The Drone Invasion | Drones In New York
The Drone Invasion : A man in 1995 reported seeing something peculiar and silent passing over Fifth Avenue in Paterson, N.J., and the jarring experience changed his life in ways he could never have predicted. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but there it was, this thing about the size of a tractor-trailer, shaped like a shoe box with pulsating red and orange lights,” he told The Times. And around that time, there were other sightings in New Jersey. Recent sightings have been reported in Southern California, Cape Town and Texas.
U.F.O.s have been spotted here at New York before but Drones may be a new here. The Second Annual U.S. National Drone Racing Championships starts on Friday at Governors Island, where more than 100 drones are expected to fly across the sky, some as fast as 60 miles per hour.
Nearly 150 pilots — selected from more than 1,000 who tried out at qualifiers around the country — get to wear Virtual Reality goggles that allow them to see from the drone’s perspective. The pilots will be flying their drones through gates, slalom, past flags and displaying their acrobatic capabilities. There are several individual and team races, with awesome prizes for grabs: bragging rights, cash prizes and represent Team U.S.A. at the first-ever world championships for drone racing this October in Hawaii.
So who’s favored to win? Which drones are creating the most…buzz?
Scot Refsland said , “It’s all up in the air,” he has a Ph.D. in virtual reality and chairman of the Drone Sports Association.
According to Mr. Refsland, perhaps the most exhilarating to watch,— is the freestyle contest which is new this year.
“The level of piloting skill is 100 times what it was one year ago, and they range from 12-year-old kids to 40-year-olds,” he added. “My money is on the 12- to 15-year-olds.”
He said you could face rivals like pro skateboarders like Tony Hawk or Shaun White, “Who hasn’t had the dream of flight?, This is the sport that lets you have superhero powers.”
