Drone Races Wow Hyderabadis

Hyderabad:Drones raced at a speed of 180 kmph on Friday during the Telangana Drone Festival, the first public event of its kind in the state. The event, which brought together drone pilots and technology fans, fascinated the families gathered at the GMC Balayogi Athletics Stadium in Gachibowli.

Organizers said this constitutes a new and innovative part of the state’s Sankranti celebrations. People from all over India participated in the competitions and events.

Rudraksha Reddy, CBO of Whoopmasters India, said, “The government has aimed to bring new technology and entertainment to the Sankranti festival season. This is the first time we are seeing such a large-scale drone competition in Telangana.”

“We are organizing a drone race and a drone football competition. Drone racing is similar to Formula 1 racing, where teams participate in races around a track. We have added obstacles that they must overcome and be the fastest out of everyone to win.”

He said that first-person perspective (FPV) drones were used in this race and the drones reached speeds of 170-180 km/h around the track.

The drone football competition, which is similar to a normal football match but with drones, was held in which teams flew drones in the air while trying to score a goal using a football drone.

There was also a remote-controlled aircraft air show, featuring small and lightweight remote-controlled aircraft making loops and turns in the sky above the stadium. “These are very light aircraft and are mostly made of foam. We have movable rudders, aileron flaps and elevators in these aircraft, which allows us to maneuver the flight in different ways,” said pilot Rakesh.

“We did not expect to see such a huge crowd. We have sold out all the tickets for today’s event and are almost full of bookings for Saturday’s event as well. During Saturday’s drone show, we will showcase the history and heritage of Telangana as well as monuments using drones,” added Rudraksha Reddy.

The qualifiers and semi-qualifiers of the drone football competition and race were held on Friday. On Saturday, the last day of the event, both the finals of the competitions, the drone marathon race and more than 300 drone demonstrations will be held, with tourism minister Jupally Krishna Rao and other officials participating in the event.