Drone racing an unusual contest of skill, speed and dexterity

A fierce sporting competition occurred at Adelaide’s Woodville Hockey Club on Sunday – but there wasn’t a hockey stick in sight.

Instead, one of the country’s oddest and most technically demanding sports was played out: drone racing.

Those passing by the fortnightly battle would have seen a crew of 10 players – ranging from teenage military cadets* to middle-aged nurses – bashing on remote controls to fly their drones through a course of gates faster than their opponents.

The pilots, including 50-year-old Adelaide FPV Racing president David Hoyle, wore “zero delay” video goggles that gave them a first-person* view from the would-be cockpits of the drones.

Mr Hoyle, who studied electrical engineering at university, said he enjoyed the sport because it suited his skills in electronics, IT, soldering, drone piloting and videography.

“It’s fun,” he said.

“It’s probably about 10 times more fun than what you would think until you’ve actually done it.”

He insisted the activity was a sport.

“If you consider motorbike racing and car racing a sport, I guess you’d have to include ours as a sport as well, wouldn’t you?” Mr Hoyle said.

Adelaide’s fastest drone racer, 15-year-old Angus “McQueen” Porter, was one of three Australian Defence Force cadets honing their skills at the races on Sunday.

Mr Porter said that, like most pilots, he builds and programs his drones from scratch.

But where he stands apart from others is the incredible speed at which he pilots the objects.

“It’s just a really good community, and also it’s super fun to fly them around,” Angus said.

“Especially when you’re going really quick. It’s a really unreal experience. You can’t really find much else like it.”

The Year 11 student is training to qualify for the 2025 Military International Drone Racing Tournament held in America.

“That’s my big goal at the minute,” he said.

“I’ve been practising a lot for that.”

Registered nurse Sue Guscott, 50, attended on Sunday with her Maltese poodle Holly and brother David Guscott.

She said she began flying two years ago because of an interest in drone photography, after her brother’s travel footage of silo* artworks sparked her interest.

“Racing is good (for drone photographers); it gives you accuracy and keeps you tight,” Ms Guscott said.

She said work colleagues were surprised to discover her hobby.

“We had a stand-around*: ‘Tell us something nobody knows about you’,” she said.

“So, I said, ‘I am a drone pilot and the only female pilot in South Australia’. And they’re like, ‘Oh, what?’ It’s a bit niche*.”

In the time trial results on Sunday, Ms Guscott placed ahead of her brother, who has been racing since 2016.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• cadets: trainees in the defence force
• first-person: seeing through the eyes of a character, in this case, as if you were actually the pilot inside the drone
• silo: murals painted on silos, tall storage containers commonly used to store grains on farms
• stand-around: standing around not doing very much
• niche: a specialised field, something that is unique
• time trial: a race against the watch, where contestants with the fastest time for a set course win

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QUICK QUIZ
1. Who is Adelaide’s fastest drone racer?
2. In what way is racing good for drone photographers?
3. What do zero delay video goggles enable the pilots to see?
4. How many contestants took part in the drone races?
5. Who is the only female drone pilot in South Australia?

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Drone racing
This new niche sport requires a lot of skill and expertise to participate in.

What skills do you need to develop if you’d like to participate in drone racing competitions and tournaments?
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Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Digital Technologies, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Would you classify drone racing as a sport, similar to car and motorbike racing?

State your reasons as to why it should or shouldn’t be classified as a sport.

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
I spy nouns
Nouns are places, names (of people and objects), and time (months or days of the week).

How many nouns can you find in the article?

Can you sort them into places, names and time?

Pick three nouns and add an adjective (describing word) to the nouns.