What a difference a year makes. At last year’s Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, the drone display was imprisoned in a large hangar and the demos were contained inside a netted area. This year in Sebring, for the first time, the show, in conjunction with a drone racing league, is conducting open air racing of drones, with spectators protected in a netted area.
Todd Wahl of FPVlive.com and MultiGP, a drone racing league, told AVweb on Friday that the event at Sebring is a full-up sanctioned event and part of a nationwide racing network. He said it’s the first time drone racing has been conducted on an airport without having the machines caged in a netted area. “Most of these have been contained in a netting situation mainly because of the fear factor … worried about one flying away or a pilot going rogue,” Wahl told us in this AVweb video shot at the show on Friday.
Wahl said in addition to be a sanctioned race, the drone event was meant to promote the sport and bridge the gap between the drone industry and a skeptical public, especially pilots. Last, drone racing and the associated technology is intended to be a STEM platform to attract young people interested in aerospace.
