After downloading a 3rd party airport I'd like to take a look around it and its adjacent scenery. Before, with P3D I would start at the new airport's location, then close the planes' cockpit view, and switch to Slew. Use F3 to gain a 100 feet or so AGL, then use the flight stick to move about and investigate anything of interest. Note that I'd programmed the flight stick's axis commands from P3D's Controls - slew mode page.

Can I set up MFS to do something similar? I've programmed the keyboard slew commands, but that's insufficient because (a) I haven't found a way to remove  the aircraft from the scene; and (b) the keypad moves the scene too far and too quickly left/right, forward/back, and without a means to change heading. So can the Drone Camera be used to accomplish the same purpose?

All I've been able to find in forums and on YouTube is advice to buy an x-box controller to manage the drone camera's motion, which I have no idea how to set up or use. Is there another way to accomplish what was so easy to do in FSX/P3D, without more hardware? (I'm using a Thrustmaster "Airbus" flight stick.)

5 minutes ago, Maury Pratt said:

So can the Drone Camera be used to accomplish the same purpose?

Yes but still slew into the general area because the one time I tried to move the drone camera really far away (several hundred feet at least) the sim said I damaged my landing gear and I had to restart the flight

You can do this using the keyboard the default keys are listed in the controls menu.

11 minutes ago, Maury Pratt said:

 

Can I set up MFS to do something similar?  

The official forum has a guide which may help you

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/how-to-using-the-drone-cam-tips-tricks/128165

 

20 minutes ago, Maury Pratt said:

All I've been able to find in forums and on YouTube is advice to buy an to buy an x-box controller to manage the drone camera's motion, which I have no idea how to set up or use. Is there another way to accomplish what was so easy to do in FSX/P3D, without more hardware? (I'm using a Thrustmaster "Airbus" flight stick.)

You don't need a controller, the drone cam works just fine with the keyboard. Go into your toolbar, in the views menu, select "showcase", then you're in the drone view. Move the view around with WASD to translate sideways, R&F to translate up and down, and the arrow keys on your num pad for rotation. If you want to move it faster, pull the slider for movement speed in the view menu to the right.

7 minutes ago, Der Zeitgeist said:

You don't need a controller, the drone cam works just fine with the keyboard. 

Thanks, that almost does it. But can the aircraft be removed from the scene?

8 minutes ago, Maury Pratt said:

Thanks, that almost does it. But can the aircraft be removed from the scene?

Not exactly. You just move the drone camera away from the aircraft, and can then see anything unobstructed.

2 hours ago, Der Zeitgeist said:

You just move the drone camera away from the aircraft

Thanks to all; works like a charm. Just takes some getting used to.