Bind-and-fly (BNF) – Drones that come completely assembled, but without a controller.Ģ. Ready-to-fly (RTF) – Drones made for FPV racing that requires no additional assembly.Ģ. Racing drones typically come in one of three setups:ġ. Racing drones are very different from consumer camera drones use for photography and video, like the Mavic 2 Pro or Skydio 2.

Drone racing pilots from all around the world compete on the Multiplay eSports simulator.

Drone Racing World eSports – These online drone racing events are the convergence of two major trends in the public arena today, the first being drones and the second being eSports.

British Drone Racing Association – This group is a “Specialist Body” of the British Model Flying Association and provides racing opportunities via club programs and the British Drone Racing Championships.

MultiGP Drone Racing League – With chapters all over the world and events and classes for all types of FPV racers, MultiGP is leading the way in FPV racing and event management.

Pilots with the highest number of points qualify for the World Championship. The DRL season involves different races in which pilots accumulate points.

The Drone Racing League – The DRL is a global, professional drone racing circuit for elite pilots.

Here are the different leagues and championships available: Attending events as a spectator can help you learn more about the sport and may give you an opportunity to network with or seek mentorship from an experienced racing pilot. Look for local racing events in your area and join a drone racing league. You should also plug into the drone racing community. If you’re interested in becoming a professional drone racing pilot, you need to practice, practice, practice! An excellent way to develop your flight skills is to practice on a simulator, like the DRL Simulator or the DJI Flight Simulator. Many drone racing pilots also enjoy setting up their own courses, using DIY racecourse kits. Professional tracks set up for sanctioned races can get extremely complex, requiring pilots to make acrobatic maneuvers to get around/through each obstacle. Race tracks are set up to challenge each pilot’s skill set. These quadcopters can fly up to 120 miles per hour (or faster) through hoops, around trees, over bars, and just about any object. Pilots compete to make it to the top of the international rankings and to win prize money up to tens of thousands of dollars.

Drone Racing Association, and events like the World Drone Racing Championships. Drone Racing as a Competitive Sport and Exciting HobbyįPV racing is growing rapidly as a competitive sport, and it’s become commercialized by organizations like the Drone Racing League, U.S. Thanks to FPV quadcopters, hexacopters, and other multirotors, anyone with enough flying skill to maneuver a drone can have this experience. This guide gives pilots a crash course on drone racing, including the top five ready-to-fly racing drones, what FPV drone racing is, how it works, and a glossary of important drone racing terms.įlying an FPV (first person view) racing drone is an otherworldly experience.īefore now, only in movies and video games could most people experience a bird’s-eye view while racing through obstacles at breakneck speeds. Need to get your FAA commercial drone certificate? Start studying over here. Never flown before? Learn to fly for free over here. 14th International Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior (eds Tuci, E., Giagkos, A., Wilson, M.

Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction (MIT Press, 2018). Quadrotor Dynamics and Control (Brigham Young Univ., 2008).