The console

After Connect, the console has three panels:

  • Left: telemetry. It includes Owner (who is flying: your radio/autopilot or the app), Security (signed or unsecured), Evidence (how far this configuration has been tested), mode, arm state, battery, GPS, altitude, speed and attitude.
  • Centre: video, when your setup provides it.
  • Right: the safety checklist and the command buttons.

If telemetry stops for 1.5 seconds, the console marks it stale and refuses new commands.

The safety checklist

Commands unlock only after you confirm all five items, every time you connect:

  1. My RC transmitter is on, bound, in my hands and can switch the aircraft out of app control.
  2. The link-loss failsafe is configured on the aircraft:
    • PX4: COM_OBL_RC_ACT and COM_OF_LOSS_T.
    • ArduPilot: FS_GCS_ENABLE.
    • DJI: lost-signal action set to Return or Hover.
  3. This setup has been bench-tested with propellers removed.
  4. The area is open, legal to fly and clear of people, and I will keep visual line of sight.
  5. The aircraft is registered and meets local rules, including Remote ID where required.

Hold to confirm

Arm, takeoff, land, hold, return and take app control need a 1.2-second press; a tap does nothing. Release is instant. Arming never forces past the autopilot's own pre-arm checks.

Takeoff and app control also wait until the autopilot has a real position estimate. That means a home position and, where the autopilot reports it, the estimator's absolute-position flag. A 3D GPS fix alone is not enough.

What app control means

App control lets the app fly the aircraft with gentle velocity commands while your radio stays ready to take over. Depending on the aircraft, it uses:

  • PX4: Offboard.
  • ArduPilot: Guided.
  • DJI: Virtual Stick.

The app only offers it when all of these are true:

  • The aircraft is a multirotor that is already flying, with a 3D fix and battery above your profile's minimum.
  • The link is secure.
  • Allow app control is on in My Real Drone. It is off by default.
  • Live pilot input is present: touch sticks, a wired controller or a paired Wi-Fi board.
  • All sticks are centred, with throttle at mid, so engaging can never command a descent.

Speeds come from your profile and are capped at 5 m/s horizontal, 2 m/s vertical and 90°/s yaw. The console's touch sticks spring back to centre, so lifting your thumbs means hover.

When the app lets go

The app stops commanding and hands back to the aircraft when any of these happens:

  • The aircraft's heartbeat is missing for 3 seconds.
  • You flip your radio's mode switch, or a failsafe triggers. The aircraft leaves Offboard/Guided. The app never asks for that mode again.
  • Pilot input is lost for 250 ms. The app sends zero velocity at once, then releases.
  • The app is paused or backgrounded, or loses focus, or you press Back.
  • DJI only: the native layer centres the sticks if updates stop for 250 ms, and ends Virtual Stick after 1.5 seconds. Leaving the app ends it immediately.

On release the app commands Hold: PX4 Hold, ArduPilot Loiter, or a DJI hover.

Logs

Every Real Flight session writes a log on the phone. It records link events, commands and refusals, which helps when something did not behave as expected.

Logs stay on the device and nothing is uploaded. They include position and aircraft identity. Hardware Center shows how many are stored and can delete them all.