This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/04/drone-racing-takes-off-at-birmingham-show-but-only-with-men
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Drone racing takes off at Birmingham show – but only with men | Drone racing takes off at Birmingham show – but only with men |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Top Gun pitted Maverick and Goose against the Iceman and Viper. At the UK Drones Show Championships at Birmingham NEC on Sunday, it was Saggy Nun and Collision who competed to be crowned the nation’s fastest pilot of an unmanned flying vehicle. | Top Gun pitted Maverick and Goose against the Iceman and Viper. At the UK Drones Show Championships at Birmingham NEC on Sunday, it was Saggy Nun and Collision who competed to be crowned the nation’s fastest pilot of an unmanned flying vehicle. |
| It was Collision, aka 22-year-old graduate trainee Brett Collis, who took the £1,000 prize in this new event in which pale young men sporting special goggles synched with flying cameras navigated an illuminated 3D obstacle course in the dark. | It was Collision, aka 22-year-old graduate trainee Brett Collis, who took the £1,000 prize in this new event in which pale young men sporting special goggles synched with flying cameras navigated an illuminated 3D obstacle course in the dark. |
| FPV (first person view) drone racing is rapidly becoming a lucrative business: Sky Sports recently decided to show a US race series on its Mix channel and in March a 15-year-old British boy called Luke Bannister won $250,000 (£173,900) when he triumphed at the World Drone Prix in Dubai. | |
| Wearing his call sign on the back of his T-shirt, Collis explained how he graduated to drone racing from video games. “It’s like a real-life computer game, with the extra dramatic dimension that if you crash you can’t just reboot,” he said, as a smattering of drone groupies pressed up against the barriers to eavesdrop on their hero. Poor old Saggy Nun, aka Oliver Peters, who occasionally competes in a wimple, barely got off the start line before hitting a barrier and wiping out. | Wearing his call sign on the back of his T-shirt, Collis explained how he graduated to drone racing from video games. “It’s like a real-life computer game, with the extra dramatic dimension that if you crash you can’t just reboot,” he said, as a smattering of drone groupies pressed up against the barriers to eavesdrop on their hero. Poor old Saggy Nun, aka Oliver Peters, who occasionally competes in a wimple, barely got off the start line before hitting a barrier and wiping out. |
| With even the cheapest Chinese drone costing £150, crashing can be an expensive mistake – not to mention a dangerous one. In November pilots reported four near misses in a month between drones and passenger aircraft, including one flying near the Shard in London and another at Liverpool airport. | With even the cheapest Chinese drone costing £150, crashing can be an expensive mistake – not to mention a dangerous one. In November pilots reported four near misses in a month between drones and passenger aircraft, including one flying near the Shard in London and another at Liverpool airport. |
| Self-described serial entrepreneur Alan Proto (“a ghastly title, I know”) was one of a fast-growing number of drone flying academies vying for business at the trade show, now in its second year. He set up Phantom Flight School in Chester two years ago after a career that began with a degree in economics from Cambridge and cycled through accountancy, construction, nurseries and skiing holidays. “I bought my first drone at the start of 2015. I took it home, got it out of the box and thought, fantastic! Then, oh my God, I could kill somebody with this,” he recalled. | Self-described serial entrepreneur Alan Proto (“a ghastly title, I know”) was one of a fast-growing number of drone flying academies vying for business at the trade show, now in its second year. He set up Phantom Flight School in Chester two years ago after a career that began with a degree in economics from Cambridge and cycled through accountancy, construction, nurseries and skiing holidays. “I bought my first drone at the start of 2015. I took it home, got it out of the box and thought, fantastic! Then, oh my God, I could kill somebody with this,” he recalled. |
| Since 2002 the CIA has been using Predator drones to kill insurgents in Afghanistan, but Proto wanted to fly in peace. Unable to find an instructor, he taught himself and now employs five pilots who have now taught for a combined 2,000 hours at £120 an hour. This year Phantom branched out into drone flying holidays in Spain. “It just struck me that flying drones can be quite a lonely pursuit. Standing in a field in England on your own is not as fun as standing in a field in Spain with five soon-to-be mates,” he said. | Since 2002 the CIA has been using Predator drones to kill insurgents in Afghanistan, but Proto wanted to fly in peace. Unable to find an instructor, he taught himself and now employs five pilots who have now taught for a combined 2,000 hours at £120 an hour. This year Phantom branched out into drone flying holidays in Spain. “It just struck me that flying drones can be quite a lonely pursuit. Standing in a field in England on your own is not as fun as standing in a field in Spain with five soon-to-be mates,” he said. |
| Prolo’s customers – like 90% of visitors to the NEC on Sunday – are overwhelmingly male. “I wish I knew why,” he mused, “because the few lady pilots I have trained have been very good and my five-year-old daughter is one of the best pilots I know.” | Prolo’s customers – like 90% of visitors to the NEC on Sunday – are overwhelmingly male. “I wish I knew why,” he mused, “because the few lady pilots I have trained have been very good and my five-year-old daughter is one of the best pilots I know.” |
| Carys Kaiser, who runs a blog called The Drone Lass, is one of the few female commercial drone pilots in the UK. Looking up at the all-male competitor list for the flying championships, she bemoaned the lack of women involved with the fast-evolving technology. “Why is it so blokey? Mainly because woman feel that it’s not a career for them. You need to be a little bit technical and there’s a shortage of women in Stem [science, technology, engineering and maths],” she said. | Carys Kaiser, who runs a blog called The Drone Lass, is one of the few female commercial drone pilots in the UK. Looking up at the all-male competitor list for the flying championships, she bemoaned the lack of women involved with the fast-evolving technology. “Why is it so blokey? Mainly because woman feel that it’s not a career for them. You need to be a little bit technical and there’s a shortage of women in Stem [science, technology, engineering and maths],” she said. |
| One of the most popular exhibits at the show was a synchronised flying display by eight dancing drones, fresh from an appearance on Britain’s Got Talent and its French equivalent. The Parrot Bebop 2 (£599 including FPV goggles) is really designed as a flying camera for ambitious wedding or wildlife photographers but can be programmed with software to perform tricks in time to music. On another stall, the Drone Zone advertised itself as a “safe place to fly your FPV” on a purpose-built track in Popham, Hampshire. | One of the most popular exhibits at the show was a synchronised flying display by eight dancing drones, fresh from an appearance on Britain’s Got Talent and its French equivalent. The Parrot Bebop 2 (£599 including FPV goggles) is really designed as a flying camera for ambitious wedding or wildlife photographers but can be programmed with software to perform tricks in time to music. On another stall, the Drone Zone advertised itself as a “safe place to fly your FPV” on a purpose-built track in Popham, Hampshire. |
| Top Gun it’s not. But to the ever-swelling number of drone pilots in the UK, it’s the place to be. | Top Gun it’s not. But to the ever-swelling number of drone pilots in the UK, it’s the place to be. |