FPV Drone Rates Explained: Betaflight & Actual Rates

Welcome to this comprehensive tutorial, where we will explore the intricacies of Betaflight Rates (RC Rate, Super Rate, and Expo) as well as Actual Rates (Center Sensitivity, Max Rate, and Expo). Moreover, I will share my personal insights on how I adjust my rates to accommodate various flying styles and applications.

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Fine-tuning your rates is as critical as tuning your PID and filters when it comes to optimizing your Betaflight FPV drone’s performance. You’ll be amazed by the significant improvements you can achieve in your flying experience by tailoring rates to match your unique flying style and requirements.

Betaflight offers a total of five rate systems:

Actual Rates
Betaflight Rates
Raceflight Rates
KISS Rates
Quick Rates

However, the most widely adopted are Actual and Betaflight Rates.

In this tutorial, we will delve into the key features of Actual and Betaflight Rates, how they function, and how I personally fine-tune them. It’s essential to select a single rate system to work with, and my recommendation for beginners would be to start with the default – Actual Rates. It also works well for experienced pilots.

Table of Contents

Understanding Actual Rates

“Actual Rates” are the default rates in Betaflight, providing a straightforward approach to setting maximum rotational velocity (e.g., entering 1000 corresponds to 1000deg/sec) and center sensitivity values. No more guessing, as this system is far more intuitive and less confusing for pilots compared to the older Betaflight rates.

If you are new to the hobby, I’d recommend using Actual rates. If you come from another type of rates, there are many online rate converters that allow you to switch between them.

There are 3 values in Actual Rates: Center Sensitivity, Max Rate, Expo.

Center Sensitivity

Max Rate

Max Rate defines the drone’s spin speed at full stick deflection. The value entered represents the exact maximum rotational velocity. For example, entering 700 means your drone will attempt to rotate at 700 degrees/sec at full stick.

However, keep in mind that the maximum angular velocity can be limited by your motors. When motors reach their physical limitations and cannot spin any faster, the maximum angular velocity is capped, regardless of the higher value set in Betaflight.

Expo

Expo flattens the curve between center stick and full stick. To achieve a more linear rate, keep Expo low. For a broader center stick region with finer control, increase Expo. Keep in mind that increasing Expo also reduces center sensitivity. While Expo can be as high as 1.0, excessive Expo might cause decreased center stick sensitivity and make the drone’s response more unpredictable towards full stick (more jumpy).

Tuning Actual Rates

Start by setting the Center Sensitivity. Cruise around and navigate through gaps to test the desired control precision around the center stick. For small adjustments and precise aiming through gates and gaps, the drone must be precisely controlled. If the Center Sensitivity is too high, the drone will overreact and become jittery.

Next, establish your Max Rate by performing flips and rolls. This step should be relatively straightforward.

Lastly, practice freestyle moves involving various stick positions between center and full stick. To flatten the rate curve, add some Expo, but be aware that this can reduce predictability towards full stick. If you increase Expo, you may need to raise Center Sensitivity slightly to compensate. Expo is primarily a matter of personal preference.

A useful tip: try a higher Max Rate for Yaw, reducing the need for significant Yaw stick movement. This approach can help with throttle management, as excessive Yaw stick movement might make it challenging to manage.

My Rates

Here’s a general guideline for different flying styles and applications based on my personal experience:

Cinematic: 50-150 Center Sensitivity
Freestyle: 100-200 Center Sensitivity
Racing / Line of Sight: 150-300 Center Sensitivity

Then set Max Rate according to your flying style:

Cinematic / Racing: 500-800 Max Rate
Freestyle: 600-1000 Max Rate
Line of Sight: 1000+ Max Rate

My Freestyle Rates

Pitch/Roll

Center Sensitivity: 190
Max Rate: 1000
Expo: 0.70

Yaw

Center Sensitivity: 200
Max Rate: 650
Expo: 0.55

Note that my rates differ depending on how I hold the sticks. When “pinching”, my rates are similar, but center sensitivity tends to be higher because I can move the sticks more accurately compared to when I’m “thumbing”. Personally I normally pinch, but here’s my rates when “thumbing” for comparison.

Pitch/Roll (Thumb)

Center Sensitivity: 140
Max Rate: 1000
Expo: 0.50

Yaw (Thumb)

Center Sensitivity: 180
Max Rate: 650
Expo: 0.40

My Tiny Whoop Rates

Pitch/Roll

Center Sensitivity: 230
Max Rate: 1000
Expo: 0.62

Yaw

Delving into Betaflight Rates

Betaflight Rates, unlike Actual Rates, are slightly more complex as the three terms are interdependent, making them less intuitive to use. However, as the oldest rate system in Betaflight, many experienced pilots continue to rely on them.

RC Rate

RC Rate affects the rate curve’s slope linearly throughout the entire stick range and determines how quickly the quadcopter rotates at full deflection. If you’re familiar with computers, you can think of it as mouse sensitivity.

A higher rate results in a more responsive but twitchier quad. Small stick movements will produce significant quad movements. Increasing the RC Rate also boosts the quad’s spin speed, enabling faster flips and rolls.

RC Expo

RC Expo, also known as Exponential or simply Expo, reduces sensitivity near the stick’s center where fine controls are needed (for Roll, Pitch, and Yaw) but does not change the maximum angular velocity at full stick.

Expo is a percentage value, ranging from 0% (0) to 100% (1). At 0%, the increase in rotational speed between minimum and maximum stick input is linear, forming a “V” shape with no stick input in the center. At 50% stick input, your quad will rotate around the given axis at exactly half the maximum rotational velocity.

Increasing Expo reduces sensitivity around mid-stick, requiring further stick movement to achieve the same rotational velocity. Visualize Expo as transforming the “V” shape into a “U”, with a higher expo percentage flattening the “U” around the middle.

Super Rate

Super Rate (or simply Rate) increases both max angular velocity and sensitivity around the center stick.

By raising the Super Rate, you can maintain moderate stick sensitivity around mid-stick for standard flying maneuvers while still achieving snappy rolls and flips at the stick endpoints.

Super Rate essentially combines the effects of RC Rate and Expo, allowing for more flexibility in achieving the desired stick feel.

So why use Super Rate? We can just use RC Rate and Expo right? Yes, sort of, but having Super Rate gives us more flexibility in achieving the stick feel we want.

Tuning Betaflight Rates

Tuning rates ultimately depends on personal preference and “feel.”

Begin with the default Betaflight values: RC Rate 1.0, Super Rate 0.7, Expo 0 for all three axes.

When tuning my rates, I always adjust RC Rate first. Perform flips and rolls, and if the quadcopter spins too slowly, increase RC Rate until satisfied. Note down the max angular velocity (deg/sec) in the Betaflight Configurator. For my freestyle rig, I usually aim for around 700-800 degrees per second.

Next, simply cruise around (without flips or rolls) and ensure the quadcopter responds swiftly and predictably to your stick inputs during turns. If it’s too sensitive for precise movement, increase Expo. If it’s too slow to react (not sensitive enough), decrease Super Rate while increasing RC Rate to compensate and raise the max angular speed.

Expo isn’t always necessary since Super Rate can provide the same effect. However, if you still find small movements around mid-stick too sensitive, increase Expo until you strike the right balance between precision and responsiveness.

Pro Tip: Applying Expo on the radio (TX) reduces your stick resolution, so always set Expo in the flight controller software whenever possible!

You may need to iterate through the process several times until the rates feel perfect. Remember that pitch, roll, and yaw rates don’t need to be identical—freestyle pilots often prefer higher roll and yaw rates but lower pitch rate, it’s all personal preference.

Different flight controller software has different ranges and scaling in PID, rates and expo, so the same numbers don’t necessarily give the same results in a different firmware. You should be able to find online converters if you want to migrate to a different FC firmware.

To give you some examples, here are the Rates and Expos I used in the past:

Freestyle

RC Rate – 1.2
Super Rate – 0.77
RC Expo – 0.20

Smooth Cruiser:

RC Rate = 0.80
RC Expo = 0.00
Super Rate = 0.65

Expo is set to zero here on purpose, this is to avoid overreacting in close situations and actually gives you overall smoother result.

Aggressive Acro Quad:

RC Rate, Pitch/Roll = 1.80, Yaw = 2.00
Super Rate, All = 0.64
RC Expo, Pitch/Roll = 0.20, Yaw = 0.15

Tiny Whoop Rates

Roll+Pitch:RC Rate 1.2, Super Rate 0.75, Expo 0
YAW:RC Rate 1.3, SuperRate 0.80 Expo 0
If using acro mode, enable crash_recovery, there are some settings (get crash_ in CLI) you might want to tune first to avoid false self-centering.

As your flying skill improves, and you become more comfortable performing aggressive manoeuvres, you could try to crank up your rates. And you will also probably want to use a bit more expo to maintain accurate fine control.

There is no right or wrong Expo and Rate values, as long as it suits you. For example, I have shaky fingers, so my expo might be a bit higher than others. :p

Consistency

Maintaining consistent rates across all your quads is crucial for developing muscle memory. This is especially true for yaw and roll, as consistent rates enable you to instinctively control these movements. When you switch rates, adapting to the different feel can take some time, depending on your experience as a pilot. Therefore, using consistent rates helps you transition between quads without any surprises.

Throttle Mid andThrottleExpo

Throttle Expo modifies the shape of the throttle curve, flattening it around the “Throttle Mid” point. This allows for a gentler throttle response and maximum stick resolution around this throttle level.

Throttle Mid adjusts the position in the throttle curve where Throttle Expo is applied. By default, it is set to 50% throttle (0.50), but if you plan to use Throttle Expo, Throttle Mid should be set to the throttle of cruising speed. This is where you will need the most throttle resolution, and Throttle Expo might make altitude control easier for you.

Throttle Mid will not have any effect if you set Throttle Expo to 0, as your throttle curve will remain a straight line regardless of the Throttle Mid setting.

Alternatively, you can set up a throttle curve in your transmitter for even more precise throttle control.

Edit History

2015 – Article created
2018 – Article updated
2021 – Added info about new feature in Betaflight: Actual Rate
2022 – Using Actual Rate as the standard, updated screenshots, updated Rate Tuning instructions,
Mar 2023 – Simplified URL, optimized title

beginnersbetaflightmulticopterquadcopter

FPV Drone Rates Explained: Betaflight & Actual Rates - Oscar Liang (2024)