How do I use the Flight Plan function?

Flight Plan is a powerful tool, which enables you to fully prepare and configure your flights and filming sessions, from home, on the train, in a plane, or anywhere else you can take your phone with you.

Through an example, this section will teach you the basics of automated flight and shooting management, with your ANAFI series drone and Flight Plan.

Tap Flight Plan from the “PILOTING MODE” box menu.

The map of your surroundings opens full screen. If you are not connected to your ANAFI series drone, the minimized live view is black, as on the screen captures that follow. Find your next dream flying spot on the map.

Consider this pointy bit of land, with a lighthouse in the middle. Say you could fly your ANAFI series drone and shoot a film there. Let’s do it!

First, select your initial waypoint.

Ideally, very close to your intended take-off point. Tap the screen to set it. The green circle represents the waypoint, the white figure the altitude of the drone, and the white arrow the direction of your ANAFI series drone’s camera.

Tap the white arrow and hold it to move it around.

In this example, we want your ANAFI series drone to frame the lighthouse as it starts the flight.

Tap the map to set the second waypoint.

The distance between the two waypoints appears on the screen. Use the slider on the right of the screen to set the altitude of the waypoint. In this example, your ANAFI series drone will climb from 3 to 30 meters between the initial waypoint and the second waypoint.

Add waypoints to tour the area and end your Flight Plan where you intend to land.

The tip of the peninsula is a POI.

We want your ANAFI series drone to focus on it while it flies around it. Tap it and hold your finger on the screen to call choices (POI/Close).

Tap “Point of interest” to add the POI.

It appears as a blue square diamond. The figure in the center represents the height of the POI, which you can modify using the slider on the right of the screen. All waypoints turn white as they can now be selected to be linked to the POI.

Tap waypoints to link them to the POI.

In this example, we want your ANAFI series drone to film the tip of the peninsula as it flies around it: we have selected the three waypoints to the left of the peninsula. The arrows of those waypoints have turned toward the POI and are colored in blue – the last one which was selected has a blue border around the white arrow.

Tap the POI to confirm your choices.

Blue waypoints are linked to the POI, which appears as a white square diamond with a blue border. During the entire blue part of the flight, your ANAFI series drone’s camera will stay focused on the tip of the peninsula, enabling you to achieve the smoothest flyby shoot. Green waypoints remain independent from the POI.

Tap a green waypoint to edit it.

Use the slider on the right of the screen to modify its height; tap and move its white arrow to set the direction of your ANAFI series drone’s camera. For this example, we had the drone point toward the land at most steps of the Flight Plan, and toward the lighthouse at take-off and landing, with a descent from 30 to 3 meters between the last two waypoints.

All you have to do now is to close FreeFlight 6, to get to your flying spot, to prepare your ANAFI series drone, your Parrot Skycontroller 3 and your device for the flight.

Tap the “PILOTING MODE” box on the HUD to call the options.

Select “Flight Plan”: the last plan you have set up appears.

Tap the green arrow on the right of the left bottom bar of the Flight Plan interface to begin the Flight Plan:

Your ANAFI series drone takes off, flies to the first waypoint and starts the Flight Plan. At the end of the Flight Plan, depending on your settings and depending on your version of FreeFlight 6, your ANAFI series drone lands at, or hovers over, the last waypoint you have set.

That is why, for this section, we have chosen to consider that your ANAFI series drone’s final waypoint is also its landing spot.

⚠ Activate and monitor every Flight Plan with extreme care: always check your drone’s route is clear from obstacles and safe, always retain visual contact with your ANAFI series drone, and always be ready to stop the Flight Plan (tap the “STOP” box of your HUD or reclaim commands of the drone) in case a danger or any sort of unexpected obstacle arises.