Drone Racing: Somewhere Between a Game and a Sport

Dear Readers

If renowned Swiss transportation law experts define drones not by their appearance but by their use, this clearly means that not every multicopter may be referred to as a drone; rather, it may only be called a drone when it performs specific functions and tasks. This means that even model airplanes could perform operational tasks—such as reconnaissance—and would therefore be classified as drones. This possibility is, however, rather “contrived”—unfortunately, reason enough for aviation bureaucrats to make sweeping generalizations; after all, a one-size-fits-all approach is, as is well known, considered a “law of nature” in administration.

Unfortunately, international organizations and companies have hastily labeled races with small multicopters as “drone racing” for marketing reasons. These races require an exceptionally high level of concentration and thus clearly have a competitive element that should not be underestimated. But it’s not clear to spectators what this has to do with aviation sports. To me, the whole thing is an interesting offshoot of computer games—but it has nothing to do with flying. If we take a closer look at the drone racing scene, we quickly realize that the multi-billion-dollar computer game industry—Game of Drones—plays a decisive role.

Drone gaming will continue to evolve rapidly and take on forms that are sometimes interesting but also bizarre, such as “Drone Socker,” as was recently reported by the FAI. Classifying these new forms of play is difficult. Remote-controlled mini-quads, tank battles, car racing, etc., can take place as games on a screen or in the “real world of virtual reality headsets.” It would be pointless to oppose this. Instead, we need a clear acknowledgment that drone sports are becoming less and less related to aviation sports as time goes on.

With best regards
from the model flying community, Emil Ch. Giezendanner