Micro drones to race inside USAF museum
Visitors to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force will get to see fast-flying micro machines in action on Saturday.
National Museum of the U.S. Air Force visitors will have the opportunity to see fast flying micro machines as 40 pilots maneuver their drones over, under, around and through the C-124 and F-82 aircraft during a micro drone race that will take place in the museum’s second building Feb. 29.
Registered drone pilots will begin practicing at 9 a.m. and then race in a series of 2-minute heats with four drones in each heat from approximately 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Spectators will be able to watch the race along the course, as well as from a large screen that will show the drones’ perspective as theyrace.
The drone pilots registered to participate include 2019 Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) Drone Racing Championship pilot Kevin Mead; 2019 Mid-America Throwdown Champion John Chapman; 2018 Drone Racing League Allianz World Champion Paul Nurkkala; YouTube channel “Flite Test” personality Matt Nowakowski; and Team Canada pilot and FAI Drone Racing Championship participant Derek Clee.
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., visitors will also be able to experience flying a drone with computer-based simulators from the Air Force Research Laboratory, the museum’s Education Division and the Drone Racing League, a global, professional drone-racing circuit for elite pilots with custom built racing drones traveling from 0 to 90 mph in under a second. Visitors can then fly an actual drone in two designated areas courtesy of AFRL and the museum’s Education Division.
A map of the event area is available at https://www. nationalmuseum.af.mil/Portals/7/Course%20Map_1.pdf.
In addition, AFRL’s “SkyVision” air traffic control center for unmanned aerial systems will be parked near the museum’s entrance doors and will showcase its innovative capability that enables drones to be flown in the beyond-visual-line-of-sight mode. Developed in a cooperative effort between AFRL and the state of Ohio, this firstof-its-kind system provides drone pilots with knowledge of where other aircraft are flying in nearby airspace so they can perform the “see and avoid” function required of all pilots by the Federal Aviation Administration without the use of ground-based visual observers or chase aircraft.
Note: Federal endorsement is not implied. Also, the drone pilots in this race have pre-registered to participate (registration has closed). The flying of small unmanned aerial systems on museum grounds is prohibited. This includes drones and model remote control aircraft. Unauthorized sUAS flights are immediately reported to security forces. Only pre-approved drones participating in this event are permitted to fly inside the museum’s second building.
The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, is the world’s largest military aviation museum. With free admission and parking, the museum features more than 350 aerospace vehicles and missiles and thousands of artifacts amid more than 19 acres of indoor exhibit space. Each year more than 800,000 visitors from around the world come to the museum. For more information, visit www. nationalmuseum.af.mil.