Congratulations, you and your new helicopter are 

ready to embark on many adventures together.
Explore the box 

Your system comes ready-to-fly so take a few minutes to 

inventory and become familiar with everything.

Draganflyer X4-P helicopter

with folding booms, folding 

landing gear, and four props

Two LiPo batteries

Digital video base station

Suction cup mount

Two axis, gyro stabilized 

camera gimbal with camera, 

memory card, battery, and 

battery eliminator

Safety glasses

LiPo battery charger

Nexus video display

LiPo bag, system manuals, 

CDs, and additional 

documentation

Camera battery 

charger

Handheld classic controller

Landing gear

Please note: Case includes an extra empty battery pocket.
Contents 

1. Detailed Inventory:

Itʼs not often that we make a mistake but to be sure, take a few 

minutes and double check that everything was included.

2. Ready, set-up and go:

Helicopter assembly is fast, simple, and nothing really too 

complicated but itʼs always a good idea to follow some of our 

tips and guidelines.

3. Your first flight:

The wonderful thing about a helicopter is that it can be flown in 

small increments-at-a-time, so the best rule of thumb is to take 

things nice, low, and slow.

4. Okay you flew and took some photos, now what:

More times than not youʼre out doing work with the aircraft so 

take a quick look at ideas to get the most from your system.

5. Have a problem, here are some tips:

Sometimes you just need to get pointed in the right direction to 

solve some of the more simple problems, so here are some tips.
1. Detailed inventory

* Indicates optional items

LiPo battery charger

Camera*

Camera 2 axis gimbal*

Camera battery*

Battery charger cables

Safety glasses*

Camera SD memory card *

Draganflyer X4-P helicopter

(2) counter clockwise props

Camera battery charger*

(2) clockwise props

Nexus digital display

(2) LiPo aircraft batteries

Left/Right landing gear

Draganflyer owners manual

Software and information CD

LiPo battery charging sack

Memory stick*

Tool kit

Flight log book

Classic controller

(2) spare props

Maintenance log book

Pre-flight check list

Suction cup mount

Digital base station
2. Ready, Set-up and Go

So far youʼve seen the cool stuff in the box, done a complete 

inventory (please tell me you have), and weʼre willing to guess 

you already have your helicopter half assembled. But letʼs take a 

minute to really look at this stuff.

This mini-booklet will help get you started, but keep in mind all 

the detailed info is in the X4-P and HHC manuals. In the Ready, 

Set-up and Go section weʼll briefly discuss:

1 Helicopter set-up

Battery charging

HHC overview

2

3
Unfolding the helicopter:

We had a great time flight testing the aircraft before shipping and 

we think youʼll be very happy with it; so letʼs start by unfolding 

the booms and snapping them into position.

Swing booms one-at-a-time 

towards the front. 

Front booms pass through rear 

clips and rear booms will lock in 

Snap front booms into clips place.

and make sure they lock
Charging batteries:

We ship the LiPo batteries at a “storage charge level” so before 

flying anything youʼll need to become familiar with the battery 

charger and get things charging. 

We programmed the charger to help get you going so for now, 

connect the balance port, the main charge cable, confirm the 

settings as LiPo, 4 cell, @3amp rate and start charging your 

helicopter batteries while you assemble the helicopter and check 

out the handheld HHC.

LEDs indicate charge

Balance port

Not used

Main power connector

Press button to test 

battery charge level
Landing gear:

With the booms extended and locked in place, install the landing 

gear by slipping them under the “T” shaped retainer and 

attaching either a payload or blank “H plate”.

Install the landing gear 

by slipping them under 

the “T” shaped retainer.

Secure the landing gear by 

installing a payload or a 

blank H plate. Tighten the 

four thumb screws to 

secure the landing gear.
Installing props:

The props are keyed so thereʼs no mixing them up and 

installation is very simple. For example, a clockwise rotating 

prop is installed on the right front boom. Place the prop over the 

motor shaft, push down and rotate 1/4 turn to snap the rotor in 

place.

No we didnʼt do this to trick 

you, these arrows indicate 

the prop rotation in flight.

The props are keyed so 

there is no mixing up what 

prop goes where.
Removing canopy:

You really want to do this right or you can damage the canopy. 

The process is as simple as 1, 2, 3. Position your hands as 

shown and using one finger pull the latch pin forward, then start 

to lift and rotate the canopy while sliding it back.

1

2

Pull pin forward, then lift 3

and slide canopy back 

to remove.
Installing battery:

Velcro is used to hold the battery in place and installation is fast, 

simple, and after you do it a couple times takes very little effort. 

Before installing a battery use the battery self test to make sure 

the battery is charged. Now lift the GPS flap, place the battery in 

the center of the battery area and secure the GPS flap around 

the battery. Once in place, plug main power cable into battery.

Maintain a gap between the 

battery and electronics. In other 

words, donʼt let it hit this thing.

Lift this flap, center battery 

under it, and bring flap back 

down, securing Velcro to 

hold everything in position.
Installing canopy:

Getting the canopy back on is just as easy as the removal. Start 

by sliding the canopy over the slot at the rear, bring the canopy 

forward, and snap the nose in place. Itʼs very important to give 

the canopy a “tug” to make sure itʼs latched before you get out 

flying. The last thing you want is the canopy coming off in-flight.

Gently squeeze the front canopy 

to lock in place. After installing 

make sure the nose is latched

Slide canopy over the rear slot 1 first and then attach the nose.

2 3 Give canopy a tug and make 

sure it is properly secured
Letʼs compare notes:

At this point youʼre done assembling the helicopter and in theory, 

your helicopter should look like this illustration. If not, start over. 

If you got your helicopter together without ever looking at this 

booklet, congratulations.

Draganflyer X4-P with booms extended and locked, landing gear 

installed and secure, props installed, battery installed, and canopy 

secured. The only thing missing at this point is the camera payload.

Landing gear installed and 

secure

Canopy secure

Props locked in place Charged battery installed
Camera payload overview:

The camera gimbal is fabricated from custom molded carbon 

fiber and features electronic gyro stabilization in both the pitch 

and roll axes. Gyro stabilization is only the first step to help 

obtain amazing photos and video; the gimbal also features 

internal camera vibration dampening and attaches to the 

helicopter with 4 easy fasten screws and one cable connection.

E 2.8/16

0 2. 4m/0 8. ft

049

Four thumb screws 

are used to attach the 

payload to helicopter.

One cable at the rear 

connects the payload 

to the helicopter
Installing the payload:

As illustrated, slide the camera gimbal under the helicopter and 

lift to attach using the four easy fasten screws. Tighten the 

screws and plug the cable into the helicopter; thatʼs it ... youʼre 

ready to shoot some photos.

E 2.8/16

0 2. 4m/0 8. ft

049
The camera:

Honestly, camera models change faster than new types of cell 

phones or computers so the camera manufacturer and model 

being used might vary. 

Before shipping we set-up the camera to get excellent aerial 

photos and tested everything in the air before sending it off to 

you. Take a look on the camera and see some of the test photos 

we shot before shipping.

E 2.8/16

0 2. 4m/0 8. ft

049
Installing the Nexus Digital display:

If your system utilizes a digital video downlink system versus the 

optional analog system, youʼll need to attach the Nexus digital 

display. The frame of the display is held in place using two spring 

loaded plungers. To extend and “park” the plungers pull them out 

and give them a 1/4 turn to lock in the out position. Insert the 

display and turn plungers again to let the pins drop in place 

securing the display. For detailed setup instructions refer to the 

Digital Video Downlink user manual.

1/4 turn spring loaded 

plungers secure 

display to HHC

Please note: The display can be charged and run 

from itʼs own battery or be connected using the USB 

power cable provided to the HHC
The classic Handheld Controller (HHC):

The HHC is pretty amazing. The handheld controller features a 

direct sunlight readable OLED touch screen to provide real-time 

system telemetry information and at the same time, provides a 

great ergonomic feel to easily control and fly the aircraft.

Pitch/Roll

Pitch/Roll 

trim

Power on/off

Video output

(optional)

Yaw trim

Motor engage 

and disengage 

switch

Throttle/Yaw

Camera zoom

Camera tilt

Camera shutter

Flight mode 

control

SD flight log 

memory
HHC back side:

Tucked away on the backside of the HHC youʼll find an optional 

fold-out video receiver antenna and the power connections that 

are used to charge the LiPo battery powering the system.

LiPo balance 

connector

Secondary video patch 

antenna (optional) for 

analog systems

Main LiPo 

battery charge 

plug

Video antenna 

(optional) for 

analog systems

Datalink 

antenna

Trainer switch
Quick basics:

The HHC is pretty straight forward and provides just about all the 

information you need on one screen. Because the HHC was 

used to test your aircraft it will already be paired with the 

helicopter and ready to go...

To power on, momentarily press 

power switch until you hear the 

HHC beep and let go.

When the HHC boots-up youʼll see 

this startup screen until the aircraft 

is powered on. Once powered on 

and a wireless connection is 

established youʼll see the HHC 

Home Screen.

Acquire New

Config

SN 0x7ACFG436790B1C

TX

Battery

Looking for

Draganflyer
Power on the helicopter:

No we didnʼt intentionally hide the power on/off button. After 

much debate we all believe itʼs a great location and hope you 

agree. Momentarily press the button under the rear of the 

helicopter and after a self-test, the navigation LEDs will begin 

blinking. 

The power on/off switch is up 

under the rear of the helicopter, 

below the canopy deck. Reach up 

under this area and youʼll feel it. 

To power on, momentarily press 

power switch

To power off, momentarily press 

power switch
Home Screen

When the aircraft is powered on, the HHC will connect to the 

aircraft and you’ll be presented with the HHC Home Screen. 

This screen provides essential real-time graphical aircraft and 

system status detailed below:

00.0

TX

Battery

Basic Inertia GPS

Heli

Battery

Data

Link

GPS

SVs

GPS

PDOP

Altitude m Climb Rate m/s Speed m/s

0.0 0.0

+000 +000 N N

12.2

V

0

V N/A 0 99.9

Time: 00:00

Flight: 00:00

Heading Bearing

Views Config

Always takes you back to 

the HHC “Home Screen”

Navigate to the HHC 

configuration screen

This section of the screen 

contains real-time aircraft 

performance information

Detailed aircraft 

flight data

Detailed aircraft 

sensor information

Aircraft heading and 

bearing symbol Aircraft telemetry and 

HHC information

Detailed aircraft 

GPS data
No weʼre not flying yet:

We just stepped you through the process of powering on the 

system. With the system on and the HHC connected to the 

aircraft you see the live aircraft telemetry, hear it beep and 

simply get comfortable powering on/off the system.

While you have it powered on pick up the aircraft and simply 

rotate the helicopter in the YAW axis. As the aircraft rotates youʼll 

see the heading information on the HHC change.

Okay - enough fun, letʼs power-off the system...

Powering off the system is simply done by first powering off the 

helicopter and then the HHC. The only tricky thing here is that 

when you power-off the HHC, you must hold the power button 

down for at least four seconds before it will shut-off.
3. Your first flight

For your first flight donʼt bring along your friends, your coworkers, your spouse or significant other... they will often talk you 

into doing something you shouldnʼt do. For example, “show us 

how high it will go” ... no, you donʼt need to be doing that right 

now. Get formal factory training and take it nice and low, and 

slow, to get started.

Have you had formal 

factory training?

Yes

No No, I think I can 

teach myself

Do you really have 

the experience?

Yes

No

Get formal factory 

systems training
Letʼs fly:

We assume that youʼve had flight training so this will serve as a 

good review. If youʼre experienced, and you are just learning a 

new system this section will show you the basics. No matter 

what your skill level, for right now, please just practice taking-off 

and landing either indoors or in calm conditions. 

In this section we cover:

1 Powering on systems

3 Arming motors

4 Engage motors

5 Execute auto-takeoff

6 Land aircraft

7 Disengage motors

8 Disarm motors

10 Power off systems

2 Connect aircraft

 9 Disconnect aircraft
Safety is a priority:

Always think about the safety of others and your own personal 

safety. If you donʼt wear glasses you should be wearing the eye 

protection provided. If anyone is with you, they should be 

wearing eye protection and standing well behind you.

Make sure that youʼre in an open area free of obstacles and for 

these first flights, you want to be flying in very calm wind 

conditions.

When it comes time to fly, position yourself about 12 feet directly 

behind the aircraft and for these first flights, youʼre just taking off, 

hovering briefly and landing. You need to do this over and over 

again because honestly, if youʼre not comfortable taking off and 

landing, youʼre not in a position to be out flying at altitude or 

other maneuvers.

For more detailed flight training, and flight training drills, please 

refer to the various manuals provided.
Understand this:

The throttle is another one of these controls that has different 

functions depending on the status of the aircraft, so please take 

time to understand this.

1. When the motors are not running, the throttle is used to arm 

the motors, and disarm the motors.

2. When the motors are running, the throttle is used to execute 

an auto take-off. After take-off, the throttle gimbal is used to 

control helicopter altitude and yaw.

Execute auto takeoff and increase 

altitude

Yaw right

Lower-left corner 

disarms motors

Yaw left

Motors powered on

Decrease altitude

Lower-right corner 

arms motors

Motors not running
Power up systems:

For your first flights itʼs a good idea to fly without that expensive 

payload system on the helicopter so please remove the payload. 

With the payload removed power-up the HHC and the helicopter.

Power-on the HHC system 

and let it boot to the home 

screen. The HHC will make 

a “chirp” sound when itʼs 

ready.

Remove the payload, install a 

blank H-Plate and power-on 

the helicopter. 

After a self test the navigation 

LEDs will start blinking.
Connect and arm the system:

When the helicopter navigation lights are blinking, the helicopter 

is safe, happy, and just waiting for something to happen. Just as 

we did earlier, power on the HHC and it will establish a 

connection to the aircraft.

The HHC will “beep” and youʼll see the helicopter telemetry 

data appear on the screen. Double 

check your battery health, and 

quality of data-link. If you are 

indoors, you will not get GPS 

satellites and for right now, we 

donʼt care. Now we will “arm” the 

motors. 

Move the throttle to the lower 

right corner and hold it there 

until the HHC acknowledges 

“motors armed” through a 

series of beeps. At the same 

time the helicopter LEDs will 

stay on solid indicating motors 

are armed.

Lower-right corner arms 

motors
Get comfortable:

Always hold the HHC with two hands and get comfortable with 

the controls. The joy sticks are controlled with your thumbs and 

your fingers will naturally grip the sides and wrap around the 

backside of the controller.

The pointer finger of each hand is used quite often during flight. 

Your right finger controls the camera shutter and your left finger 

will be used to engage and disengage the motors.
Engage motors:

Okay itʼs time to get the props spinning. When the aircraft is 

armed, the helicopter navigation LEDs are no longer blinking and 

itʼs dangerous to be near the aircraft.

Standing well behind the aircraft, announce that youʼre lifting off 

and press the “motor engage” 

switch “up” for approximately 

one second, located on the 

top, left, side of the HHC.

The motors will start 

spinning and at this 

point itʼs very 

important to double 

check that all 

motors are turning.

Engage motors
Your first takeoff:

With all motors running, raise the throttle straight forward all the 

way for one second and return the stick to center. You have 

initiated an automated take off causing the motors to increase 

speed and lift off.

Keep in mind that you are flying the helicopter so with your right 

hand, you are controlling pitch and roll to keep the aircraft in a 

hover. The helicopter will climb approximately 2 or 3 feet high.

Once it has reached the programmed altitude you regain throttle 

control over the aircraft.

Keep throttle straight as you move it 

forward and hold it at top position for 

about one second, then lower it to 

the center position.

As the helicopter comes up, 

you have control of pitch and 

roll. Yes, you are flying the 

aircraft. Just hover in one spot.
Okay - thatʼs enough:

Thatʼs enough excitement; time to land. With the aircraft in a 

stationary hover, lower the throttle. As the helicopter descends 

keep the aircraft stationary and when the landing gear touch the 

ground, move the throttle all the way straight back and hold it 

there.

You landed but now you need to disengage the motors. As you 

hold the throttle straight back, hold it one second and then press 

the “motor disengage” switch “down”. The motors will stop 

spinning and you can bring the throttle back to the center 

position.

Press motor disengage 

switch to the down position 

at least one second after 

throttle has been pulled 

straight back to stop 

motors.

After landing pull throttle 

straight back and hold for 

at least one second, then 

with throttle held back, 

press the motor disengage 

switch to stop motors
Disarm motors:

Move the throttle to the lower left position to disarm the aircraft 

motors. The HHC will acknowledge disarming the aircraft and the 

navigation LEDs on the helicopter will start blinking.

To disarm motors, move throttle to 

the lower left corner and hold it until 

HHC beeps to confirm “motors 

disarmed”.

When disarmed, the helicopter 

LEDs will start blinking again.
Disconnect and power down:

Just as we did in an earlier exercise, power down both the 

helicopter and the HHC. When you are done flying you should 

also get in the habit of removing the helicopter battery - donʼt let 

the battery stay connected to the helicopter for extended periods 

of time.

Congratulations, you did it! And keep running through this 

exercise and others before you consider flying higher or further 

away.
4. Okay, now what?

In the beginning youʼre busy building your confidence and 

experience piloting the aircraft. If possible you should be flying 

everyday to build upon your skills.

Real work:

The helicopter is an excellent aerial tool and most likely you 

purchased the system to accomplish real work. Whether youʼre 

shooting aerial photos, building aerial mosaic tiled images, or 

interactive 3D aerial models at the core of your work is 

photography or videography.

1. Understand the camera and experiment with different settings. 

Out of the box we have the camera set-up with auto-focus 

enabled, shutter priority mode, with an exposure setting of 

1/1000/sec, and auto ISO to get crisp solid images from the air. 

If you are new to the camera or photography, remove the camera 

from the gimbal, install the camera battery and take some time to 

get out and shoot photos. You need to see what works and 

doesnʼt. Quite often people assume they need to be flying to 

learn, but thatʼs not always the case. Experiment and have fun 

with the camera. 
Real work:

When youʼre shooting aerial photography you need to be aware 

of sun angles, shadows, and high contrast areas. Shooting into 

the sun will create flare spots so itʼs best if possible to have the 

sun to the rear of the aircraft.

If youʼre having to deal with a lot of wind and the helicopter is 

bouncing around quite a bit, the stabilized gimbal helps a great 

deal to settle the image down but what helps things even more is 

to let the helicopter float with the wind. To do this fly into the wind 

past your primary subject area, then center your pitch/roll gimbal 

and simply let the helicopter move with the wind. Yaw the 

helicopter and adjust camera pitch to get the photos needed.

When it comes to shooting video, again, shooting in shutter 

priority mode is a good idea and experiment with shutter speeds 

between 1/60 and 1/120/sec. The slower the shutter, the softer 

the look.
Mosaic and panoramic imaging:

There are a number of software packages on the market that are 

excellent for creating seamless mosaic images. The panoramic 

image you see below was constructed from several photos taken 

from a GPS position hold, and yawing the helicopter taking 

photos in increments. The trick to getting good results is 

excellent overlap between your photos.

If you would like more detailed information contact your 

Draganfly account representative.
Interactive aerial 3D modeling:

Whether itʼs detailed imagery of a crime scene or youʼre creating 

interactive content for a WEBsite the helicopter is an excellent 

tool to build photo realistic, true to scale, interactive 3D computer 

models.

The image you see below is a screen capture of an interactive 

3D model constructed from 57 aerial images in three passes 

over the target area. Using your computer mouse you can 

navigate throughout the scene in 3D. Want to know more contact 

your Draganfly account representative.
Summary:

In summary, thank you for your business. The Draganfly system 

is an amazing aerial tool used to collect data, display live aerial 

imagery and give you a perspective that will shed new light on 

your work.

Thank you ...
5. Some quick tips:

The following lists a few things people run into and hopefully a 

quick, and easy to understand, solution.

1. I took off but canʼt increase altitude!

During an auto take-off the throttle is locked out until the aircraft 

reaches itʼs target altitude or it times out. The time-out period is 

about 15 seconds so just hover there and wait a little bit before 

increasing throttle. After the time-out period expires youʼll often 

see the helicopter exhibit a short “bounce” in the air indicating 

youʼre good to go. 

2. My motors wonʼt disengage right away!

This happens in situations where you pulled the throttle all the 

way straight back, but you didnʼt wait at least one second before 

pushing the motor disengage switch. If you donʼt wait the one 

second, it takes 10 seconds for the motors to disengage.

3. Why is it so complicated to disengage the motors?

It was more simple but amazingly over the years weʼve had 

customers panic and turn off the motors in flight. Hard to imagine 

but it has happened and so, we devised a system where 
disengaging the motors is a deliberate, calculated action.

4. Everything is on, but I donʼt see my live video feed?

The X4-P system uses a digital video data feed, transmitted to a 

networked HHC mounted Nexus device. To quickly test the 

system make sure to:

• first - power on the digital video base station

• payload is plugged into helicopter

• power on helicopter

• powered on camera

• lens cap if any removed

• Nexus charged and powered on

• launch Draganfly viewer app to display video

• initial connect time may take 30 seconds

If you still donʼt have live video displayed contact the Draganfly 

support line for further assistance.

5. The camera shutter isnʼt working from HHC?

Youʼre pushing the shutter button on the HHC system but the 

shutter isnʼt operating on the camera. We assume you have 

checked to make sure the payload is plugged in, power is on, 

camera is switched on, you have “connected” the HHC to the 
helicopter and see aircraft telemetry data but still, no shutter 

activation.

We have seen this happen when customers inadvertently disable 

the remote shutter setting on the camera. To double check the 

camera setting, select setup, select camera, select drive mode 

and make sure “Remote CDR” is turned on.

If you still have a problem, simply press the camera shutter 

button to make sure the camera is working okay.

6. I canʼt change the camera tilt angle

The helicopter is in the air, youʼre out flying a mission and you 

move the camera tilt control and nothing seems to happen. This 

will happen if you take off with the camera tilt control at any other 

position other than the “top most” position. Before the camera 

will become active, it wants that control pushed up all the way.

Ideally you should have the control in the up position at lift off but 

if not, you can keep flying and simply move the tilt control all the 

way up, then move it back down to enable the camera tilt 

function.
So the next question is why ... No matter what the camera tilt 

setting at take-off, to protect the camera itʼs automatically rotated 

to an “up” or straight forward position. To regain, or take-over 

control of the camera the tilt control must also be moved up to 

the top position. Bottom line, this was done to help protect the 

camera lens.

7. Sometimes one of the motors will not start-up?

No excuses, itʼs just hard work for the speed controller to start 

the motors turning and yes, it happens sometimes. 

As part of your initial take-off procedure when you engage 

motors, the first thing you do is check to make sure they are all 

spinning. If one doesnʼt start going, you have two choices. You 

can pull the throttle back and disengage motors to try again, or if 

you are comfortable with this idea, you can reach over and just 

give it a spin by hand. The prop will start spinning and you can 

execute an automated take-off. 

Keep in mind you never want to initiate a take-off if only three 

motors are running or the helicopter will flip over. 
This product and manual are copyrighted by Draganfly Innovations Inc. with all rights 

reserved. No part of this product or start-up guide shall be reproduced in any form 

without the prior written consent or authorization of Draganfly Innovations Inc. No patent 

liability is assumed with respect to the use of the product or information contained herein.

Document Revision Level: X4-P v1.2

Draganfly Innovations Inc.

Sales information:

Phone: 1-800-979-9794

International: 1-306-955-9907

e-mail: sales@draganfly.com

https://www.draganfly.com

Product support:

Phone: 1-800-979-9794

International: 1-306-955-9907

e-mail: support@draganfly.com

Mailing address:

Draganfly Innovations Inc.

2108 St. George Avenue

Saskatoon, SK S7M0K7

Canada