True believers hope they’re at the start of what’ll be a global movement, but for now they gather in fields, beaches and even car parks for fun – which involves flying drones at night, seeing what the drone sees.
Illegal if it’s done in the wrong place, but even critics admit they can see how it’s fun.
Long after the shops have shut their doors for the day, a new breed of thrill seekers get down to business.
(ROTORS WHIRR) It’s amazingly good fun and really just limited to your imagination, what can you do.
Drone racing or quadcopter challenges use FPV – ‘first person view’ goggles – allowing the pilot to kick back and enjoy the ride.
It’s like being a little superhero.
You can move around in 3-D space and there’s basically no limits on what you can do.
It’s been likened to pod racers in Star Wars.
And while these self-confessed tech geeks might look a bit silly sitting in an empty car park with goggles on at night, they say they’ll have the last laugh.
I can see, probably in the next 12 months, a worldwide league.
FPV racing obviously looks like a terrific amount of fun and we’re not out here to stop people having fun but we do want them to fly safely so very importantly, don’t fly your racers anywhere near people.
Your standard recreational drone can reach speeds of up to 50km/h but these are the Formula 1 of drones – top speed of 150km/h.
I’m trying to see if I can get one that will do 200km/h.
The technology is growing so rapidly that it’ll be there before we know it.
The sky’s not the limit, rather – the car park roof.
Source: 7 News