Why Drone Racing Won't Be The Next Big Thing

There is much talk these days about drone racing. This week ESPN will even start airing several Drone Racing League (DRL) events. For those who aren't familiar with the sport, pilots wearing video goggles fly small quadcopter drones around a gated obstacle course for time. The HD video image from the drones camera can be displayed so spectators can ride along. Many people find this image nauseating due to a vertigo type sensation. Some of the larger events have been able to offer large sums of money to the winning pilots. Advocates of the sport profess that it is "the next big thing" because it appeals to the video game generation. But is that really the case and will it be something the average sports viewer will find engaging. We don't think so and here is why:

The world's most popular sports all involve human athleticism, such as soccer, football, basketball and baseball. Variations in this theme include all forms of vehicle racing, with one of the latest being Red Bull Air Racing. Inherent in all racing is the excitement and anticipation that a horrific crash is always lurking around the next turn from even the smallest mistake. The greater the human risk, the greater the thrill in watching. Humans can't take their eyes off train-wreck scale carnage - it's written into our DNA. Drone racing offers none of this form of viewer excitement. A small drone racing crash is viewed with far less agape than dropping your smartphone on the floor.

As a radio controlled aircraft event organizer for many decades, I have some experiences that support my contention that drone racing's 15 minutes of fame has only about 12 minutes left. My wife Leisa and several of our RC buddies started an event over a decade ago called the Extreme Flight Championships (XFC). It was our groundbreaking attempt to make flying unmanned aircraft more appealing to mainstream sports viewers. In many areas it had much more going for it than drone racing. The world's top giant scale RC aerobatic airplane and 3D helicopter pilots flew radical aerobatic routines, often inches from the ground, all choreographed to music. A panel of judges scored each round much like figure skating or gymnastics. In many cases the cost of these aircraft were 10's of thousands of dollars. The flying skills of the pilots was an order of magnitude more demanding than drone racing. We handed out huge cash prizes to winners. Routines were even flown at night with amazing remotely controlled LED lighting systems and on-board and ground fireworks displays. This sport had something for everyone, yet it only achieved a very modest mainstream following, despite all our best efforts and support from the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA). Today, after more than a decade, the XFC is finding it increasingly difficult to keep going.

Drone racing on the other hand is a one dimensional, one trick pony. The drones don't even race each other at the same time, which is key in the most popular forms of racing. But I will confess that it does have at least a couple of significant things in it's favor that may ultimately have value, should it morph or evolve into something greater that it currently is. The most significant being a very low cost to entry. Just about anyone can afford to buy a racing quad which will certainly help more young people get on board. Secondly, and perhaps even more important, is, today's younger generation seems content to do something that older folks can't even begin to understand - they are perfectly content to sit for hours in front of a video screen watching someone else play a video game. If these young people find this a viable form of entertainment, perhaps drone racing does actually have a future and I don't have a clue.

Only time will tell and I am sure many will tune in to check out drone racing. But I predict that for the majority of us, it will garner nothing more than a big wide yawn, followed by a channel hop to one of the many other time-tested sports or entertainment options available.







  

The Naked Truth Behind The FAA "Part 107" License

With the recent arrival of the FAA's new Part 107 Small Unmanned Aircraft regulations late last month, it has become quite common to see drone operators proudly announcing that they are one of the first to pass the knowledge exam and will soon be open for business. (The applicant must pass a TSA background check before actually being granted the license). But what does this really mean to the average individual or business person?

To be honest it's very similar to someone saying they passed the knowledge test for a chauffeur's license, but not an actual driving test. Yes that's correct. There is NO practical exam associated with Part 107. When I obtained my Private Pilots License, I had to pass a knowledge test, an oral exam and a check ride with an FAA examiner. On top of all that, my instructor had to sign off my log book to indicate I was actually qualified and ready to even go on that check ride.

So what passing the 107 knowledge test really means is some test questions were memorized and a passing score on the 107 exam was obtained - and nothing more. This is in no way intended to downplay the importance of compliance with the new FAA commercial drone regulations. This step is vitally important to educate potential commercial drone operators on the safety aspects of flying drones in the national airspace. Many of these new drone pilots have been violating FAA safety policies they never knew existed until studying for this exam.

Even more important for the FAA is by passing the exam, commercial drone operators will no longer be able to plead ignorance when they are caught being careless or reckless. This also greatly simplifies FAA enforcement efforts when it comes to levying fines and revoking operators licenses, as they can now actually cite specific regulations violated.

So going back to our example of the aspiring limo driver who just passed the chauffeur's exam, what you would NOT know about this person is -

- How much actual driving experience they had?
- How many accidents they have had?
- Do they possess good decision making skills?
- Do they have drug or alcohol dependence?
- What kind of maintenance history does their limo have?
- Is their limo the best one for the job?
- Do they have any references or insurance?
- Have they ever driven for anyone important?

Obviously all of these same questions and many more should be asked before hiring anyone to perform drone services for you or your company. Check out the operators previous work and website. How many flight hours do they have? What kind of insurance do they carry? Only the most experienced operators are able to obtain policy limits of $5M to $10M or more. Do they have a Worker's Comp policy?

The most experienced professionals in the drone service industry started down the path to excellence many, many years ago - long before the potential of using drones commercially was even on the FAA's radar screens. These professionals obtained full size pilot's licenses and developed very comprehensive operating manuals for things like closed-set motion picture/television filming and inspections of industrial facilities.

As I have mentioned previously, a large portion of the work that our company gets is the direct result of another less experienced company not performing as expected and/or having an accident. Because drones have become easier and easier to operate, many people think that little actual flying skill is required to use them for work. It then comes as a rude awakening when they discover that flying indoors, around electrical equipment, power lines, inside boilers and near buildings can require the pilot to quickly and unexpectedly assume full manual control to avoid an accident. But this is the kind of information you need, before you actually need it - otherwise commonly known as "experience".