Is Liftoff a good FPV sim?

Is Liftoff a good FPV sim?

Skip straight to the drone-flying and Liftoff gameplay videos further down, otherwise keep reading to find out exactly why I think “Liftoff FPV drone racing” is an invaluable tool to learn to fly FPV drones or quadcopters.

I have been flying camera drones since 2014 and consider myself an experienced pilot. I fly drones regularly for automotive shoots in particular as this is my full-time job.

But I’m looking for a little more thrill and have had a growing interest in FPV drones and the freedom they offer.

Many FPV pilots who review Liftoff are seasoned FPV pilots, the likes of Rotor Riot, and Joshua Bardwell.

In my case Liftoff was my point of entry into the FPV world, it is how I first tried my hand at flying in acro/manual.

In December 2022 I bought a relatively affordable RTF (ready to fly) tinywhoop in the form of the GepRC TinyGo 4K 2S. A beginner FPV drone to learn with and an excellent choice if I may say so myself with impressive video quality for such a tiny thing.

Having watched many YouTube videos I quickly learnt that before flying an FPV drone in full acro mode, you must spend hours practising an FPV simulation / video game such as Liftoff, Velocidrone, DRL, FPV Freerider… Otherwise you are guaranteed to crash and eventually destroy your brand new quad. Guaranteed.

And so I did. 

December being what it is in the UK, it rained every single day and I don’t think it ended until… well it is now May and it has hardly stopped.

That gave me the opportunity to spend a lot of time in Liftoff, initially on the PS4 and then Liftoff on Mac M1 which preforms better.

So is Liftoff a good FPV sim?

Liftoff FPV simulator can’t really be regarded as an easy video game as honestly anyone looking for “fun” from the get-go will be bitterly disappointed when trying manual/acro mode in Liftoff.

Liftoff is a true to life and authentic drone simulation that mimics drone dynamics well and is very hard to master, as hard as it is to fly an FPV drone in real-life, just minus the risk of crashing an expensive bit of kit.

Every crash in the simulator saves you repairing your drone in real life, the cost of which can otherwise quickly accumulate.

But for anyone with drive and determination, once you get past the first couple of hours of immediate crashes and “what the hell is wrong with this drone” hair-pulling, then the rewards start to very gently making their way into your daily training.

I suppose I spent about 10 hours practising before I decided to fly my actual GepRC TinyGo 4K cinewhoop.

I flew it and of course I crashed it. I flew it some more and crashed it some more but that’s ok, I had the right expectations and planned it would most likely go that way.

This tough little drone got smashed many times with glorious moments in-between crashes. Luckily I had bought a couple of spare frames and fixed it a couple of times, an entire part of what FPV flying is about. 

March came and I had totalled dozens of hours in Liftoff, trying to master more than just flying but also performing acrobatics such as tight gaps, powerloops, flips, dives, yaw spins and other tricks.

I decided it was time to upgrade to something faster and better able to cope with outdoor flying and the wind. Another reason was that the box goggles from GepRC, provided with the TinyGo 4K aren’t adjustable and really started messing with my already slightly declining eyesight.

I had two choices. Go down the “build-your-own FPV” road or BNF FPV (bind and fly) which is prebuilt and ready to fly.

Either way these would require a new controller and new goggles. 

So I decided in April to buy a DJI FPV combo second hand which cost no more than the brand new goggles and remote bought together.

Many FPV pilots aren’t keen on the DJI FPV, lots of hate online and to a certain extent… it is a bit expensive to fly, heavy, fragile, experiences tons of prop wash and lacks power in freestyle.

I’ll practise with it for now and once broken beyond repair, I will buy a BNF or build my own quad sporting the DJI O3 unit to fly with DJI Goggles V2 and remote controller 2.

If that’s not a strategy, then I don’t know what is!

For now I fly the DJI FPV in full manual mode, I keep practising and when the weather is bad I can fall-back on Liftoff.

Here is a video I put together of my fist 6 packs (batteries) which is about 45mn flight.

In that video I’m cruising and light-freestyling with the DJI FPV in manual, having learnt strictly on Liftoff and my little GepRC TinyGo 4K.

Is liftoff a good FPV sim?

Below is a recording of Liftoff FPV drone simulator gameplay. I recorded it a month after the one above, definitely a lot more freestyle-focused!

Liftoff FPV drone simulator gameplay

I’m getting the itch already, let’s go fly some more.

Until next time,

Nico