Forward

A tilted push moves it forward

When the drone leans, the push from its propellers leans too. The white arrow, all four pushes added together, can be split into two parts: one that holds the drone up (blue) and one that pushes it forward (yellow). The forward part moves the drone ahead. It throws air backward and keeps speeding up until it reaches about 39 km/h.

Why?If the total push stayed the same, the part holding the drone up would be smaller than its weight, and it would sink. So all four propellers spin a little harder, to about 111%, to make the upward part equal to the weight again. The faster it goes, the more the air pushes back. When that air drag equals the forward part, the drone stops speeding up.

Go furtherNotice the white dots now stream back at an angle instead of straight down. Leaning more makes the forward part bigger, so the drone flies faster. Moving sideways works the same way: the drone tilts to one side. That sideways tilt is called roll.