FPV drone racing at Midvaal
“It's like sitting inside the cockpit of a Star Wars racer! An out-of-body experience!” This is how Charl Swanepoel, an FPV drone pilot describes the exhilaration of FPV drone racing.
HENLEY-ON-KLIP. – FPV is an abbreviation for “first-person view”. Swanepoel explains: “FPV racing is where you as a drone pilot is in control of the drone, but you are obviously sitting down. What you see in the goggles that you put on your face is what the drone sees.”
“The remote in front of you is what controls the drone that you are flying. So, it is the experience of sitting in the drone,” explains Swanepoel.
Swanepoel spoke to Vaalweekblad at the recent Combined National Championship of the South African Model Aircraft Association (SAMAA), which took place at the Henley Aeromodelers Flying Field in Midvaal from 24 April to April 28.
In this discipline drone pilots race around a track with obstacles in the fastest possible time.
As Yvette Steyn-Churchman, chairman of the sport’s governing body (Fly FPV South Africa) explains, “The course is made out of various obstacles. Some are what we call ‘gates’, which you have to fly through, while others are called ‘barricades’, which you have to fly over.”
FPV drone pilots told Vaalweekblad that these tiny unmanned aircraft can reach speeds well in excess of 100 km per hour.
Timothy Ferreira, an FPV pilot who is a cinematic drone pilot by occupation, says flying drones is addictive. “I am a drone addict! Once you get into FPV you can’t stop! I used to race downhill skateboards, going down a mountain in excess of 100km per hour. You get the same exhilaration from sitting in a chair flying my drone.”
A lot of the pilots told Vaalweekblad that they build the drones themselves. Each pilot usually brings several drones to a competition in the event of a crash.
