First international outdoor drone racing qualifier held in Alberta

Alberta hosts first drone racing event Drone pilots tested their skills in Alberta's first-ever drone racing qualifying event on Aug. 4. Adel Ahmed explains.

Alberta's first outdoor drive racing event was held on Sunday.

Twelve pilots from Strathcona County raced south of Cooking Lake, Alta., at the Ministik School Grounds to earn a spot for the upcoming championships being held in Florida.

The competition was hosted by MultiGP, an international drone racing league.

Drones at the MultiGp Global Qualifier can fly more than 150 km/h and require steady hand-eye coordination by the pilots to fly through multiple hoops.

Cody Hollis-Perdue, the race director for the event, said the size of the aircraft doesn't lessen the thrill of a race.

"It's kind of like flying a fighter jet that can go in dimensions that shouldn't be possible," said Hollis-Perdue. "Everything comes at you super fast. You can move in any direction and it's just so much fun."

Racers are equipped with a controller and a special set of goggles to get a first-person view of the drone while racing.

Multiple drones race at the same time.

Each pilot submits their fastest three consecutive laps to see how they performed against the others.

"It's psychologically different because you have to ignore basically everyone that's in the race with you and just full send on your line and get the best time you can," he added.

Hollis-Perdue is currently ranked 51st at the time of this publication, according to the MultiGP 2024 Global Qualifiers leaderboard. The qualifiers are underway until Sept. 2.

The top 150 race times earn pilots a ticket to race at the MultiGP Drone Racing Championships in Florida on Oct. 22.