News

The 2018 China Drone Racing Open kicked-off in style today with an opening ceremony that welcomed drone pilots from Asia and beyond to the city of Shenzhen in China, the heart of the drone world.

Seventy-one pilots converged on the 30,000-capacity Universiade Shenzhen stadium in Shenzhen, close to Hong Kong, to start racing in the Qualification rounds of the three-day competition. 

FAI Drone Racing World Cup 2017 winner Dario Neuenschwander (SUI) was among the Aeromodelling pilots honoured at the 2017 World Cup Award Ceremony in Lausanne, Switzerland today.

Part of the Plenary Meeting of the FAI Aeromodelling Commission (CIAM), the ceremony included the prize giving for the aeromodelling and drone racing World Cup winners and medallists from 2017.

The winners were presented with a trophy, and the three best-placed competitors in each event were also given FAI World Cup medals and diplomas.

Noosphere, an organisation focused on scientific research and information provision, has been the FAI’s Global Technical Partner since early 2017.

For the FAI, this partnership has allowed access to the highly efficient event management system eNavigator, which was used with great success at a number of competitions in 2017 – including The World Games.

Here, Noosphere co-founder Max Polyakov explains why his company’s cutting-edge technology is such a perfect fit with the air sports world.

Thomas Grout, 16, came third in last year’s FAI Drone Racing World Cup: a fantastic achievement for such a young pilot. The talented young racer only started flying drones about two years ago after discovering FPV (first person view) racing online.

With FPV racing, pilots use headsets that are linked to cameras in the drones, giving the impression they are inside the drone, piloting it from there.

Swiss drone racing pilot Dario Neuenschwander beat off fierce competition from more than 400 rivals to win the FAI Drone Racing World Cup 2017 with an overall score of 142 points. But while reaching the top level in most air sports takes years, if not decades, of dedication, Neuenschwander scored his historic victory after drone racing for just two short years.

How did he do it? Let’s find out…

Hi Dario, tell us a bit more about yourself.