What Is Drone Trimming And Ways to Trim It?

Trimming a drone can fix the wobbliness of your drones, and trimming is super easy- so you shouldn’t have any trouble fixing the yaw, roll or pitch of a drone.

If you’re new to these terms and have no idea what drone trimming means, this post is for you!

I walk you through what drone trimming means, what you need to know, and easy steps to trim your drone. Shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes in any case. Let’s get on with it!

What Is Drone Trimming?

Drone trimming is when you need to adjust your drone so it’s perfectly balanced. Trimming drones is not hard at all and even if it’s your first time reading about drone trimming, don’t fret- you’re in good hands!

Usually, the drone you have flies quite smoothly but if somehow, your quadcopter seems to behave oddly- as in it might tilt towards the left or drift, trimming a drone can help. It can also be because of the changes in wind, but if it’s something trimming your drone can fix, I will walk you through the steps so you can take care of it on your own.

First, let’s take a look at the terminologies before we can gen on with the process of trimming a drone.

What You Need To Know About Trimming A Drone

If you take a look at your drone controller, you will find controls for pitch, roll, yaw, and throttle.

If you own a drone, you have probably come across problems such as unintended drifting and tilting in one direction. This may happen because of the wind that pushes your drone in one direction. Another reason may be that your drone controller needs trimming. It is normal to trim your drone now and then, but let’s first learn what drone trimming actually is.

Drone trim is adjusting the yaw, pitch, roll, and throttle on your drone using the buttons on your transmitter. You need to keep adjusting them until the aerodynamics of your drone are perfectly balanced. This is required when a drone is off balance or drifting.

You might think that a wobbly drone means that something is wrong with it- but that’s totally normal. In fact, trimming a drone once a month is good practice- and if you notice that your drone isn’t hovering steadily, you can also trim the drone mid-flight. You would do this till you can be certain that the drone is steady at one place when there is no input from the drone controller.

It’s even more important for beginners to learn how to trim their drones because most high-end drones won’t have the need to be trimmed. You are paying a premium price for stabilization included, but for most budget drones, trimming once or twice per month is in order.

Drones That Need Trimming

Not all drones are built the same- there are cheaper ones that most beginners can afford, and the more expensive ones that use GPS and gyro for enhanced flight stability. If you have a budget drone, you won’t be benefitted from AI adjustments when in case of wind or weather changes.

You can simply trim your drone following a more manual approach but that’s a small price to pay for the joy of flying a drone. Just like taking care of your drone battery, you should also take care of the drone’s stability.

As for what drones need trimming, DJI ones usually have built-in smart flight capabilities but if you have got a different brand drone, you may want to check the labels and specifications. Still, it’s always best to test your drone in windy conditions to see if it’s equipped with smart flight.

If you haven’t noticed already, in addition to the controls for the drone, there are also trim buttons for pretty much every control. The best thing about trimming a drone is- you don’t need to be in-air to trim a drone, but you do need to fly your drone to check if the trim you made worked as you intended it to.

Before we talk about trimming your drone properly, I want to make sure that we’re on the same page, so let’s talk about the terminology first, then we will get on with the process.

Basic Terminology Related To Controls and Trim Buttons

Most drones have four trim buttons that can be used to adjust how the drone moves. For example, you can check the screen on your controller and adjust the left trim button to fix stability issues.

You are probably aware of what the sticks on a controller do – the left one is responsible for the height of the drone and rotating the drone, which is also called the yaw of the drone. The right stick simply controls the drone in forwarding and backward directions as well as sideways.

When you hear the terms pitch, roll, and yaw, these just mean that the drone is moving in a forward-backward, left-right, and rotation around the vertical axis (or in what direction the head of the drone is pointed). The complex motions of drones are simply the combinations of pitch, roll, and yaw.

The pitch switch is usually the one you will find near the right stick- towards the left. You will find the roll and yaw switches below the right stick and below the left stick respectively. Drone manuals like to call these switches pitch trim and yaw trim, so if you see those names on the instructions, these just mean the trim buttons for the respective controls.

Trim Your Drone In Easy Steps

Trimming a drone is super easy- you might hear a small beep from time to time. It should sound every time you have pressed a trim button- the beep may also vary in frequency; this just denotes the control being affected. Personally, I like to change just one trim setting at a time when it’s landed, then check up on the changes made when the drone flies.

Land Your Drone & Identify What Needs To Be Trimmed

The first step in trimming a drone is to determine how different your drone is behaving from the expected position. It’s necessary to do this when the weather conditions aren’t windy, as winds can interfere with the drone’s stability.

You can trim your drone when it’s flying too- but I find that landing it first can help prevent accidents while you are tweaking the controls. You don’t really need to trim the yaw unless you are shooting aerial footage and need a different angle for the shots.

Trim Opposite To The Drift Direction

If your drone is slightly drifting towards the left, trim the roll switch in towards the right. If the drone has a slight left spin, try trimming the yaw switch. Similarly, if the drone seems to have a slight drift forwards, try the pitch trim in the opposite direction.

Sometimes, you don’t really need to adjust the controls manually- you can let the auto-trim do its job. If you grab the thumbstick to the bottom left and hold it for a few seconds, you might see lights flashing, and the drone gets restored to the factory settings.

Chances are- your drone came with clear instructions on how it can be trimmed. Checking out the manual before trying out anything else is a great idea.

You just need to fly the drone after each trim to make sure that the issue is fixed. Make small changes to just a single control at a time so you have more control over the process, then after you’re satisfied with the trims, you’re all set!

Closing Thoughts

Drone trimming is something that’s easy enough to do on your own but can still affect drone performance very much. If you feel like your drone isn’t hovering steady and the pitch, roll, or yaw could do some tweaking, feel free to trim your drone.

Be sure to keep your drone safe while trimming- and if you do notice that the problem is related to the motor or propeller and not the controls, visiting a repair shop would also be a good idea. Hopefully, trimming your drone fixed the issue you had with your beloved quadcopter.

If you need some help choosing a drone, feel free to read our post on choosing the best drone for your budget. Liked what you read? Consider bookmarking our site, the shortcut is: Ctrl + D.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do all drones need to be calibrated?

Most drones don’t need to be calibrated, and if you feel like your drone has been affected by some issues and isn’t functioning like usual, you can try to trim your drone to see if that solves the problem you are having.

Paalan