NEW YORK (AP) – Tyler Brennan is training to be a pilot in the Air Force, yet this weekend he’ll be vying to be top gun at the National Drone Racing Championship.
The 22-year-old Air Force lieutenant traveled from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to compete in the tournament, which is being held in New York City this weekend. Brennan is one of more than 100 pilots vying for a $50,000 prize.
“I found it on YouTube and I was hooked immediately,” Brennan said of the sport, which is still finding a following. “My first time, I was like, ‘I got it. I am hooked here’ and I crashed almost immediately . But that split second that you get has you hooked for life.”
Dozens of pilots gathered for a practice event Friday on Governors Island, a former military installation in New York Harbor.
With spectators watching from a viewing stand, the pilots donned headsets that gave them a cockpit view as they remotely directed their drones – most no larger than a paperback book – through an obstacle course of gates and flags at speeds up to 60 mph.