The thrill of extreme drone racing

Have you ever wondered what it might feel like to be a bird, flitting through trees at top speed?

The new sport of drone racing provides exactly that thrill, as racers don goggles to put them in the pilots’s seat and zoom through the air at breakneck speed.

“You may want to sit down for this,” said Ballito’s Stephen Gore as he took the Courier on a fly-along.

And unless you want to end up on your bum, sit down you must as once the goggles are on you are dodging trees, pulling up mere centimetres from the ground and doing barrel rolls and loops.

Gore said he started racing drones about three years ago.

In drone races, the pilots fly their tiny 2-5 inch machines through obstacle courses with a live camera feed beaming straight to the goggles.

Currently there’s a huge surge in the sport, and South Africa is still playing catch-up.

“I race on a national level against other provinces and it’s really something you need to experience first hand in order to see how addictive it is.

“We build all our own drones specifically for racing or freestyle and build custom race tracks all over the country to compete against one another.”

He said the excitement of the sport was contagious.

“The drones literally put you in the pilot’s seat, and it feels like you are flying a fighter jet.

“Another cool aspect is the fact that any pilot with another set of goggles is able to tune into your frequency and watch your flight along with you.”

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Gore and fellow racer Wayne Meyer are currently the only two drone racers in Ballito. They often practice in Zen Park when nobody is around to crash into – not that one would easily spot the tiny, high-speed drones zipping between the branches.

“Mid-air collisions are something to worry about and they happen quite a lot. Luckily these small racing drones are pretty tough.”

Gore said they get together on the last Sunday of every month to race in Hillcrest.

So if you are a speed freak and have always longed for the freedom of flight, make sure to join them for a taste of the action.

If you are keen to learn more about this exciting new sport, send an email to Stephen at fstopplaya@gmail.com or visit : https://waynemeyer.org/how-to-build-a-racing-drone-quad-qav-210/.

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