The Drone Champions League (DCL) has been captivating audiences since 2016 with the world’s best pilots of quadcopter racing in head-to-head battles flying drones that can reach speeds of over 160 km/h. It is recognized as the World Championship of professional drone racing. Pilots are chosen by being the best players of the “DCL -The Game” video game. The game can be played by anybody at home, giving everyone the chance to qualify for real-life drone racing events by playing in the DCL Draft Selection.
Now, Drone Champions AG, the creators of the Drone Champions League and DCL – The Game, have revealed their latest innovation: the world’s first manned drone capable of aerobatic maneuvers such as loops and rolls. It was invented by Herbert Weirather, the Drone Champions founder and CEO of DCL.
Dubbed the “Big Drone,” the aircraft is a full-sized, carbon fiber airframe that has six arms protruding from an aerodynamically faired chassis. Each arm has a pair of coaxial rotors mounted at the end. There is a middle seat to carry a passenger, not a pilot. The Big Drone was designed to be flown from the ground by professional drone racing pilots over a remote control.
Weirather said:
We have developed and built the first-ever manned aerobatic drone with the vision to create a brand-new future racing experience and to recruit drone pilots through DCL – The Game. Everyone should have the opportunity to fly, and DCL – The Game provides a starting point.
After months of development and testing in an indoor facility in Germany, the team finally took the racy-looking 12-rotor coaxial multi-copter to Vrsar, Croatia, for its maiden outdoor flights. There, it performed aerobatic maneuvers beautifully by the hands of former Drone Champions League contender and multi-discipline champion Mirko Cesena. A multi-copter of this size has never achieved such wild and extravagant aerobatic maneuvers before.
That was round one, which involved a dummy passenger on board. Round two of outdoor testing involved putting Drone Champions founder Weirather on board. Indeed, the flight was a more sedated version – hovering low to the ground for a short while – mostly to show (as a proof of concept) that the unit can fly with a real person on board.
Now, the team will use the test data to continue the refinement of the aircraft. At the same time, aspiring pilots around the world can train with DCL – The Game to hone their skills for future competitions in the DCL tracks of today as well as the Big Drone championships of the future. And although the machine has proven it is capable of carrying a human passenger, the team doesn’t plan on doing crewed aerobatic flights anytime soon due to safety considerations. But maybe someday in the future that will change.
