The National Museum of the United States Air Force hosted the fourth annual mini drone race this weekend. Visitors to the museum got to see pilots fly their mini drones through a few of the museum’s aircraft.
Sixty-four mini drone pilots raced their vehicles through one of the museum’s hangars. Half of the pilots competed on Friday and the other half on Saturday. The top 32 clashed on Sunday for a prize.
Each year, the drones fly in the museum's second hangar with the racetrack being centered around the C-124, a giant cargo aircraft nicknamed “Old Shaky.”
“This year we’ve actually decided we’re going to be going in and out of it three different times in a pretzel style of a track. It’s a really unique design,” Kele Stanley, the race organizer, said.
The mini drones flew through octagon-shaped goal posts which were lit up. The goals were placed in and around Old Shaky and aircraft around the giant plane.
Races were broken up into groups of 16, with races happening throughout both days. Visitors to the museum this weekend were able to watch the races happen with their own eyes and from the drone’s “eyes.”
Each of the mini drones, which can fit in the palm of your hand, were equipped with small cameras. The video from these cameras were projected onto a giant screen for all to see.
The drones can reach speeds of up to 40 to 45 miles per hour. It can be dizzying watching from their point of view as they duck and weave around the aircraft.
It can be even more disorienting for the pilots, who fly their vehicles while wearing a headset allowing them to see what the drones see.
“A lot of people will wind up dizzy at first,” Stanley admitted with a laugh.
Pilots had to purchase a ticket, and they came from all around to do so.
“This year, we sold out in 20 minutes, [which was] a little bit slower than last year,” Stanley said.
