The Drone Racing League (DRL), an international professional drone racing organization, tested is claiming they have designed and built the world’s fastest racing drone and have set the Guinness World Record title for the Fastest ground speed by a battery-powered remote-controlled quadcopter. The drone was hand-built by DRL’s Director of Product, Ryan Gury, and his team of drone engineers.
The fastest racing drone, the DRL RacerX, zooms at a top speed of 179.6 miles per hour. Weighing only 800 grams (1.76 pounds), the RacerX flies with its:
- 46,000 RPMs
- 10S (42V) Powertrain
- BeeRotor 80A (10S) ESCs / BLHeli with Multishot
- TMotor F80 2407 2500kv
- 1300mah 2 x 5S R-Line Tattu Lithium Polymer Batteries
“We’re thrilled to put our proprietary technology to the test, as we’re all about speed and pushing the limits of drone design here at DRL,” said Nicholas Horbaczewski, DRL CEO/Founder. “The record-setting RacerX represents the culmination of years of technological innovation by our team of world class engineers, and we’re very excited to unveil the fastest racing drone on earth.”
In order to set the GUINNESS WORLD RECORD achievement, the drone needed to fly back and forth across a measurement course of 100 m (328 ft.), with the official record set as the average of the top speed achieved on each of those flights. Therefore, the official speed measured for the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title is 163.5 miles per hour.
Gury flew the drone along a field in the state of New York and clocked in at the record speed while a GUINNESS WORLD RECORD adjudicator was on-site to verify the attempt. Earlier, prototypes of the drone burst into flames when hitting its highest point of acceleration due to the amount of power applied.
For more speed, fans can tune into the 2017 DRL Allianz World Championship finale on ESPN on July 28, 2017 at 9pm EST — as elite pilots compete with DRL custom designed and hand built pro racing drones through insane three dimensional racecourses in iconic venues across the world. Here is the DRL’s 2017 season teaser
Frank Schroth is editor in chief of DroneLife, the authoritative source for news and analysis on the drone industry: it’s people, products, trends, and events.
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