How to Enter a Drone FPV Race

[Drone News]

FPV racing is taking off in the United States and across the world.

Thanks to social media and videos like these, more and more people are getting exposed to the sport and learning how to get started.

I get a lot of questions about FPV racing, including which FPV systems to buy and how to build your own DIY racing drone.

But one of the most popular questions I get is about how to enter a first person view drone race.

This article is going to show you how to join professional and recreational FPV races across the world and in your local area.

Let’s get started!

FPVRacing.tv’s Events Map

FPVRacing.tv is a community centered around FPV drone racing. It was started in 2015 by a team of racing enthusiasts in Australia, and they offer a ton of resources for aspiring racing pilots.

Their events map gives you an interactive look at races happening around the world:

Clicking those symbols will take you to each race’s event page.

Above the map, you will see upcoming events (the ones shown on the map), with links to each race’s event page as well. Below the map, you can check out past events to see where most of the recent races are being held.

At the time of this writing, most races are being held in the United States. But there are also races happening in Germany, France, Denmark, Japan, the United Kingdom, and many more countries.

See if there is an event in your area (or one you can get to) then check out the event’s page and look for an area to register.

FPVRacingEvents.com

FPVRacingEvents.com is exactly as it says — they showcase drone racing events from around the world.

Their listing can differ from FPVRacing.tv’s, so it’s good to check both. And FPVRacingEvents.com also provides an excellent list of rules and guidelines that all racers should get familiar with and cool racing event videos to watch,

Check out their events page here.

The Drone Racing League

To find more professional races, check out the Drone Racing League (DRL).

They are one of the biggest evangelists of the sport and one of the top organizations commercializing it and attempting to make drone racing legitimate.

To get started, you need to sign up with them in order to apply to become a pilot.

Once signed up, head over to their events page and find the next upcoming event.

Then click Subscribe and enter your email. They will notify you when signups for that race begin.

In the meantime, I suggest checking out these pages:

• Their current standings
• The Basics of the Drone Racing League
• Their videos

The U.S. Drone Racing Association Calendar

The U.S. Drone Racing Association (USDRA) is working on bringing drone racing to the mainstream.

Their goals are to:

• Promote the sport of FPV Drone racing.
• Provide guidelines for safety and best behaviour.
• Act as a resource for the public on the terminology and ideas behind drone racing.
• Be a service to the drone racing community by promoting races, meetups, and other activities.
• Work with the drone community to develop guidelines for races, meets, and fair competition.

Although their calendar isn’t strictly for drone races (you will find events like Interdrone there) they do list racing events as well.

Between this, FPVRacing.tv’s list, FPVRacingEvents.com, and the Drone Racing League, you should be set on finding professional races to join.

However, if you want to join a recreational or lower-level professional one, try the next few tactics:

Google

One of the fastest and easiest ways to see if there are recreational or professional racing events in your area is to Google it.

Try these search strings:

“Your area + drone racing event”

“Your area + drone racing league”

“Your area + recreational drone race”

“Your area + professional drone race”

If you can’t find any races in Google, try the next one.

Meetup Groups

Many local sUAS groups have formed through Meetup groups. But you can also narrow down your search to either find drone racing groups or groups that put on races every once in a while.

For example, here’s a dedicated drone FPV racing group in Long Beach, CA with 360 members.

If you find a group, simply create an account, click “Join us!”, and find out when the next meetup is scheduled.

Subreddits and Forums

You can also try finding races in subreddits and forums.

Here are a few subreddits to check out:

• Drone Racing
• FPV Drone Racing
• Ultimate Drone Racing
• Drones

And a few forums:

• DroneFlyers
• Phantom Pilots
• Quadcopter Forum

Scan each thread and look for people talking about meeting up to hold a race.

Start Your Own Races

If all else fails, be a pioneer in your area! Start and organize your own drone races.

Not only will you get to race and network with other pilots, but leading a group can be a very fulfilling experience.

To start your own races, you can do one of these things or all three:

1. Start a drone racing Meetup group.
2. Post in subreddits and forums asking if people in your area would like to organize one.
3. Launch a website for your group or recreational league and promote it to reach more pilots.

Drone racing is still in its infancy. If you get started now, you can become one of the sport’s trail blazers.

Ready. Set. Race on!

The post How to Enter a Drone FPV Race appeared first on UAV Coach.

View the full article