The Tasman Drone Racing club has been flying out at Appleby since last year.
Ben Henry, chapter manager and one of the founding members of the club, started building his own drone in 2017, after watching clips on YouTube, “you can basically build one yourself. If you can solder, you can build what you want, there is so much information out there it’s not hard to do or find,” and started flying at Appleby reserve.
The club is made up of self-proclaimed drone racing fanatics and Ben says they want to encourage the sport both within the club and nationally.
“We want to get the word out about the club and let people know that we are here and can even help people to build their own drone.”
Ben says building a drone is a great way to learn skills with electronics. “We have races or just catch up and go for fun, have freestyle flys.”
The club is hoping to bring more events to the region in the future, “we held a national qualifier in November, last year, and I would love to get another one here or an even bigger event.”
Wanting to put a huge emphasis on safety, Bens says joining the club is a great way for novices to learn the ins and outs of drone flying, “we are very aware of the safety issues around drones and there are a lot of places I won’t let the team go or take my gear to. Safety is paramount.”
The club meets every fortnight at various locations around the district. For more information check out their Tasman Drone Racing Facebook page.