News -- drone racing
Quadcopter smashes speed record
Prototypes of this record-setting quadcopter burst into flames at peak acceleration, but the Drone Racing League team got the ship dialed in for a successful Guinness World Record run. The world's fastest quad averaged 163.5 mph in two passes through a 328-foot (100-meter) course, and thus became (by a wide margin) the fastest battery-powered, remote-controlled quadcopter ever flown, according to Guinness. The two-year-old racing league recently landed $20 million in fresh investment from sources including the owner of Formula 1, so this is likely not the last of the fast machines we'll see on the track.
AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association)
Drone racing finale to air on ESPN
The Drone Racing League 2017 season finale was flown June 13, but the results were under wraps until the final television dates on ESPN: July 25 at 10 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time for the last round of playoffs, and July 28 at 9 p.m. for the championship races. Producers have figured out ways to make the small machines show well on television, including liberal use of on-board cameras to give viewers the pilot's perspective on vertical hairpin turns and other hair-raising aeronautical feats.