What is drone racing? It’s a new sport or call it a hobby where people ( pilots in this case ) are striving to build super fast and agile drone to win the race. Almost any drone you see racing today has first person view. Some people are using goggles while other are looking through monitors to have their experience more immersive. This type of racing and flying originated from RC planes but in the last few years drones are becoming much stable and easier to fly than those RC planes. I think that drone racing is still in its early stage but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to become big in few years ahead. People that are making drones now will transform themselves into real pioneers of this sport. Like any event of racing, the vehicle is only good as the driver itself who’s doing the driving. There are 3 things that determine if drone is good and going into the elite rank. Those are controller, durability and of course most important one speed.
Biggest question when it comes to drones is, to build one or just simply buy completed? It’s really up to individual. If you like building something you will choose first option, but second is also good. The benefit when you build your own is that if you crash it by accident you can know how ti fix it, and after all it’s fun to do it. Be aware that your balance in the bank will suffer one way or another. Racing drone could cost you anywhere from $100 to $1000 dollars, it depends on many factors such as what type of parts are inside. This is of course without adding extra money for a pair of googles which in case you want one will take another $300 or $400 dollars from your pocket. Also, it’s good to mention that you will need to replace parts sometimes or even on a regular basis. This is not a cheap sport or hobby so the good idea would be to sell your kidney. 🙂 All jokes aside there are many competitions that offer high money for winning first place. This year Drone Racing League said that they have $8 million dollars for organizing a series of drone racing events.
Not everyone flies the drones because of the racing. Some do it so they can explore the world from different perspectives. But it’s also about the overall experience as you get to see what’s the feeling when you took big risks and eventually succeed. There are various types of races, as variety is the spice of life. Drag race is race happening between 2 or sometimes more drones, racing through the short distance, basically 100 meters. This serves more as a test of drones top speed and best acceleration. There is also rotor-cross race. It features 2 or more drones racing through courses, and by the end of race are ranked by order of who crossed the line of finish. And then there’s a third race which is time trial. This is where drone’s speed is tested to its limits as it flies through course and finish time is being recorded.
Safety in this type of sport is very, very important. So keep in your mind some of these safety tips. First and most important, don’t have races in public places where there are lots of people around. Never fly above or near animals and people. As the drone falls down it could hurt someone like you threw a brick on their head. Never fly a drone if you are drunk or intoxicated. If you are thinking about your first drone purchase, I hope that infographic above will help you, also I’d like to note if you decide to take your flying skills to the next level it’s worth checking out the GoPro cameras for drones. Have fun!
