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Course In Planning

Drone
Class

Three days of flying, from the pre-flight check to cinematic aerial moves. You fly by sight first and only pick up the screen once the stick work is safe.

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Prerequisite: Videography: Foundation. Aerial footage is video. Frame rates, shutter, exposure and ND have to sit before you fly, so we do not teach them again in the air. We recommend the full video track as well, because drone shots are B-roll and have to cut into a sequence. View Videography: Foundation
Overview
Fly First, Film Second

Most people buy a drone and start filming on day one. That is how drones end up in trees. This course does it the other way round: you learn to fly by sight, with your eyes on the drone and not on the screen, until the stick work is safe in every orientation. Only then does the camera come into it.

The programme runs on six blocks of exercises, each with a pass criterion you can measure rather than a claim. Hold a hover for thirty seconds within a metre. Land three times in a row on a forty centimetre pad. Cancel a return to home and land it yourself. You move on when the exercise works, not when the day is over.

The course ends with a final project: a short film or branded content piece you produce from brief through delivery.

We do not offer Remote Pilot Licence (RPL) training. Licences in Kenya are issued by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and its approved training organisations. What you learn here is the craft itself: safe, confident flying by sight, and the camera work that turns it into cinematic footage.

Curriculum
Three Days, Six Blocks
D1
1 day
Ground Rules and Basic Control
Block 01 Pre-Flight and Safety and Block 02 Basic Control. The pre-flight check from memory, the failsafe, the battery reserve, the geo zone map read before you leave, and what the drone does when the link drops. Then the sticks: hover, yaw on the spot, straight lines, the fixed-heading square, and a first return to home so you know your safety net before you need it.
D2
1 day
Orientation, Landing and Emergencies
Blocks 03 to 05. Flying with the nose toward you, when left becomes right, through the command drill and the figure eight. Precision landing on a pad from every direction, and the hand catch we use on sand. The day ends with the emergencies: cancelling a return to home, the emergency hover, and a straight return under time.
D3
1 day
Camera Flight
Block 06, the only block flown with the screen as well as the eye. Push-in, fly-away, reveal, top-down, manual orbit, parallax, the diagonal slide and flying while tilting the gimbal. Exposure is locked before the first move: profile, ND and shutter set, nothing on auto.
Standards
You Move On When It Works

Every block ends with a test you either pass or repeat. Nothing here depends on an opinion, and nobody moves on because the day is over.

Block 01
Pre-Flight and Safety
  • Run the full pre-flight checklist from memory.
  • Show the geo zone map for the site and say what it allows before the drone is packed.
  • Name the failsafe setting and your battery reserve plan without opening the app.
Block 02
Basic Control
  • Hold a hover at 2 to 3 m for 30 seconds, drifting less than 1 m in any direction.
  • Fly the fixed-heading square with each corner within about 2 m of its mark.
  • Call out the drone's height within about 20 percent before verifying on the display.
Block 03
Orientation
  • Hold a nose-in hover for 30 seconds, drifting less than 1 m in any direction.
  • Execute called moves correctly with the nose toward you, without hesitation.
  • Fly the figure eight smoothly without stopping to re-orient.
Block 04
Precision Landing
  • Three consecutive tail-in landings on the pad.
  • A calm hand catch with the motors stopped and fingers clear.
  • Three consecutive nose-in landings on the pad.
Block 05
Autonomy and Emergencies
  • Cancel RTH and land manually without hesitation.
  • Complete an emergency return from 30 m away in under 60 seconds.
Block 06
Camera Flight
  • Lock the exposure before the first move: picture profile, ND and shutter set, nothing on auto.
  • Hold a 20 second orbit with the subject centred.
  • Fly a push-in without visible framing drift.
Equipment
What You Fly

You fly a DJI Mini 5 Pro, provided for the duration of the course. It is the first drone this size to carry a 1-inch sensor, and that is the reason its footage sits next to ground camera work instead of looking like drone footage. It records 4K at 60 frames in HDR, 4K at 120 for slow motion, in 10-bit with D-Log M.

The aperture is fixed at f/1.8, so there is no aperture ring to reach for. Exposure comes from shutter and ND filters, and the log workflow is the one you already know. That is why Foundation is the prerequisite and not a formality: what you learn there is exactly what you use in the air.

It is forgiving enough for a first flight, with obstacle sensing in every direction, and good enough that the shots you bring home are worth using, whether that is for yourself or for a client later on.

One drone is in the air at a time, which is why the group stays at two or three. You spend the course flying rather than waiting for your turn, with the instructor beside you while you do it.

Launch
In Planning

The Drone Class is in planning. The training programme and the safety material are written, and we are working out dates.

Format: 3 training days. Mineral water is included, lunch is not. We publish the fee when the dates are set.

Group size: 2 students, never more than 3. One drone flies at a time, and a larger group would mean waiting instead of flying.

We will notify you when dates, the fee and application details are released.

In the meantime, start with the Photography Class, which is open for booking now.

Join the Waiting List for the Drone Class

Join the waiting list

The Drone Class is in planning. Join the waiting list and we will notify you first when dates, the fee and application details are released.

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Before the Drone Class

Aerial footage is video. Videography: Foundation is the prerequisite, and the full video track makes your drone shots usable in a sequence rather than pretty on their own.

Explore Videography: Foundation