Game of Drones—Getting Started in the Amazing Sport of Drone Racing
They fill the air with the hiss of cicadas on steroids and navigate obstacles at speeds as high as 80 miles per hour. Drone racing is a fast, fun, and competitive new sport. If this recreational phenomenon has not been on your radar, it will likely be in the near future. Racing quadcopters packs the thrill of a white-knuckle challenge minus the danger of life-threatening injuries. The Buzz About Drones Multirotor drones, or quadcopters, are the more agile, stable, and easier to fly offspring of radio-controlled aircraft. Starting in about 2013, technology advanced to allow drones to be built smaller and more maneuverable. The first-person view puts you in the cockpit by pairing a video camera and transmitter mounted on the aircraft with a receiver and goggles for the pilot. If the camera drone is the tortoise, the racing drone is the hare. Camera drones are made to fly low and slow, allowing them to take photographs and videos of scenes that were prev...