that affect the UA operation or flight characteristics, e.g. replacement of a flight 

critical component. The PIC who conducts the functional test flight will make an entry in the 

aircraft records. 

14. The petitioner will carry out its maintenance, inspections, and record keeping requirements, in 

accordance with the UA manufacturer’s aircraft/component, maintenance, overhaul, 

replacement, inspection, and life limit requirements set forth in the operating documents. 

Maintenance, inspection, alterations, and status of replacement/overhaul component parts will 

be noted in the aircraft records, including total time in service, description of work 

accomplished, and the signature of the authorized person returning the UA to service. The 

authorized person will make an entry in the aircraft record of the corrective action taken against 

discrepancies discovered between inspections.
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15. The UA will be operated within visual line of sight (VLOS) of the PIC and VO at all times. 

This requires the PIC to be able to use human vision unaided by any device other than 

corrective lenses. PIC and VO will at all times be able to communicate verbally. They will not 

be permitted to use electronic messaging or texting to communicate during flight operations. 

16. The PIC will not begin a flight unless (considering wind and forecast weather conditions) there 

is enough power to fly at normal cruising speed to the intended landing point and prepare to 

land with at least 25% battery power remaining.

17. Actual total flight time for each operational flight will result in no less than a 25% battery 

reserve.

18. The UA will have the capability to abort a flight in case of unexpected obstacles or 

emergencies. 

19. The UA will be programmed so that if it loses communications or loses its GPS signal, it will 

return to a pre-determined location within the planned operating area and land or be recovered 

in accordance with the operating documents

20. If the UA and its radio control link disconnect during flight, the system’s failsafe protection 

will be triggered and the multirotor will return to home and land automatically, rather than 

flying off uncontrollably or landing at an unknown location. 

21. The operating documents required under 14 CFR §§ 91.9 and 91.203 will be maintained and 

available to the PIC at the Ground Control Station of the UA any time the UAs are operating. 

These documents will be made available to the Administrator or any law enforcement official 

upon request. If a discrepancy exists between the conditions and limitations in the exemption 

grant and the procedures outlined in the operating documents, the grant conditions and 

limitations will take precedence and will be followed. Otherwise, the petitioner will follow the 

procedures outlined in its operating documents. If it updates or revises its operating documents, 

it will present updated and revised documents to the Administrator upon request. If the 

petitioner determines that any update or revision would affect the basis upon which the FAA 

granted the exemption, then the Petitioner will petition for an amendment to the grant of 

exemption. 

22. Petitioner will obtain written and/or oral permission from the landowners/authorized agents of 

the landowners over which flights will be conducted.

23. Petitioner will obtain all required permissions and permits from territorial, state, county or city 

jurisdictions, including local law enforcement, fire, or other appropriate governmental 

agencies. 

24. UA operations will not be conducted during night, as defined in 14 CFR § 1.1. All operations 

will be conducted under visual meteorological conditions (VMC). Flights will not be 

conducted under special visual flight rules (SVFR). 

25. The petitioner will obtain an Air Traffic Organization (ATO) issued Certificate of Waiver or 

Authorization (COA) prior to conducting any operations under the grant of exemption. 

Petitioner will request a Notice to Airman (NOTAM) not more than 72 hours in advance, but 
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not less than 24 hours prior to the operation. All operations will be conducted in accordance 

with airspace requirements in the ATO issued COA, including class of airspace, altitude level 

and potential transponder requirements. 

26. The UA will not be operated within 5 nautical miles of an airport reference point as denoted 

on a current FAA-published aeronautical chart unless a letter of agreement with that airport’s 

management has been obtained, and the operation is conducted in accordance with a NOTAM 

as required by the operator’s COA. Any letter of agreement with the airport management will 

be made available to the Administrator upon request. 

27. The UA will not be operated less than 500 feet below, or less than 2,000 feet horizontally from, 

a cloud or when visibility is less than 3 statute miles from the PIC. 

28. All operations shall be conducted in Class G airspace or as otherwise prescribed in an ATO 

issued COA. 

29. All aircraft operated in accordance with this exemption will be identified by serial number, 

registered in accordance with 14 CFR part 47, and have identification (N-Number) markings 

in accordance with 14 CFR part 45, Subpart C. Markings will be as large as practicable. 

30. Before conducting operations, petitioner will ensure that the radio frequency spectrum used 

for operation and control of the UA complies with the Federal Communications Commission 

(FCC) or other appropriate government oversight agency requirements. 

31. The UA will remain clear and yield the right of way to all manned aviation operations and 

activities at all times. 

32. The UA will not be operated by the PIC from any moving device or vehicle. 

33. Petitioner will conduct all flight operations at least 500 feet from all nonparticipating persons, 

vessels, vehicles, and structures unless one of the following three conditions is met:

a. Barriers or structures are present that sufficiently protect nonparticipating persons from the 

UAs and/or debris in the event of an accident. The petitioner will ensure that 

nonparticipating persons remain under such protection. If a situation arises where 

nonparticipating persons leave such protection and are within 500 feet of the UAs, the PIC 

will ensure that flight operations cease immediately.

b. The aircraft is operated near vessels, vehicles or structures where the owner/controller of 

such vessels, vehicles or structures has granted permission and the PIC has made a safety 

assessment of the risk of operating closer to those objects and determined that it does not 

present an undue hazard.

c. Operations nearer to the PIC, VO, operator trainees or essential persons do not present an 

undue hazard to those persons per § 91.119(a).

34. Petitioner will report any incident, accident, or flight operation that transgresses the lateral or 

vertical boundaries of the operational area as defined by the applicable COA to the FAA's UAS 

Integration Office (AFS-80) within 24 hours. Petitioner will report accidents to the National 

Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) per instructions contained on the NTSB Web site: 

www.ntsb.gov.
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35. The petitioner will have a motion picture and television operations manual (MPTOM)

available at the Ground Control Station, submitted as Exhibit 2 to this petition request.

36. At least 3 days before aerial filming, petitioner will submit a written Plan of Activities to the

local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) with jurisdiction over the area of proposed

filming. The 3-day notification may be waived with the concurrence of the FSDO. The plan of

activities will include at least the following:

a. Dates and times for all flights;

b. Name and phone number of the operator for the UA aerial filming conducted under

this grant of exemption;

c. Name and phone number of the person responsible for the on-scene operation of

the UA;

d. Make, model, and serial or N−Number of UA to be used;

e. Name and certificate number of UA PICs involved in the aerial filming;

f. A statement that the operator has obtained permission from property owners and/or

local officials to conduct the filming production event; the list of those who gave

permission must be made available to the inspector upon request;

g. Signature of exemption holder or representative; and

h. A description of the flight activity, including maps or diagrams of any area, city,

town, county, and/or state over which filming will be conducted and the altitudes

essential to accomplish the operation.

37. Flight operations may be conducted closer than 500 feet from participating persons consenting

to be involved and necessary for the filming production, as specified in the petitioner’s

MPTOM, Exhibit 2.

VI. Privacy

There is little concern that the proposed flights will cause invasions of privacy. All flights 

will occur over either (a) public rights of way where there is no expectation of privacy; or (b) over 

private property with permission of the landowner/authorized agent and consent of participating 

individuals. 

If data collected is made available for public view, all images containing uninvolved 

persons will be blurred or blacked-out. No attempt will be made to identify any individuals filmed 

during the flights except in cases where they are trespassing upon or damaging customer property, 

or interfering with the petitioner’s or its customers’ operations.

VII. Public Interest and Safety

The planned UA use will increase ground safety for aerial photography, videography and 

cinematography. This type of data collection has previously been done by manned aircraft or by 

individuals on the ground. Both are more time consuming and are more expensive than using UAs. 

Use of manned aircraft poses enhanced risk to the pilot and onboard crew, who would be several 

hundred feet in the air. 

The enhanced safety and reduced environmental impact achieved using UAs and carrying 

no passengers or crew, rather than a manned aircraft of significantly greater mass, carrying crew 

in addition to large amounts of flammable fuel, gives the FAA good cause to find that the UA 
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operation enabled by this exemption is in the public interest. 

Satisfaction of the criteria provided in Section 333 of the Reform Act of 2012 – size, 

weight, speed, operating capabilities, proximity to airports and populated areas and operation 

within visual line of sight and national security – provide more than adequate justification for the 

grant of the requested exemption allowing commercial operation of petitioner’s UAs for aerial 

photography, videography, and cinematography pursuant to SkyFly Cinema’s rules of operation. 

Please refer to the following Exhibits for petitioner’s internal rules to ensure safety:

Exhibit 1: SkyFly Cinema sUAS Flight Operations Manual 

Section 15: Risk Management 

Section 16: Onside Safety Assessment 

Exhibit 2: SkyFly Cinema Movie Production Television Operations Manual 

Section 15: Risk Management 

The FAA has determined that the use of the Cinestar 8 family is in the public interest in 

the following Exemption Nos.: 

11251 (Cinestar 8, cinematography); 

12496 (Cinestar 8 Octo, cinematography); 

12697 (Cinestar 8, cinematography); 

11284 (Cinestar 8 HL, closed-set motion pictures, television and film); 

11854 (Cinestar 8 HL, closed-set motion pictures); 

12473 (Cinestar 8 HL, filming and motion pictures); 

11488 (Cinestar 8, closed-set motion pictures and commercial videography); 

12008 (Cinestar 8, closed-set motion pictures); 

12092 (Cinestar 8, film industry); and 

12318 (Cinestar 8, closed-set motion pictures). 

The Copterworks Af25b is a larger UA, with a frame weight of approximately 35 lbs., a 

maximum fuel weight of approximately10 lbs., and a maximum takeoff weight of 71 lbs. The FAA 

has previously approved UAS operations where the UA weighed significantly more than 55 lbs. 

in Exemption No. 11448 (maximum takeoff weight not to exceed 218 lbs.). However, should the 

FAA require additional information or time before approving the Copterworks Af25b to operate 

at its full takeoff weight, petitioner requests that the FAA allow it to operate at weights up to 55lbs. 

The Copterworks Af25b is a gasoline-powered UA. The FAA has previously determined 

that operation of UAs fueled by gasoline is in the public interest in Exemption Nos. 12080, 12090 

and 12586. 
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Regulations from Which Exemption is Requested

Appendix A: FARs as to which SkyFly Cinema wishes the same determination to be made 

as has been made previously.

FAR 

Provision

Applicable condition(s) in 

Section 5 of petition

FAA Exemption Decision

21(h) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 16, 25, 28, 29 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

43.7 13, 14 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

43.11 12 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

45.11 29 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

45.27 29 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

45.29 29 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.7(a) 12 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.9(b)(2) 22 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.9(c) 30 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.103(b)(2) 3, 9, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.105 6 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.109 7, 8 Nos. 11252, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 11945, 

12040, 12068, 12422, 12474

91.113(b) 3, 31 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.119(c ) 4, 33 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.121 4 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.151(a) 16, 17 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.203 (a) 

and (b)

22 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.215 25, 26 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.403 12, 13, 14 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.405(a) 12, 13, 14 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474
15

FAR 

Provision

Applicable condition(s) in 

Section 5 of petition

FAA Exemption Decision

91.407(a)(1) 14 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.409(a)(1) 12, 13, 14 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.409(a)(2) 12, 13, 14 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.417(a) 12, 13, 14 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474

91.417(b) 12, 13, 14 Nos. 11252, 11396, 11467, 11745, 11797, 11905, 

11945, 12040, 12068, 12080, 12107, 12422, 12474
en/FlightCtrlManual

44

LotharF

MikroKopter.de

16
Contents

1 Flight-Ctrl V1.0: Schematic, Parts Soldering and Getting Started.......................................................1/16

1.1 Tasks.............................................................................................................................................1/16

1.2 Other Features:..............................................................................................................................1/16

1.2.1 Version V1.3.......................................................................................................................1/16

1.2.2 ME Variant..........................................................................................................................2/16

2 Micro Controller.........................................................................................................................................3/16

2.1 Gyro Sensors.................................................................................................................................3/16

2.2 Acceleration Sensor......................................................................................................................3/16

2.3 Atmospheric pressure sensor........................................................................................................3/16

2.4 Interfaces.......................................................................................................................................3/16

2.5 PPM input.....................................................................................................................................3/16

2.6 I2C Bus.........................................................................................................................................4/16

2.7 Serial Interface (asynchronous)....................................................................................................4/16

2.8 ISP Interface (synchronous)..........................................................................................................4/16

2.9 Compass connection.....................................................................................................................4/16

3 General security notes................................................................................................................................5/16

3.1 Conditions of use..........................................................................................................................5/16

4 Setting up the board...................................................................................................................................6/16

4.1 Step 1: Connection and Control of the supply voltage.................................................................6/16

4.2 Step 2: Gyro Amplifier Calibration..............................................................................................6/16

4.3 Step 3: Programming with the MikroKopter Tool (avrdude).......................................................7/16

4.4 Step 4: Hardware Test...................................................................................................................7/16

4.4.1 Test of sensor values...........................................................................................................7/16

4.4.2 Test of gyro and acceleration sensor data...........................................................................7/16

4.4.3 Test of the Rx signal............................................................................................................9/16

4.4.4 Test of the voltage measurement.........................................................................................9/16

4.5 Step 5: Installation into the MikroKopter.....................................................................................9/16

4.5.1 Synopsis of the connection of other components................................................................9/16

4.5.2 Short form:..........................................................................................................................9/16

4.5.3 Connections:........................................................................................................................9/16

4.6 Step 6: Control of the MikroKopter (short form).......................................................................10/16

4.6.1 Switching on the motors....................................................................................................10/16

4.6.2 Calibration of the sensors and choice of flight mode setting / parameter set....................10/16

4.6.3 Switching off the motors...................................................................................................11/16

4.6.4 Behaviour when loosing Tx or Rx signal..........................................................................11/16

4.7 Parts soldering............................................................................................................................11/16

4.8 Tools & supplies.........................................................................................................................13/16

4.9 Soldering.....................................................................................................................................13/16

5 Placement plan with color support..........................................................................................................14/16

6 Schematic...................................................................................................................................................16/16

en/FlightCtrlManual

i

17
1 Flight-Ctrl V1.0: Schematic, Parts Soldering and

Getting Started

1.1 Tasks

This board is the MikroKopter’s control board . It fulfils the following tasks:

• measuring the angular velocity of the three axes

• measuring the acceleration data of the three axes

• measuring the atmospheric pressure for altitude control

• evaluation of a digital compass signal

• measuring the battery voltage

• evaluation of the R/C signal

• processing of sensor data and computing the actual angular position

• driving four Brushless ESCs (electronic speed controllers)

1.2 Other Features:

• Dimensions 50 * 50mm

• Two LEDs (e.g. Okay & Error)

• Two transistor outputs for external lights (or other functions)

• Undervoltage detection

• A receiver can be powered by 5V

1.2.1 Version V1.3

1/16

18
(only the differences are listed)

• automatic Gyro adjustment, i.e. no manual adjustment of resistors required

• One-sided assembly - it is now possible to build FlightCtrl much flatter

• External connection areas (supply, I2C, etc.) have been enlarged

Optional: second voltage supply 7805 for servo supply (eg for camera tilt servo, targeting 7805 as the

first with a cooling surface to the outside, not included)

• 

• Servo and external lighting connected via a pin header

• New (compatible) accelerometer sensor

• 4-layer design

 The transistors (PDTC143) to the outputs SV2 of version 1.3 can only switch 100mA! This

corresponds, for example, to half a LED strip (3 pieces of 2x3 LED).

• 

1.2.2 ME Variant

• See FlightControl ME

• Is not a new version, but as a separate variant parallel to the previously distributed version 1.3

• Quality MEMS gyroscope technology manufactured by Analog Devices

• 5 servo outputs

• Supply is now a Recom-switching regulator

• Optional: 2nd supply voltage for servo output (not included)

• Servo and external lighting connected via pin header

• 4-layer design

en/FlightCtrlManual 10/13/15 19:17:24

2/16

19
2 Micro Controller

Computing and processing is accomplished by a Atmel ATMEGA644 @ 20MHz. This is a low cost and

popular 8-Bit-processor.

The criteria for the choice of the micro controller were:

• satisfactory performance

• good availability

• low cost

• easy to solder

• availability of free development software Sensors

The flight attitude of a quadrocopter must be controlled electronically. We need different sensors for this.

2.1 Gyro Sensors

They measure the angular velocity (rotational speed) of each axis. We need three sensors to stabilize all three

axes. These sensors are the most elementary components (-> GyroScope )

2.2 Acceleration Sensor

The main function of the acceleration sensor is to measure the actual tilt of the MikroKopter and to

support the altitude adjustment. Here we use a three axis sensor.

• 

Theoretically we could omit this sensor if the quadrocopter should work in the so called Heading-Hold-Mode.

( --> Acceleration Sensor )

2.3 Atmospheric pressure sensor

It serves to stabilize the flight altitude. This sensor is optional. The large pressure openings should be closed

with adhesive tape where we make a tiny hole with a needle. This protects from false readings due to wind

and light. (--> en/heightsensor )

Airpressure sensor at high altitude: If the Mikrokopter is going to be flown at very high altitudes (eg 2500

meters), then it is possible that the airpressure sensor will not operate correctly. The resistors have been

calculated for airpressures of 850 to 1100 hpa. At 2500 metes the airpressure will be about 750 hpa. to correct

this, solder a 1.5 (to 4.7) kOhm resistor (value dependent upon altitude) parallel to R21.

2.4 Interfaces

The controller board communicates with the outside world through different interfaces.

2.5 PPM input

Here we connect the receiver. Two wires for the supply voltage and one for the receiver’s R/C sum signal.

Compared to a normal servo PPM signal the sum signal contains all the channels sent by the R/C transmitter

before they are decoded by the receiver. This signal is available in every receiver but there are only a few

where this signal is directly accessible from outside (e.g. the RX3 Multi by ACT). ( --> RC receiver )

3/16

20
2.6 I2C Bus

We connect the BL-ESCs to this bus, which carries the command sequences. The Flight-Ctrl needs our special

brushless ESC, to ensure fast communication via the I2C Bus. Standard ESCs cannot be used as they are to

slow. The I2C Bus has a clock (SCL) and data (SDA) line. The bus connects all SCL and SDA lines together.

2.7 Serial Interface (asynchronous)

Here we connect a PC for testing and calibration. The signal is TTL and not V24. For this reason we need to

connect an interface converter if we want to communicate with the standard serial interface of the PC. Later

on this interface can also be used for the communication (asynchronous) with other controllers.

2.8 ISP Interface (synchronous)

The ATMEL controller will be programmed via an ISP interface. This interface can be also be used for a fast

communication (synchronous serial) with other controllers.

2.9 Compass connection

A digital compass can be connected to the PC4 input of the universal connector.

en/FlightCtrlManual 10/13/15 19:17:24

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21
3 General security notes

We do not guarantee an error free behaviour of the electronics or the software. Despite thoroughful design and

verification we will not be held responsable (directly or indirectly) for the flawlessness of the software, the

hardware or the informations included. You use the electronics at your own risk (this is also applicable for the

PC software delivered). Further on we deny any responsability for colateral damages of goods or people

which could arise from the use of this application. It is your own responsability to make a complete system

test.

The MikroKopter is not a children’s toy. It is too expensive and too dangerous for this. Do not fly over

people!

In any case you should contract a special model airplane insurance before the first flight because most

ordinary liability insurances will not cover damages caused by model airplanes.

3.1 Conditions of use

The use of the whole or parts of the MikroKopter project (hardware, software and documentation) is only

allowed for private (non-commercial) use. If you intend a direct or indirect commercial use please contact us

for conditions.

5/16

22
4 Setting up the board

4.1 Step 1: Connection and Control of the supply voltage

Before powering up you should once again check the correct position of the voltage regulator IC4 (μA7805)

and the diode D1. The supply voltage is connected to the pad J1 (marked „+“ at the switch) and to the pad J2

(marked „-“ close to the switch). It is strongly advised to use a current limited power supply until you know

that everything is working correctly. The supply current for the Flight-Ctrl board plus the four BL ESCs is

about 200 mA.

5,0V Test of the digital supply. Check at TP1 to GND. Voltage should be between 4,9 and 5,1 V.

3,0V Test of the analog supply. Check at TP2 to GND. Voltage should be between 2,9 and 3,1 V.

4.2 Step 2: Gyro Amplifier Calibration

The outputs of the gyro amp (Pins 8, 7 and 1 of IC2) should show a voltage of about 1,2-1,8V (ideal value

would be 1,5V) in idle state (board/copter not moving). The factory adjusted output signal of the gyros may

vary slightly, we must therefore sometimes correct the signal.

We need to add the resistors R9 (for TP4), R13 (for TP5) and R17 (for TP3) to increase the value of the signal

(the lower the value of the resistor, the higher the output signal). Or we need to add the resistors R29 (for

TP4), R20 (for TP5) und R15 (for TP3) to lower the signal (the lower the value of the resistor, the lower the

output signal).

Default values for the calibration resistors:

Increasing the amplifier signal: signal value < 0,8V : 150kOhm < 1,0V : 220kOhm < 1,2V : 470kOhm

Lowering the amplifier signal: signal value > 2,2V : 150kOhm > 2,0V : 220kOhm > 1,8V : 470kOhm

6/16

23
After a severe crash or irregular movements of the MikroKopter (e.g. pitch is smoother in one direction than

the other) the signal should be checked and recalibrated if needed.

4.3 Step 3: Programming with the MikroKopter Tool (avrdude)

The software transfer (In System Programming) is easiest with our serial converter (SerCon), which contains

already an ISP circuit. The PC must have a “real“ serial interface for programming. USB to serial/parallel

converters or similar adaptors are definitively not working! The serial converter is connected to the 6 pin

header with a ribbon cable. The LED on the converter board will be in an indifferent state (on or off). The

Flight-Ctrl board must be connected to the supply voltage for programming.

As an alternative the software can be programmed via USB with an AVR ISP mkII. The description is

available under USB-AVRISPmkII. Another possibility for a later data communication via USB is the

USB-TTL-232 adaptor.

A boot loader is now available for the Flight-Ctrl. Instructions for programming can be found under

MikroKopterTool...

4.4 Step 4: Hardware Test

4.4.1 Test of sensor values

When the controller has been successfully programmed, you can check the sensor values with the

MikroKopter tool. For this procedure you connect the serial converter with the large ribbon cable. The ISP

cable must be disconnected for debugging or the jumper must be removed from the converter board.

4.4.2 Test of gyro and acceleration sensor data

The board must be put in a horizontal position and switched on (or reset), then start the scope option in the

MikroKopter tool (if the scope was already running you should stop it for a moment to reset the zoom range).

We observe here only the first five analog values. The other analog values can be switched off via the tab

„Scope“ in the MikroKopter tool if the display becomes to difficult to read.

en/FlightCtrlManual 10/13/15 19:17:24

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24
Now you tilt the board as smoothly as possible to about 45 degrees in direction of the pitch axis. On the scope

you check the signal values. The signal of the pitch integral and the pitch acceleration sensor (here red and

yellow) should show a significant value.

It is important that the overlaid graphs are identical as far as possible.

The same check has to be made on the roll axis (here blue and green):

Then we check the yaw gyro. For this purpose we turn the board around the yaw axis and observe the signal

of the gyro. As long as we turn the board there will be a value > 0 which will come back to zero when we stop

moving the board.

We check the offset values of the gyros in the virtual display (the values in parenthesis):

For this purpose we click through the buttons in the corresponding menu. The offset values should be around

500 (+-100). In this example the yaw gyro has a problem (178). It must be recalibrated or changed.

en/FlightCtrlManual 10/13/15 19:17:24

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25
4.4.3 Test of the Rx signal

In the virtual display we can read the R/C values:

With the R/C control we can adjust the values in the range of ca. -120 to +120.

4.4.4 Test of the voltage measurement

In this menu you can check the value of the voltage measurement:

In this example we have 11,3V.

The Rx level is 0 because no receiver was connected.

4.5 Step 5: Installation into the MikroKopter

More information on our homepage

4.5.1 Synopsis of the connection of other components

4.5.2 Short form:

• The arrow on the mounted Flight-Ctrl board points in flight direction

• Addressing the motors : 1=front 2=back 3=right 4=left

The direction of rotation of the motors: the left and right motor (roll axis) turn counter clockwise

(seen from above) and the front and back motor (pitch axis) turn clockwise.

• 

4.5.3 Connections:

• the multi signal from the receiver with a 3 wire servo cable

a LiPo battery (11,1V ca. 1,5-2,5Ah dischargeable with 15-20C) with two wires of 0.75mm2

minimum (positive=red; negative=black)

• 

• four BL-ESCs with two supply wires of 0.75mm2 minimum (positive=red; negative=black)

• I2C Bus for the communication with the Brushless-ESCs

Details of the whole construction see ElektronikVerkabelung....

en/FlightCtrlManual 10/13/15 19:17:24

9/16

26
4.6 Step 6: Control of the MikroKopter (short form)

=== Initial Calibration ===

After building, flashing new firmware or changes to the airframe: Place the MK at a level surface, and make

sure it's perfectly level. Store ACC data for this position by applying full-throttle+yaw-right (in mode2 - left

stick in upper right corner). -From now on you can start from sloping surface.

4.6.1 Switching on the motors

Calibrate the sensors, apply full-throttle+yaw-left (in mode2: left stick in upper left corner) until the

buzzer beeps.

• 

• To start push the throttle/yaw lever to the lower right corner until the motors start

• The levelling control starts working from a certain throttle value only.

4.6.2 Calibration of the sensors and choice of flight mode setting / parameter

set

For the calibration of the sensors push the throttle/yaw lever to the upper left corner until the beeper

beeps and the green LED goes off. This way the controller regards the current gyro values as

"levelled". The beeper will tell you which "setting" is currently active. There are 5 possible settings.

During the calibration as just described you can choose the appropriate setting with the pitch/roll lever

like this:

Meaning: Pitch-Roll lever left middle = Setting1 ; left upper = Setting2 and so on.

The image below shows greater detail of how the sticks are used to select settings and calibration modes:

en/FlightCtrlManual 10/13/15 19:17:24

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27
4.6.3 Switching off the motors

Push the throttle/yaw lever to the lower left corner until the motors stop.

Here you will find a video demo of how to start the motors, calibrate (1 beep confirms setting1), and stop the

motors.

4.6.4 Behaviour when loosing Tx or Rx signal

If the Rx signal gets lost during the flight the motors will continue to turn for a few seconds while the

MikroKopter tries to get in a horizontal position. This should (more or less) allow for a controlled descent of

the quadrocopter.

4.7 Parts soldering

The parts should be soldered in the same order as shown in the listing. This simplifies the task.

Parts in italics are placed on the solder side (bottom)

Qty Reichelt Order# Remark Part Name

1

ATMEGA 644-20

AU Check origin AVR-RISC-Controller IC1

1 TS 914 I SMD Check origin Rail to Rail Op-Amp IC2

5 NPO-G0805 22P Capacitor C1, C2, C28, C29,C30

5 X7R-G0805 22N Capacitor C9, C15, C17, C27, C31

en/FlightCtrlManual 10/13/15 19:17:24

11/16

28
17 X7R-G0805 100N Capacitor

C5, C6, C8, C12, C13, C16, C18,

C19, C20, C21, C11, C22, C14,

C23, C24, C25, C26

5 SMD-0805 1,00K SMD-Chip-resistor R2, R5, R6, R7, R4

5 SMD-0805 100 SMD-Chip-resistor R24, R27, R28, R32, R33

5 SMD-0805 10,0K SMD-Chip-resistor R8, R12, R16, R1, R3

4 SMD-0805 100K SMD-Chip-resistor R10,R11, R14, R18

1 SMD-0805 220K SMD-Chip-resistor R26

1 SMD-0805 2,20K SMD-Chip-resistor R25

1 SMD-0805 6,80K SMD-Chip-resistor R21

3 SMD-0805 18,0K SMD-Chip-resistor R22, R30, R31

1 SMD-0805 680 SMD-Chip-resistor R19

1

SMD-LED 0805

GN Arrow on bottom CHIP-LED green LED1

1

SMD-LED 0805

RT Arrow on bottom CHIP-LED red LED2

2 BC 817-25 SMD Check direction CHIP-Transistor T1, T2

1 LQH3C 100μ SMD-Inductor L1

1 -- Short with wire omitted C3

1 1N 4001 Check marking Diode D1

1 20,0000-HC49U-S Quartz 20,0MHz Q1

1 LP 2950 ACZ3,0 Check marking Voltage regulator

+3,0V IC5

1 μA 7805 Check marking Voltage regulator IC4

2 RAD 330/16 Check polarity Electrolytic cap C7, C10

1 MS 500F Solder to the rim Switch, 2-pole SW1 use wire if necessary

1 SL 2X10G 2,54 Divide in 2*3 and

2*5 Header two rows SV1, SV5

1 SUMMER TDB 05 Polarity: (+) to the

rim of the board Beeper SP1

Sensors

1 LIS3L02AS4 Acceleration sensor IC3

2 ENC-03JA Check direction Gyros Pitch and Roll GY_N, GY_R

1 ENC-03JA Check direction Gyro Yaw GY_G

Option for altitude

adjustm.

1 MPX 4115A Metal plane to the

board

Motorola pressure

sensor

V1

1 1uF SMD1206 Not available @

Reichelt /alternative: Z5U-5 1,0μ(with wires) C4

Resistors to adjust the

gyro signals

3 SMD-0805 470K See instructions SMD-Chip-resistor

3 SMD-0805 150K See instructions SMD-Chip-resistor

en/FlightCtrlManual 10/13/15 19:17:24

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29
3 SMD-0805 220K See instructions SMD-Chip-resistor

'

Gyros, acceleration & pressure sensors are available in the Shop

4.8 Tools & supplies

• Edsyn FL 22 SMD-Flux

• Solder wick 1,5mm

• Solder AG 0,507 0,5mm

• Temperature controlled soldering station with fine tip

• Multimeter

4.9 Soldering

• The yaw gyro must be soldered like shown: (JPN marking to the board)

The pins on top must be extended with pieces of wire.

The gyro should also be glued to the board to increase mechanical rigidness.

Under no circumstances should glue penetrate into the gyros

en/FlightCtrlManual 10/13/15 19:17:24

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30
5 Placement plan with color support

(equally coloured parts are identical)

14/16

31
en/FlightCtrlManual 10/13/15 19:17:24

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32
6 Schematic

(click for high resolution) '

Translation by french-copter 2007-07-21. Please bear with me, I’m not a native speaker of English, if you

find weird phrases or simply balderdash tell me...

'

• KategorieAnleitung, KategorieEnglish

16/16

33
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 1 | 

Ace One

User Manual

Ver. 2.5

http://www.dji-innovations.com

34
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 2 | 

Copyrights

This product and manual are copyrighted by DJI Innovations with all rights reserved. No part of this product or manual shall be 

reproduced in any form without the prior written consent or authorization of DJI Innovations. No patent liability is assumed with respect 

to the use of the product or information contained herein.

Disclaimer

DJI Innovations assumes no liability for damage(s) or injured incurred directly or indirectly from the use of this product.

Trademarks

DJI and Ace One are registered trademark of DJI Innovations. Names of product, brand, etc., appearing in this manual are trademarks 

or registered trademarks of their respective owner companies.

35
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 3 | 

Product Documents List 

The Ace One product package includes the following installation manual.

To correctly use Ace One system and fly safe, please read the instruction carefully before power on.

 Warranty Card

[Warranty Card] recommend the necessary conditions for using Ace One system and related safety issues. Please fill out the 

customer & helicopter information card and return to DJI to register your product warranty.

 Quick Start Guide

[Quick Start Guide」For experienced users, the quick start guide provides a brief summary of the steps that can also be found in

details in the manual.

 Ace One User Manual

[Ace One User Manual] provides you the detailed steps for Ace One basic setup, configuration, parameter settings, operation 

processes, and also maintenance of the product.

Reader’s Guide for This Manual 

Please strictly follow these steps to mount and connect the Ace One system on your helicopter, as well as to install the Ace One

Assistant software on your computer.

 Icons seen in this document

Forbidden Please refer to the page(s)

mentioned TX

R/C Transmitter 

configuration 

required

Alt

Alt Key

Caution Assembly & Mounting Tips Mouse Left Click

Enter

Enter Key

Correct General Tips Mouse Right Click

Up/Down/

Left/Right 

Directions 

Wrong Keys

Ace One Assistant

configuration required

Ctrl

Ctrl Key

Contents 

Product Documents List .................................... 3

Reader’s Guide for This Manual ....................... 3

Contents .............................................................. 3

DJI Ace One Introduction .................................. 4

Package Contents .............................................. 5

Mounting and Connection ................................. 6

A1 Before you Begin...........................................6

A2 Mount the devices on your helicopter............6

A3 Connections...................................................7

A4 Ace Assistant Software Basic Operation .......9

Configuration Procedure ................................. 11

B1 GPS & IMU Mounting .................................. 11

B2 Control Mode Switch ...................................12

B3 Flybarless ....................................................13

B4 Swashplate..................................................14

B5 Pitch and Throttle Curve Setup....................14

B6 Tail Gyro......................................................15

B7 Engine Governor .........................................16

B8 R/C Transmitter Calibration.........................17

B9 SYSTEM CHECK ........................................18

B10 Autopilot ......................................................19

B11 Camera Gimbal Control...............................20

Flight ................................................................. 21

C1 Digital Compass Calibration ........................21

C2 MANUAL MODE Test Flight ........................22

C3 Enhanced Fail-Safe.....................................23

C4 Autopilot Test Fight......................................24

Maintains .......................................................... 26

Flight Log Reading ................................................26

Firmware Upgrade ................................................26

Product Info...........................................................26

Appendix ........................................................... 27

LED Indicator description ......................................27

Product Specifications...........................................28

36
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 4 | 

DJI Ace One Introduction

DJI Ace One is an autopilot system for radio-controlled helicopters, which completely takes the stress out of flying RC helicopters for 

both professional and hobby applications. Ace One can be installed in a variety of models, from small electric helicopters to large 

gasoline and turbine helicopters.

 Multiple control mode based on autopilot system:

GPS Cruise Mode GPS Atti. Mode Atti. Mode Manual Mode

Command Stick 

Meaning

Flight speed control; Stick center 

position for 0m/s, its endpoint for 

maximum speed set by user.

Helicopter attitude control; Stick center position 

for 0 ̊ attitude, its endpoint for 45 ̊which is a 

fixed limit.

Mechanical driving 

directly

Command Linearity YES NO

Stick Released Lock the position when GPS signal is adequate

Only altitude

stabilizing

Recommend for 

experience pilot only

Altitude lock Maintain the altitude best above 3 meters NO

Stabilization Flybarless stabilizing on ELEV and AILE direction is available for all control mode

GPS Lost

After 10s when GPS signal lost,

System enters Atti. Mode. Automatically.

Only performing 

attitude stabilizing 

without position lock.

---

Safety

Maintain constant speed

Attitude & speed mixture control ensures

stability. 

Depends on 

experience 

Enhanced fail-safe featured, auto hover or Go-Home if transmitter signal lost

Appropriate 

Applications

Long and smooth flight route High agility for all flying ---

 Built-in functions include:

 Integrated tail gyro

The flying direction (YAW) of helicopter will be effected by cross 

wind. Ace One system can detect the drifting angle & Speed, and 

control the rudder servo to eliminate such influences.

In the case of flying forward in cross-wind, Tail Gyro can work on 

two different modes as the example shown.

Heading

Heading

Head-locking Mode Rate Mode

Cross-Wind

1 2 3

 Flybarless rotor head support

 Integrated engine governor for internal combustion engines

 Tilt and roll gimbal stabilization

37
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 5 | 

Package Contents 

 Main Controller (MC)

The Main Controller is the brain of Ace One. The MC communicates with the IMU, 

GPS/Compass, engine governor, servos and RC transmitter to carry out autopilot 

functionality. The MC provides a “black box” flight log, and USB interface to read flight logs, 

configure Ace One and update firmware from a PC.

(System requirement: Windows XP SP3 or Windows 7)

 GPS & Compass module (GPS)

The GPS/Compass module includes two status-indicating

LEDs. It should be installed on the tail boom, where there is a 

clear view of the sky.

×1

 IMU

The Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) consists of one 3-axis 

accelerometer, one 3-axis gyroscope and a barometer.

×1

 GPS Tail Boom Mount

The GPS Tail Boom Mount and double-sided foam tape enable 

secured installation for the GPS/Compass module on almost 

any helicopters.

×1

 3-PIN Servo Cable

Cables used to connect the MC to the RC receiver.

×10

 3M 5925 Double Sided Tape

(Only for GPS & Compass module)

×4

 Micro USB Cable

This cable is used to configure Ace One, update firmware and 

download flight logs.

×1

 Quick Start Guide

For experienced users, the quick start manual provides 

summary of the steps which can be found in detail in this 

manual.

 Warranty Card

Ace One comes with a two-year warranty, as described on this 

card. Please keep this for your personal records.

×1

38
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 6 | 

Mounting and Connection 

A1 Before you Begin

Fly the helicopter without Ace One and make sure that the helicopter works properly without any autopilot assistance. To complete this 

step, you will need a tail gyro instead of Ace One system. This is a good time to isolate and resolve unwanted vibrations. IT IS 

IMPORTANT THAT YOU SHOULD NOT SKIP THIS STEP.

A2 Mount the devices on your helicopter

 IMU

 Where? The IMU is best positioned near the helicopter’s center of gravity, where 

vibration is relatively low.

 What orientation? Orient the IMU such that the arrow marked on the above 

surface of the IMU faces the sky and points directly forward, backward, left or

right. The sides of the IMU should be precisely parallel to the helicopter body. 

DO NOT MOUNT THE IMU UPSIDE-DOWN.

 How? Use double-sided foam tape for secured installation.

1 Check the double-sided foam tape or Velcro regularly to ensure that the 

IMU is securely positioned.

2 DO NOT cover the ventilation holes, keep them unobstructed.

3 The IMU module is NOT water-proof or oil-proof.

 GPS & Compass Module (GPS)

 Where? Mount it on the tail boom, between the 

rotor-head and the tail-rotor. The compass is 

sensitive to magnetic interference, so position the 

module at least 20 cm from servos and 30 cm from 

electric motors or gasoline (petrol) engines. The 

GPS is sensitive to vibration interference, so position 

the module at least 10 cm from the tail rotor. The 

GPS should not be close to the main rotor head 

because rotor blades can interfere with GPS satellite 

signal, the farther from the center of the rotor disk, 

the better.

 What Orientation? The DJI logo marked on the 

GPS should face the sky, with the orientation arrow 

pointing directly forward. The GPS is packaged with 

a special indication line for mounting for the first 

time. The LED status indicators should face the tail 

rotor.

1 If you are uncertain whether materials near the GPS are magnetic or not, you can use a compass or magnet to check it.

2 GPS mounting-support hardware is included in the Ace One package. If however you prefer to use your own GPS mount, 

please make sure that the mount material is NOT magnetic.

 Main Controller (MC)

 Where? There is no orientation requirement for the MC. Maintain at least a 20-centimeter-distance between the MC and the 

engine or motor. Choose a mounting location where as shorter servo extension wires are needed as possible. This helps reduce 

the risks of electronic interference. Please also make sure the USB port is accessible when installing the MC so as to facilitate 

software configuration.

After choosing a location to mount the MC, it is recommended that you DO NOT mount the MC until all wirings and software 

configurations are completed.

1 2

3 4

39
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 7 | 

A3 Connections

 

X3

X2

X1

U

P

G

R

T

E

A

F4

F3

F2

F1

S4

S3

S2

S1 Brushless 

Motor 

Controller (ESC) Electric 

Motor

Gas/Nitro 

Engine Rudder Servo

Throttle Servo

 Engine Speed Sensor

 Battery MUST supply 4.8 - 8.4 volts. Could be connect to any of the spare I/O port.

Swashplate Servo 3 or 4

 LEDs are status indicators. 

 GPS/COMPASS: Mount to the Tail boom, 20 cm from servos, 

30 cm from motor, 10 cm from tail rotor.

 Micro-USB: PC connection for configuration and firmware upgrades.

 Internal vibration 

 isolation design, 

enable a more convenient 

IMU mounting.

 In-line CAN-Bus Port: This CAN-Bus port can be used for the IMU connection or for future 

hardware upgrades.

Main Controller R/C Receiver THR

RUD

DO NOT connect the rudder 

servo until the servo type has 

been selected in Ace Assistant.

F channel is available for control of 

gimbal servo, camera shutter, etc. 

Please use Assistant Software or DJI Ground Station to setup.

 CAN Bus– Interface for Ace One Module

The Ace One MC uses CAN-Bus to power and communicate with 

other Ace One modules. Three connection ports are provided: two 

on the MC and one in-line connection on the GPS/Compass wire. 

Ace One identifies the connected devices automatically without 

configuration.

 GPS module can be connected to either port of MC.

 IMU can be connected to the MC or to the in-line port on the 

GPS wire. Connect the GPS/Compass and IMU to the MC.

Press & Pull out

40
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 8 | 

 Receiver & Servos

STEP1: Set the transmitter to single-servo CCPM (Futaba: H-1; JR/Spectrum: 1sNORM; Hitec: 1-Servo 90°).

Connect the receiver to the MC input servo ports. (High voltage receiver is essential,over 7.4v)

R/C Receiver

(Futaba / Hitec) 1

2

3

4

5

6

7 X3

X2

X1

U

P

G

R

T

E

A R/C Receiver

(JR) AUX2

AUX1

GEAR

RUDD

ELEV

AILE

THRO X3

X2

X1

U

P

G

R

T

E

A RUDD

THRO

AILE

ELEV

GEAR

AUX1

AUX2 X1

For Camera Gimbal control

U

For Control Mode Switch

P

For collective pitch or up/down

G

For gyro sense adjusting

R

For rudder control

T

For throttle control

E

For cyclic pitch or front/back

A

For cyclic roll or left/right

STEP2: Connect the cyclic servos and throttle servo or ESC (NOT the rudder servo) to the 

Ace One output servo ports using the diagram corresponding to the swash type of 

your helicopter. (High voltage servo is essential, for example, JR HV series.)

F1

F2

Roll

Pitch S1 S1 S3 S4

For swashplate servos

THR

For throttle servo or ESC

RUD

For rudder servo

F1 F2

For Gimbal servos

S2 S1 90o

S3 S4

S2

S1 S3 90o

S2

S1 S3

140o

S2

S1 S3 90o

S2

S1 S3

120o S2

S3 S1 120o

HR3

H140 H3

H4

HE3

*S3: Collective Pitch H1

 Battery or BEC

Ace One uses the same power source as the servos and receiver; power to all electronics connected to the MC can be supplied by

either servo input or output ports on the MC. Ace One operates with a power source between 4.8 to 8.4 volts DC. When choosing a 

power source, bear in mind that all servos and Ace One will use that same power source, thus please make sure the power source you 

use will also satisfy the servo requirements. A high capacity battery of 4000mAh or above is strongly advised, especially for large scale 

electric powered helicopter.

The power consumption of Ace One is 5W maximum (testing condition: 0.9A@5V). For some small scale helicopters, the 

BEC provided may not be able to supply enough overall power consumption, please use high performance BEC.

41
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 9 | 

A4 Ace Assistant Software Basic Operation

Software and Driver Installation

Please download and install the assistant software and driver from our website first. The micro-USB port is used for MC configuration 

and firmware upgrade

Please connect your MC to your internet enabled computer by the USB cable before you open the assistant software. You

have to register at the first time you use the assistant software.

1 TOOL

 Firmware upgrade: update your firmware from DJI

server, keep your Ace One system up-to-date.

 Sign in: Log onto DJI server.

 Read flight log: Upon choosing this, Ace One main 

controller will become a mobile drive under [My 

computer] directory, and Ace Assistant will be 

closed automatically.

 Disable all knobs

 Reset to factory default

2 Language

a) English

b) 中文

3 Newsletter: Latest product news.

4 ABOUT

 Info: Information regarding your Ace One

 Error Code

5 Export: export/save Ace One configurations in files.

6 Import: load previously saved Ace One configurations.

7 Wizard: step-by-step, for your first-time-configuration.

8 Write: write data of latest settings of the current page to 

your Ace One main controller. The parameter value or the 

title of which will appear as red and bold in font when 

modifications have been made, make sure you click the 

“Write” button to update your Ace One system.

9 Read: read parameters from Ace One main controller.

10 Write all: write latest settings and changes of all files to 

your Ace One main controller.

11 Graphic guidance

12 Text guidance

13 Flybarless function ON/OFF indication

14 Engine governor working mode indication

15 Tail gyro working mode & gyro sense indication

16 Autopilot working mode indication

17 Red light: Ace One  PC has been disconnected.

Green light: Ace One  PC has been connected.

Blue light: Ace One  PC communication.

18 Here you can find all the configuration pages the same as 

in the “Wizard”.

 Flight & Configuration Procedure Brief 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112 17 16 15 14 13 18

42
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 10 | 

1 For safety reasons, during configuration and system setup, please disconnect the power supply for Electric motor.

2 Please do the following configurations in Manual Mode of the autopilot system.

Steps Description Page

B1 GPS & IMU Mounting

Please measure the center-of-gravity (C.G.) of your helicopter, and fill in the 

distance between IMU/GPS and C.G. of helicopter in X, Y & Z axles;

11

B2 Control Mode Switch

Adjust your transmitter for channel

U

, and then you can switch the 

autopilot working mode between Manual / GPS Atti. / Atti. / GPS Cruise;

12

B3 Flybarless

Please select flybarless ON/OFF. You might need to adjust parameters 

during test flight;

13

B4 Swashplate Setup you swashplates according to your helicopter specification; 13

B5 Pitch & Throttle Curve Setup Set pitch & throttle curve on your transmitter according to our suggestion; 14

B6 Tail Gyro

Make rudder correctly responding to your transmitter commands (rotating 

C.W. or rotating C.C.W.);

15

B7 Engine Governor Both electric motor and gasoline engine require setting; 16

B8 R/C Transmitter Calibration

R ,P ,A

&

E

are required to do; 17

B9 SYSTEM CHECK 

Check controller output, IMU mounting and battery performance; 18

C1 Digital Compass Calibration

Slide the control mode switch on transmitter 10 times, and ACE ONE will 

enter the compass calibration mode;

21

C2 Manual Mode Test Flight

Please strictly follow the procedure during flight test, you may need to adjust 

the following parameters to achieve the best flight performance:

22

B3 Flybarless control parameters if you’ve enabled Flybarless; 13

B6 Tail Gyro sense; 15

B7 Engine speed and Gov Gain for Gasoline / Nitro engine. 16

C3 Enhanced Fail-Safe

Please strictly follow the failed-safe setting procedure, otherwise this 

function might not be working correctly.

23

C4 Autopilot Test Fight

Please strictly follow the procedure during flight test, you may need to adjust 

the following parameters to achieve the best flight performance:

24

B10 Autopilot control parameters; 19

B3 Flybarless control parameters if you’ve enabled Flybarless; 13

Except tail gyro sense which is already adjustable via Tx, parameters adjusting via transmitter are also available for

Flybarless and Autopilot. These parameters were indicating with“Remote Adj.”option 

on Ace One Assistant software, which allows you adjust them from 0.5 to double times:

 INH means remote parameter adjusting was disabled;

 X1 means Remote Adj. was enabled on channel 

X1

for this parameter;

 X2 means Remote Adj. was enabled on channel 

X2

for this parameter.

Tx knob

X1

X2

Please finish the following procedure before enable the Remote Adj: 

1 Make sure X1 & X2 channel are connected on MC;

2 Assign two channels on your transmitter for channel X1 and X2;

3 Centered X1 & X2 knobs on transmitter, otherwise the adjustment range for increase / decrease will not be the same. 

Notice: The introductions for control parameter adjustment were marked by dash-line box in this manual. You will fly the helicopter 

and adjust these parameters for few times during first configuration, to achieve the best flight performance.

43
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 11 | 

Configuration Procedure 

B1 GPS & IMU Mounting 

Ace One Assistant Software - MOUNTING page

STEP1: Select IMU Mounting orientation

90o

90o Backward

Forward RightLeft STEP2: Fill in the distance between IMU/GPS and the C.G. of 

helicopter in X, Y & Z axles, please measure the C.G. 

with following method:

a) Adjust your helicopter, and make it balance on X 

and Y axle as shown below.

X

Y Rotor Head

 Balance on X Y

b) The C.G. should be on the extended line of 

helicopter main shaft.

Main Shaft

Z

c) Hang the helicopter by the tail 

and use a plum line to find C.G. 

on Z axle. You can use your own 

methods to estimate the C.G. of 

your helicopter.

*Step c) is not required in pod/boom without 

camera mounted, and scale helicopter. Simply 

enter value zero will be sufficient.

GPS normally mounted on tail boom, thus X 

and Z could be zero, distance between GPS to 

main shaft is X.

C.G.

Ground 1 You must re-configure if the ALL-UP-WEIGHT had been changed on your helicopter, e.g. camera mounted or battery 

changed.

2 If mounting locations are not accurate enough or the sign were wrong, error on Y,Z axle will leads helicopter vibrating, 

error on X axle will leads drifting during spinning.

STEP1

STEP2

44
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 12 | 

B2 Control Mode Switch 

1 The transmitter you used must be Fail-Safe featured, which allows you to setup fixed outputs for all channels if the 

receiver loses signals, otherwise Ace One will not enable the Enhanced Fail-Safe. See Page 23 for details.

2 Working mode for your transmitter should be HELICOPTER.

3 All the channels in your transmitter should be working independently: NO CCPM, NO channel MIX,NO EXP.

4 You need at least one 2 or 3-position switch on your transmitter to be set as the control mode switch.

In Ace One Assistant Software, page TX-MONITOR:

1

2

3 Once the switch position has been matched to specific control 

mode, you will see the high-light as shown following.

 TX

Whichever 2 or 3 positions switch/channel user has 

selected or decided to use in the transmitter (for control mode 

switching), in this case channel U marking on MC. Use sub-trim 

or end-point (+/-) fine tuning on your transmitter, move the slider 

of channel U to the specific range until Ace One Assistant

indicates that it is in Manual, GPS Cruise, GPS Atti., Atti. and

Failed-Safe mode.

Notice: To move the slider is to adjust sub-trim or end-points of 

the channel selected.

Tx

1 2 3 3 Position 

Switch 

For 3-positions switch, you should assign:

Position-2 to GPS Atti. Mode or Atti. Mode;

Position-1 to Manual Mode;

Position-3 to GPS Cruise Mode or GPS Atti. Mode;

Or reverse the assignment for Position-1 and Position-3.

For 2-positions switch, you should assign:

Position-1 to Manual Mode;

Position-3 to GPS Cruise Mode or GPS Atti. Mode;

Or reverse the assignment for Position-1 and Position-3.

Notice: Please see page 4 for introduction of autopilot control 

modes.

Set Fail-Safe output of receiver to input port-U, move 

the slider to the range which reads Fail-Safe MODE.

IMPORTANT: Ace One would not execute Fail-Safe protection if 

you don’t set it properly. You can verify the Fail-Safe settings by 

shutting down your transmitter, and then you can use the 

following method to check whether Ace One was already in 

Fail-Safe mode.

You can check the current control mode of Ace One

using either of the following methods:

 Check the Ace One Assistant status bar at the bottom side 

of the software interface.

 Check the LED indicators status on GPS/Compass module,

see Appendix in this manual for details.

45
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 13 | 

B3 Flybarless 

When system is powered on, you must not move your helicopter or sticks on transmitter until the system initialization is 

finished (about 5 second).

Once you changed the Flybarless to “ON”, the AILE and ELEV swash mix ratios in swashplate settings will be disabled, while 

[Direction Reverse] button will always be available for AILE and ELEV. After you have set the Flybarless to “ON”, you have 

to adjust your swashplate parameters before setting your Flybarless control parameters.

1 You have to adjust flyberless function and test it in Manual Mode first.

2 Don’t try to use Atti. Mode, GPS Atti. Mode and GPS Cruise Mode until you can fly flybar-less without any problems.

3 You might need to reduce the control gain of flybarless if you cannot make the helicopter stably hover or fly under Atti. 

Mode, GPS Atti. Mode and GPS Cruise Mode.

In Ace One Assistant Software, page-FLYBARLESS:

STEP1: Choose flybarless ON/OFF, you MUST NOT enable 

flybarless function for helicopter with flybar, otherwise 

the helicopter will be out of control.

When Flybarless is turned on, elevator & aileron will 

have stabilization in manual mode.

STEP2: During test flight procedure, please perform the 

following configuration procedure.

Gain Parameter range: 20% to 500%

If the helicopter is sluggish, increase it; if the helicopter oscillate back after brake, decrease it. Adjust this parameter 10% increment 

time until your control feeling is sharp and the helicopter would not bounce after braking. 

Note: this parameter will only affect the stability but not control feeling.

Direct Input Parameter range: 30% to 300%

This is the direct connect ratio for command stick effect, the rolling speed might not be uniform if it is too high, and also will lead to 

quick or sudden change in cyclic response.

Cyclic Rate Parameter range: 20 deg/s to 450 deg/s

This is the helicopter body rolling speed ratio, which determines the maximum rolling speed corresponding to command stick end 

point. The helicopter would response very quickly if it is too high, for example high rate in 3D.

Flybar Weight Parameter range: 20% to 300%

The higher the value, the better the static stability of the helicopter. But, it will increases the sluggish on your control feeling, such as 

bank turn, and braking is also not sharp enough, like an large inertia helicopter. Similar to adding weight to blade tip.

 Suggested Parameters

ALIGN-600 Nitro (Default) ALIGN-600 Electric LOGO 700 Maxi Joker 3DD

AILE ELEV AILE ELEV AILE ELEV AILE ELEV

Gain 100 100 70 90 150 160 200 250

Direct Input 100 100 120 120 160 180 240 280

Cyclic Rate 180 180 150 150 150 150 130 130

Flybar Weight 100 100 80 80 130 130 150 150

STEP1

STEP2

46
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 14 | 

B4 Swashplate 

You should finish the setup for your swashplate in Manual Mode.

In Ace One Assistant Software, page-SWASHPLATE: STEP1:

 TX

You have to set the transmitter to single 

servo swash (Futaba: H-1; JR/Spektrum:1sNORM; 

Hitec: 1-Servo 90°), and Ace One will do the CCPM 

instead.

STEP2: Please make your selection according to your 

swashplate type. IMPORTANT

STEP3: The swashplate can be rotated in 360°, with 1°step 

increase or decrease. Not required in most conditions.

STEP4: Click / button, you can reverse the working 

Direction of swashplate servos. Servo Trim is in 

range -100 to +100, with default value at 0. The 

swashplate must be level. The Current Output will let 

you indicates whether your swashplate servos are on 

their center position or not.

If you have enabled Flybarless function, then Swash 

Mix ratio settings for AILE (Cyclic Roll) and ELEV 

(Cyclic Pitch) will not be available, please read 

Flybarless setting for detail.

Please read your helicopter’s manual, and make sure 

the swashplate servo linkage and all the mechanical 

parts were correctly adjusted before you use the 

above function for swashplate level adjusting.

Swash Mix is identical to Tx CCPM mixing, this function is no 

longer avaliable on Tx after set to single servo (on Tx). 

STEP5: Click / button, you can reverse the moving 

direction for PITCH (Collective Pitch), AILE (Cyclic 

Roll) and ELEV (Cyclic Pitch). 

The Swash Mix ratio is 0~100%, which defines the 

maximum working range for PITCH (Collective Pitch), 

AILE (Cyclic Roll) and ELEV (Cyclic Pitch), similar to 

Tx setting.

Suggestion: 35~45%, it can give you soft flying 

movement, and easy to configure for the following 

parameters.

B5 Pitch and Throttle Curve Setup

We suggest you to use the following pitch curve for 

better lifting power and safety descending speed.

Stick 

Pos. -100% 0% +100%

+10 ̊

-4 ̊

+5.5 ̊

0 ̊

Throttle curve for electric power, 

this is the example for JIVE ESC:

-100% 0% +100%

50

0

80

100

Stick 

Pos.

Throttle curve for integrated engine (with 

governor function):

50

0

100

-100% 0% +100%

Stick 

Pos.

STEP2 STEP3

STEP4

STEP5

47
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 15 | 

B6 Tail Gyro 

When system is powered on, you must not move your helicopter or sticks on transmitter until the system initialization is 

finished (about 5 second).

In Ace One Assistant Software, page-Tail Gyro:

STEP1: Please properly set your rudder servo type before you 

connect your tail-gyro servo to it, otherwise your servo 

might be damaged due to incorrect servo type chosen.

STEP2: We have [LimitA] and [LimitB] (Range: -140 to +140), 

which represent end-points of the tail rotor pitch. The 

initial value for both is 50. Adjust these two limit value, 

make sure your rudder servo can work the full range for 

your tail rotor pitch, without any mechanical binding. 

Otherwise, the performance of the tail-gyro will be 

affected. You can identify which side of the tail rotor 

pitch is represented by LimitA / LimitB like this:

1. Set one of them to 0, another to 50.

2. Move your rudder stick on your transmitter.

3. One side of the tail rotor pitch will not move.

4. This side should be related to the LimitA / LimitB 

whichever you are giving value 0 to.

STEP3: Move your rudder stick, and check whether the tail rotor 

pitch is working to your expected direction. If not, please 

change to proper direction.

 TX

Transmitter related channels

Input Operation Description

R

Stick Rudder command

G

Switch STEP1: Gyro working mode 

selection: Rate Mode /

Head-Locking Mode

STEP2: Gyro sensitivity setting

STEP3: Quickly slide it from rate 

mode to head-locking mode for 3 

times, the command stick center 

position would be reset.

You must also finish the SYSTEM CHECK procedure in 

later steps, before you fly your helicopter. You might find 

the Controller Output Check for tail rudder result in 

opposite rudder moving directions, click [Reverse]

button to make corrections. Please see Page 18 .

Rate Mode Head-locking Mode

G Channel Value

Gyro Sensitivity & Working Mode 0% 50% 100% 100% 50% 0% 50% 100% 100% 50% STEP4: Switch your Tail-Gyro working mode to [Rate Mode], 

take-off your helicopter and hover. If your helicopter 

drifts on YAW direction obviously, then adjust your tail 

servo linkage until the helicopter stops drifting. Or you 

can use trim to fine-tune the rudder servo.

If you used trim during the Tail-Gyro working in Rate Mode, please power off the Ace One and re-start it before you wish to 

use Head-Locking Mode.

STEP5: Gyro Sense setting: Set your gyro sense via transmitter, with the channel which you plug into input port-G on Ace One MC. 

We suggest you start from 45% in [Head-locking mode], take off the helicopter, reduce the Gyro sense if tail got vibrating; if 

the tail response too slow and drift then increase it. Land you helicopter and switch to [Rate mode], then take off the 

helicopter again, fine-tune the rudder servo to make the tail stop drifting and land again. Switch the tail gyro between [rate 

mode] and [Head-locking Mode] by 3 times, then center position of Tx will be recorded, now you finished the gyro sense 

setting. You can identify the Tail-Gyro working mode on the status bar of Ace One Assistant, but that gyro sense percentage 

may not be the same as your Tx reading due to different Tx manufacture.

STEP3

STEP1 STEP2

48
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 16 | 

B7 Engine Governor 

In Ace One Assistant Software, page-ENGINE:

STEP1: Before using Governor Control mode, fine tune your 

Gas/Nitro engine to good condition. Otherwise the 

performance would be negatively impacted.

STEP2: Select the operation mode:

 Select [TX Control] for electric motor;

 For Gas/Nitro engine, select [TX Control] first, and finish 

next step: set throttle servo working range. Then select 

[Governor Control].

STEP3: Set throttle servo travel range, move the throttle stick to

For Electric For Gas/Nitro Click to set

Maximum open position [SET-MAX]

lowest stick throttle Engine idling position [SET-IDLE]

Throttle hold Cut position [SET-STOP]

Notice: you must not turn on the throttle-cut.

STEP4: After three of the throttle positions being set, click

[TEST] button above to review your throttle working 

range settings. Throttle servo will be forced to stay on 

each respective position for about 2 seconds. Repeat 

the [SET] procedure if any incorrects.

If a mistake is made, e.g, STOP position being set between MAX and IDEL, you will be notified by (Wrong), and Engine 

governor will be forced to work in [Tx Control] mode automatically.

STEP5: A third party engine speed sensor is required for the engine speed governor to function. We suggest using Futaba magnetic 

engine speed sensor. You have to adjust the sensor/magnet mounting, and leave a proper space between the sensor head 

and magnet. You can check this with the percentage bar at page “ENGINE”, over 60% means the magnet is directly facing 

the sensor, and less than 2% means that the sensor is far from directly pointing at the magnet.

Notice: Only ONE magnet can be mounted on cooling fans of the engine.

STEP6: Please refer to user manual of your helicopter and engine, find the following parameters:

 Main rotor speed, in range: 800 to 2500 RPM;

 main gear ratio, in range: 1.0 to 20.0;

 Engine RPM, in range: 6000 to 25000 RPM. ( Will be calculated automatically )

STEP7: Gov Gain setting, range: 50% to 300%;

Suggestion: 100% for Nitro engine; 150% for gasoline engine;

The higher the gain, the higher the frequency of engine rpm fluctuation.

Governor STARTS to work in all of the following conditions:

 throttle stick position is higher than 20% from cut-throttle;

 When engine speed has been raised above 70% of set RPM;

 When engine speed sensor works correctly.

Governor STOPS working in either one of the following conditions:

 Throttle stick position lower than 10% from cut-throttle;

 Engine speed < 3000 RPM or sensor not working.

Time

Throttle Servo Position

Governor Start Enter GPS 

Cruise Mode Enter Manual Mode Governor Stop

Index

Ace One THR out

Tx Throttle

Governor Input

GPS Cruise, GPS Atti. and Atti. Modes take over the throttle, pitch & cyclic positions at the point of switching from Manual 

mode. It is essentially how Ace One knows to maintain throttle relative to rotor RPM, not withstanding Go-Home function 

hence throttle hold other than Manual Mode will not cut the engine or motor. Unless, it is switched back to Manual Mode.

STEP2

STEP7

STEP6

STEP3

STEP4

STEP5

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©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 17 | 

B8 R/C Transmitter Calibration 

In Ace One Assistant Software, page-TX MONITOR:

 TX

Totally 4 TX channels are required to be calibrate:

STEP1. Click [START] button, and move all of the sticks 

throughout their complete range several times.

STEP2. Click [FINISH] button when you finished above 

procedures.

1 You have to finish the throttle and pitch curve setting 

before calibration, here the end-point of transmitter 

sticks will be record.

2 If the throttle or pitch end-point of transmitter had 

been changed, please calibrate it again.

STEP1

50
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 18 | 

B9 SYSTEM CHECK

You have to run the system check in Ace One Assistant – SYSTEM CHECK for Ace One system to work properly:

 Controller Output Check

1 Switch to Non-Manual mode first.

2 Click [START] button, Ace One will drive the swashplate up and down, representing collective movement during flight.

3 Click [NEXT] button, Ace One will drive the swashplate forward and back, representing elevator movement during flight.

4 Click [NEXT] button, Ace One will drive the swashplate left and right, representing aileron movement during flight.

Up

1 Down

2 Up 3

Front

1 Back

2 Front 3 Right

Left 1

2

Left 3

5 Click [NEXT] button, Ace One will drive the rudder, representing rotating C.C.W. and then C.W.

1

C.C.W.

1

C.C.W.

1 3

C.W.

32

6 Click [END] button or switch to Manual mode, Controller Output Check will be finished.

 IMU Feedback Check

1 Switch to Non-Manual mode first.

2 Click [CHECK] button.

3 Tilt the tail boom of the helicopter, the swashplate should respond to the opposite direction.

4 Tilt the helicopter body on its roll direction, the swashplate should also respond to the opposite direction.

5 Switch to Manual mode and finish the IMU Feedback Check.

1 If your helicopter was not responding as described above, you may be placing your IMU in a wrong orientation, or 

you’ve select a wrong orientation for your IMU in Ace One Assistant. Please check sensor mounting again.

2 If the swash is not level (This is not critical), this can be cause by:

 IMU is not level to AIR frame;

 AIR frame and landing skids are not level to ground.

 Battery Performance Test

1 Switch to Non-Manual mode first.

2 Make sure that your battery has at least 80% capacity left from being fully charged.

1 Click [START] button, Ace One will force all the servos you connected and LEDs working at maximum payload, which will behave 

as shaking swashplate and rudder. This will continue for 20 seconds and then stop automatically, you can force it stop by clicking

[STOP] button, or switch to Manual mode.

2 Ace One Assistant will inform you the test result (LEDs on GPS will also blinking in yellow if failed condition was matched):

Failed, it means voltage drop below 3.5v, the battery or BEC were not be able to provide necessary power, please change it.

 Test passed. 

If the swashplate or rudder moves in opposite sequence, you should click reverse button / for correction.

If the swashplate or rudder still doesn’t moves as your expected, it may cause by wrong connection between Ace One MC

and R/C Receiver, please also check the swashplate setting and Tail-Gyro setting.

Very important, check them carefully!

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©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 19 | 

B10 Autopilot

In Ace One Assistant Software, page-Autopilot:

 Base Parameters

 Gain

Range: Front/back & Left/Right 40%~400%; Vertical 50%~250%

If too large, you will find the helicopter oscillating in the 

corresponding direction (About 5~10Hz). If too small, the 

helicopter will likely to be hard to control.

In GPS Atti. Mode and GPS Cruise Mode, if helicopter drifting 

on front/back or left/right direction for 2~5 meters, then increase 

10% on the corresponding direction it drifts to until the helicopter 

getting oscillation. If helicopter vibrate on its vertical direction, 

then reduce vertical parameter by 10% until it get stable. If 

altitude drop and drift happens during sharp braking, then 

increase I.D.R-Vertical in advance parameters.

 MAX Speed Limit ( m/s )

Range: Front/back & Left/Right 1.0~10.0 m/s

 Agility Range: 50%~200%

It determines the start-up speed from command stick, the bigger 

the value the faster the reaction. Increase it for sharper and 

quicker leveling action after command stick released. The control 

feeling will be stiffness and rigid if the value is too high; and 

sluggish leveling action and slow braking if too small. 

 Stick Delay Range: 50%~200%

It determines the overall stick reaction speed, for example:

You push your roll stick to the maximum position your helicopter 

will tilt from leveling to 45 degrees, the smaller the number the 

quicker the transition. 

 Advance Parameters

The default values are suitable for most of the condition, 

please check DJI website for details.

 Velocity Tracking Range: Front/back & Left/Right 20.0%~

250.0%; Vertical 20.0%~150.0%

 I Range: Front/Back & Left/Right & Vertical 0%~500%

 TX

Transmitter related channels

Input Operation Description

U

Switch Control Mode Switch

G

Switch Quickly slide it from rate mode to 

head-locking mode for 3 times, 

all the command sticks center 

position would be reset, see 

page 15 for tail gyro working 

mode setting.

P

Stick Up/Down command from Tx

E

Stick Front/Back command from Tx

A

Stick Left/Right command from Tx

R

Stick Rudder command from Tx

 Suggested Parameters

ALIGN 600 Nitro ALIGN 600 Elec. LOGO 700 Maxi Joker 3DD JR GSR260

F/B L/R V F/B L/R V F/B L/R V F/B L/R V F/B L/R V

Gain 100 100 100 130 110 80 150 151 100 160 160 110 155 165 130

Agility 100 150 130 100 175

Stick Delay 100 110 135 185 166

Velocity Tracking 100 100 100 110 110 113 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

I 100 100 100 114 115 116 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

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©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 20 | 

B11 Camera Gimbal Control

This function aims to auto balance the 2-D camera gimbal. Roll direction of the gimbal is fully automatic controlled by Ace One, Pitch 

direction is automatic controlled by Ace One with real-time manual adjustment support.

In Ace One Assistant Software, page - Gimbal:

STEP1: Servo travel limit and center position

Range: -1000 to +1000

MAX / MIN are servo travel limits; adjust them to avoid 

mechanical binding; Place your helicopter on level 

ground, adjust CENTER value of PITCH and ROLL

direction to make the camera mounting frame to your 

desired angle-to-ground.

Roll

F2

F1 

F1

F2 Pitch

STEP2: Direction & Automatic control gain Range: 0 to 100

Adjust the reaction angle of automatic control, the initial 

value 100 is full speed;Click / button, and then 

you can reverse the feedback control directions.

STEP3: Manual control command for Pitch direction of the gimbal. 

You should assign one of the knobs on your transmitter to 

X1 channel for controlling the Pitch direction (angle) of 

camera gimbal during flight.

Tx knob

X1

If parameter adjustment was enabled on channel X1, the 

gimbal manual control via channel X1 will not be force to 

disabled.

STEP4: Manual Control Speed Range: 0 to 100

Adjust the reaction speed of pitch direction manual 

control, the initial value 100 is full speed.

STEP1

STEP2

STEP4

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©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 21 | 

Flight 

C1 Digital Compass Calibration 

 Why calibrate the compass?

Ferromagnetic substances placed on helicopter or around its 

working environment will affect the reading of earth magnetic 

for digital compass, it also reduces the accuracy of the 

helicopter control, or even reads incorrect heading. 

Calibration will eliminate such influences, and ensure Ace 

One system performs well in a non-ideal magnetic 

environment.

 When to do it?

1 The first time you install Ace One on your helicopter.

2 When the helicopter mechanical setup is changed:

a) If the GPS module is re-positioned.

b) If electronic devices are added / removed / 

re-positioned (MC, servos, batteries, etc).

c) When the mechanical structure of the helicopter is 

changed.

3 If the flight direction appears to be shifting (meaning the 

helicopter doesn’t “fly straight”).

4 The LED indicator often indicates abnormality blinking

when the helicopter yaws. (It is normal for this to happen 

only occasionally.)

 Calibration procedure:

Tx

1 2 3 3 Position 

Switch 

STEP1: Enter calibration mode: quickly slide the control mode 

switch from Position-1 to Position-3 for 10 times, and LED 

indicator will be constantly on in blue;

STEP2: Calibration in horizontal: rotate you helicopter along with 

the horizontal surface until the green light is on constantly, 

then go to the next step;

STEP3: Calibration in vertical: while green light is constantly on, 

hold your helicopter vertically and rotate it along with its 

vertical axis, keep rotating until the green light is off, 

meaning the calibration is finished.

STEP4: After you finished the calibration, LED indicator will show 

whether the calibration was successful or not:

 If white light turns on for 3 seconds, calibration succeeds, 

calibration mode will auto exit;

 If red light keeps blinking quickly, the calibration has failed. 

Slide the control mode switch one time to cancel current 

calibration, and then re-start from step 1 for re-calibration.

1 Don’t calibrate your compass where there is 

strong magnetic interference, such as 

magnetite, car park, and steel reinforcement 

under the ground.

2 DO NOT carry ferromagnetic materials with you 

during calibration, such as keys or cell phones.

3 You don’t need to rotate your helicopter on a 

precise horizontal or vertical surface, but keep at 

least 45° difference between horizontal and 

vertical calibration.

4 Ace One cannot be work in the polar circle.

If you keep having calibration failure, it might suggest that 

there is very strong magnetic interference around the GPS, 

please avoid flying in this area.

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©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 22 | 

C2 MANUAL MODE Test Flight 

1 When the system is powered on, DO NOT moves your helicopter or sticks on transmitter until the system initialization is 

finished (about 5 seconds).

2 Don’t switch to Atti. Mode, GPS Atti. Mode and GPS Cruise Mode during Manual Mode Test Flight. Go through this 

section first, and read about how to do Autopilot Test Flight on Page 24.

1 Fly the helicopter. Trim transmitter such that the 

helicopter hovers stably.

2 You have to adjust the following parameters to 

achieve the best performance of your 

helicopter.

 Flybarless parameters, if you’ve enabled 

Flybarless, see Page 13 for details.

 Tail Gyro sense, see Page 15 for details.

 Engine speed, if you are using Gasoline / 

Nitro engine, see Page 16 for details.

3 Adjust Pitch curve on transmitter, so that the 

helicopter hovers at about mid-stick.

4 Set correct fail safe output on all channels of 

your R/C Transmitter/Receiver.

5 Verify Fail safe output of your transmitter on 

status bar in Ace One Assistant. IMPORTANT!

STEP1: Check all the connection and wiring connected firmly, and 

make sure they are in good condition;

STEP2: Make sure your batteries are fully charged for your 

transmitter, Ace One and all the devices on your helicopter;

STEP3: Turn on the transmitter first;

STEP4: Power on the Ace One and all the rest of electric devices on 

helicopter, except brushless motor controller;

STEP5: Check the LED indicator on GPS, if red LED blinks quickly

& continually, then system start-up has failed; you have to 

place you helicopter horizontally and power on again. See 

Appendix for details about LED indicator;

STEP6: Slide the control mode switch on your transmitter to make 

sure it is working properly. Check LED indicator to specify 

the current working mode for Ace One. See Appendix for 

details about LED indicator;

STEP7: Others system failure and error will also be displayed by 

LED indicator on GPS, See Appendix for details;

STEP8: If everything checked, and without any problems, switch 

the system to Manual Mode, move all the sticks on your 

transmitter to check whether the helicopter is correctly 

responding to your commands;

STEP9: Start the engine or power on the brushless motor controller;

STEP10:Take-off and fly your helicopter in Manual Mode, before 

switching to other modes.

The Enhanced Fail-Safe ( Auto Hovering and Auto 

Go-Home ) has not been activated yet, go through 

this section first and read about how to activate it on 

Page 23.

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©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 23 | 

C3 Enhanced Fail-Safe

Ace One can detect the fail safe output from your receiver, if you have pre-set fail safe output correctly. Once your helicopter lost signal 

from the transmitter, Enhanced Fail-Safe function will control the helicopter automatically and save it in most of the conditions.

1 The Enhanced Fail-Safe (Auto Hovering and Auto Go-Home) will not be activated, until you’ve correctly Pre-set 

Transmitter Command Stick Center Position.

2 The Enhanced Fail-Safe functions will not be working correctly if you have not finished the Auto Mode Test Flight. 

Please see Autopilot Test Flight on Page 24 for details.

3 You must perform the following setting under Manual Mode.

4 If GPS signal reception is bad, Auto Go-Home function will not be disable, even it was activated in Ace One Assistant, in 

case the Attitude Hold function will be force to activate instead.

In Ace One Assistant Software, page–Enhanced 

Failed-Safe:

STEP1: Please configure your autopilot to the best condition, 

make sure the helicopter can flight well under GPS 

Cruise Mode and GPS Atti. Mode;

STEP2: Switch your Ace One into Manual Mode;

STEP3: Please record your command stick positions which are 

the same as the moment you switched from Manual

Mode (if you changed throttle curve before switching, 

use that curve for this setting). You will be asked to 

configure your transmitter, and let your helicopter able 

to hover with transmitter command stick roughly (Not to 

be exact) on their center position. You can read the 

[current stick position] which shown as number -1000 

to +1000 in real time, click button, save them into 

[Confirmed] group as Tx center position.

You will be noticed by symbol instead of 

button, which means you throttle working range has not

been correctly set or your throttle position is holding on throttle-cut (STOP) position. Please check your throttle-cut switch and throttle 

working range setting in Ace One Assistant page–Engine. See page16 for details.

STEP4: Must check the confirm box that the Tx center position is correct, otherwise enhanced failed-safe will be disabled.

STEP5: Select protection method, auto Hovering or Go-Home, the following schematic shown is introduction for Go-Home.

1

30m If GPS satellite found > 6 after boot,

then record Home Location

Home Location

2

Tx 3Tx

5 (current location lower than HOME) OR (current location higher than HOME)

Tx

Signal lost

Go Home path Tx Go Home path Helicopter

4

Tx Signal lost > 10s

Stay hover

Ready to 

Go-Home

Fail-Safe functions are designed for GPS Atti. Mode and GPS Cruise Mode. Once the helicopter came back to the available 

transmitter signal range, switch to Manual Mode then you can re-gain the control right for Ace One system.

STEP3

STEP5

STEP4

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©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 24 | 

C4 Autopilot Test Fight 

When system is powered on, you must not move your helicopter or sticks on transmitter until the system initialization is 

finished (about 5 second).

Please read this section before you switched to

Atti. Mode, GPS Atti. Mode and GPS Cruise Mode

1 Make sure the GPS signal is good, without red LED 

blinking.

2 Please avoid using Ace One system in the following 

areas, where will GPS signal is most likely blocked:

 Urban area with crowded buildings

 Tunnels

 Under bridges

3 Make sure the attitude of helicopter is in good condition, 

without white LED blinking.

4 Others system failures and errors will also be display by 

LED indicator on GPS/Compass module, See Appendix 

for details.

STEP1: Check all connections and wirings, and make sure they are 

in good condition;

STEP2: Make sure your batteries are fully charged for your 

transmitter, Ace One and all the devices on your helicopter;

STEP3: Turn on the transmitter first;

STEP4: Power on the Ace One and all the rest of electric device on 

helicopter, except brushless motor controller;

STEP5: Check the LED indicator on GPS/Compass module, if red 

LED sparks quickly, the system start-up has failed. You will 

need to place you helicopter horizontally and power on 

again. See Appendix for details about LED indicator;

STEP6: You may find red LED blinking, indicating that Ace One is 

getting GPS satellite signal, please wait until red LED is off, 

meaning Ace One have found more than 7 GPS satellites, 

and that it can work in its best condition. See Appendix for 

details about LED indicator;

STEP7: Slide the control mode switch on your transmitter to make 

sure it is working properly. Check it with LED indicator to 

specify the current working mode for Ace One. See 

Appendix for details about LED indicator;

STEP8: Switch the system to GPS Cruise Mode, if the swashplate 

is not horizontal, please go back to 3rd step, and power 

cycle the system;

STEP9: Switch the system to Manual Mode, move all the sticks on 

your transmitter to check whether the helicopter is correctly 

responding to your commands;

STEP10:If everything checked, and without any problems, switch 

the system to Manual Mode;

STEP11:Start the engine or power on the brushless motor controller;

STEP12:Take-off and fly your helicopter in Manual Mode;

STEP13:Hover your helicopter, and switch to GPS Cruise Mode.

Optional Chargeable Function

 Semi-Auto take-off

Please setup B7 Engine Governor and all center positions 

correctly before you use this function. On STEP12, the 

system can perform Semi-Auto take-off feature rather than 

manual take-off. Please follow the operation procedures

strictly:

1 Put the throttle stick on the lowest position;

2 Switch to GPS Cruise or GPS Atti. or Atti. Mode and 

wait until the speed of main rotor is stable ;

3 Requiring only pushing the throttle (collective pitch) stick 

gently to take-off the helicopter, autopilot system will be 

in charge of the cyclic pitch/roll stabilization.

 Semi-Auto Landing

In GPS Cruise or GPS Atti. or Atti. Mode, with throttle 

(collective pitch) stick operation only, descend the helicopter 

and hold throttle stick on lowest position until the engine or 

electric motor is cutoff automatically. This throttle idle or 

shut-down in Auto mode when collective is lowest stick 

position only applies having this option.

1 With this option, MC will perform in GPS Cruise 

or GPS Atti. Or Atti. Mode for both takeoff and 

landing. Please be aware this “Always on” auto mode 

should “NOT” be used in MC without this option.

2 Make sure use this function only when the GPS signal is 

sufficient and at open area!

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©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 25 | 

Should you find the helicopter does 

not track straight in forward flight, 

you might try re-mounting GPS in an 

offsetting angle as showed in right 

figure. Θ in the figure is the 

offsetting angle.

Objective flight direction

GPS mounting direction

GPS mounting direction

Actual flight direction Objective flight direction

Actual flight direction

1 2 3

θ

θ

Without GPS offset angle

With GPS offset angle

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©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 26 | 

Maintains 

Flight Log Reading 

Notice: You may be asked to provide your Ace One Flight Log for customer support.

1. Click [TOOL]  [Read Flight-Log].

2. Click [OK].

3. Ace One Assistant Software will be closed automatically and Ace One MC will be working as a storage drive named [ACEONE 

LOG], you can find it in [My Computer] directory.

4. Open it and you can find your fight log files there. Copy or delete as you do normal PC operations.

5. Please power cycle Ace One for exit from Flight Log reading mode.

You have 4GB memory space for Ace One flight log recording.

If the memory is out of space, Ace One will stop flight log recording and format all the information after power cycle the MC.

Firmware Upgrade 

Please strictly follow the operation procedure for firmware upgrade, otherwise Ace One might not work properly:

1. Make sure your computer is connected to the Internet. 

2. Please close all the other applications during the firmware upgrade, including Anti-virus software and firewall. 

3. Make sure the power supply is securely connected with Ace One. DO NOT un-plug the power supply until firmware upgrade has 

finished. 

4. Connect Ace One MC to PC with micro-USB cable, DO NOT break connection until firmware upgrade is finished. 

5. Open Ace One Assistant Software and wait for connection. 

6. Select [TOOL]  [Firmware Upgrade]. 

7. DJI server will check your current firmware version, and get the latest firmware prepared for Ace One Assistant. 

8. If there is a firmware version more up-to-date than your current version, you will be able to click the upgrade button. 

9. Wait until Ace One Assistant reads “Finished”. 

10. Please power cycle Ace One after at least 5 seconds. 

11. Your Ace One is up-to-date now. 

 After firmware upgrade, please re-configure the Ace One via Ace One Assistant.

 If it is notified that the network or DJI server is busy, please try again later with above procedures.

 If firmware upgrade failed, the Ace One will enter <waiting for firmware upgrade status> automatically, please try 

again with the above procedures.

Product Info

You can check the Ace One product version via [ABOUT]  [Info].

 Software version  Firmware version  IMU version  Hardware ID

[S/N] is a 32 digits authorization code for Ace One function activations. We had already filled in the authorization code for your Ace 

One after manufacture. You might be asking to fill in the new [S/N] in the future if you brought new function upgrades.

Fill-in the [S/N] and then click [Write] button.

If you filled in the invalid S/N over 30 times, your Ace One will be locked and you have to contact our customer support.

59
©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 27 | 

Appendix 

LED Indicator description 

Manual Mode Tx Signal Lost

GPS satellites found < 5

*All OFF

GPS satellites found < 6

GPS satellites found < 7

Attitude & GPS good

Attitude status fair

Attitude status bad

0 1 2 3 s 0 1 2 3 s

GPS Atti. Mode GPS Cruise Mode

GPS satellites found < 5

GPS satellites found < 6

GPS satellites found < 7

Attitude & GPS good

Attitude status fair

Attitude status bad

0 1 2 3 s 0 1 2 3 s

Atti. Mode

GPS satellites found < 5 Notices: the sparking indication of & &

could be: Single spark, all the sticks return to 

center, helicopter hovering; Double spark, stick(s) 

not at center, speed command is not zero.

GPS satellites found < 6

GPS satellites found < 7

Attitude & GPS good

Attitude status fair

Attitude status bad

0 1 2 3 s

Compass Calibration Status

Begin horizontal calibration

Begin vertical calibration

Calibration finished * 3s only

Calibration or others error / Compass abnormal

0 1 2 3 s

System Checking Mode IMU Lost

Right-LED

Left-LED

0 1 2 3 s 0 1 2 3 s

Please check the IMU connection once above 

warning activated.

< 3.5V Low Voltage Warning < 4.4V Low Voltage Warning

Right-LED

Left-LED

0 1 2 3 s 0 1 2 3 s

!!!You must replace the battery once above warning activated!!!

1 The circle symbols above represent one blink each.

2 The rectangular symbols above represent an LED being solid on.

3 Both LEDs operate simultaneously, except indicating with or during power on.

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©2012 DJI Innovations. All Rights Reserved. 28 | 

Product Specifications 

 General specifications

Built-In Functions: Autopilot 

Tail Gyro 

Engine Governor 

Flybarless 

Return-to-Home Fail Safe 

Helicopter Types: Electric and internal combustion powered

Supported Swashplate Types: Normal, Three Servo 120°/140°/90°, Four Servo 90° 

Supported Servo output: 500Hz(760us)/200Hz(1520us)for Rudder Channel;

Others follow on your receiver output. 

Recommended Transmitter: PCM or 2.4GHz with minimum 7 channels and 

 Failsafe function available on all channels 

Recommended Power Supply: DC 7.4~8.4V (Not to exceed MAX operating voltage of servo motor)

 > 4000 mAh capacity, Discharge current more than 5C 

Power Consumption: MAX 5W (0.9A@5V, 0.7A@5.8V, 0.5A@7.4V, 0.4A@8V ) 

Operating Temperature: -5°C to +70°C 

(You have to keep the IMU warm if you want to use it under low temperature, could be -10°C even lower.)

Memory: 4GB Flash Memory for flight information recording 

 Flight Performance (can be effected by mechanical performance)

Hovering Accuracy: Vertical : ± 0.5m 

Horizontal : ± 1m 

Suitable Wind Condition: < 8m/s (17.7mph) 

Forward / Backward Speed: ± 72 Km/h (44.74mph) 

Left / Right Speed: ± 56.7 Km/h (35.77mph) 

 Packaging & Shapes

Total Weight: <= 150g 

Dimensions: Main Controller: 61mm x 39.6mm x 15.8mm 

IMU: 40mm x 31mm x 26mm 

GPS & Compass: 50mm (diameter) x 9mm 

61