Drone Racing Becomes a Major South Florida Sport (Video)

Approach and the first thing you hear is buzzing. It’s like a swarm of food processors flying overhead. Look up. In the twilight sky, Tron-like flashes of neon turn circles, some stopping midair before diving close to the ground at breakneck speed. They’re like tiny comets or steroid-stoked fireflies.

Suddenly, one of the darting lights does a barrel roll and stops midair. On a dime, it shoots down like a bullet toward a glowing hoop. It sails through and heads toward another. But the angle isn’t quite right. A propeller clips the hoop, and it spins out as if it were a fighter jet hit by enemy fire. Then it hurtles toward the ground and crashes in a heap.

“F**k,” shouts a stocky, bearded 34-year-old Nelson Aquino, shoving a pair of white plastic goggles up onto his forehead. “Nobody fly anything for a second. I have to go get that.”

Welcome to an event called Night Fly at Davie’s Vista View Park, home to one of only five public drone-racing tracks in the nation. The kings of the park are unquestionably a group to which Aquino belongs — the Gravity Goons, sponsored, semiprofessional drone pilots who are becoming well known in the budding racing world.

[vc_btn title=”More about drone racing in Davie” style=”outline” color=”primary” size=”lg” align=”left” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.miaminewtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fdrone-racing-becomes-a-major-south-florida-sport-8415024|title:More%20about%20drone%20racing%20in%20Davie|target:%20_blank”][vc_message message_box_style=”3d” message_box_color=”turquoise”]By JERRY IANNELLI, MiamiNewTimes, SouthFloridaReporter.com, May 2, 2016 [/vc_message]

NOTE: Earlier this year the Miami Dolphns Stadium was the scene of the first Drone Racing League challenge for 2016. From YouTube: