okay so ive been in acro mode maybe a dozen times and every single time i just immediately roll into the ground or panic and flip the mode switch back. i know thats basically everyones experience starting out but im trying to figure out what the actual progression looks like for getting comfortable in manual.

right now im flying a pretty cheap 5 inch freestyle build, nothing special, basically just a practice quad. i use velocidrone for sim time but honestly i dont know if im putting in enough hours or if im doing it wrong in the sim, like just flying around aimlessly. should i be drilling specific maneuvers, following specific lines, what? ive watched a lot of videos and everyone says "just fly the sim" but nobody really breaks down HOW to use the sim time effectively

also is there a certain maneuver people think is the best foundation to learn first or does it matter

the sim thing is real but you have to be intentional about it yeah. aimless flying in velocidrone will get you comfortable with basic control but it wont actually build the muscle memory you need for real recovery situations. what helped me was picking a single thing and drilling it until it was boring - like just figure eights at a consistent altitude for 30 minutes straight. sounds dull but by the end your hands are just doing it. then throttle management over uneven terrain. then start adding rolls and flips in isolation before you try combining anything.

and honestly the first real maneuver to nail is just a clean split-s. its simple, its useful, and learning to manage throttle through the bottom of it teaches you a ton about how the quad wants to behave. once you can do a split-s that doesnt look like a potato falling down stairs youre actually making progress

tbh i spent way too long in the sim before flying real and it gave me some bad habits because the sim physics are just not quite right, the feedback loop is different. what actually clicked for me was flying real at a big open field super high up so i had room to recover from mistakes. like 80-100 feet minimum when youre learning acro, not 10 feet where every mistake is just immediate ground. you want time to recognize whats happening and respond. the sim is good but dont let it replace actual stick time is my take