Racing quadcopters are very light, fast and agile, but they are not usually known for their top speed. Mechanical engineer and hobbyist Ryan Lademann created his own frame to push the boundaries and achieved a Guinness World Record.
Lademann’s XLR V3 drone weighs only 490 grams (17.3 ounces) and looks a little different than most quadcopters, but it’s still well qualified for record-setting purposes. Whereas most quads have flat bricks of chassis, the XLR’s gut is stacked vertically and encased in a bullet-like aerodynamic shell. The motor also has its own bullet-like nacelle, suspended from the main chassis on slim, low-drag struts.
These nacelles are oriented to the wind for aerodynamic purposes and props are mounted underneath. So Lademann created a small stand for his XLR V3 to sit on and fire from there without damaging the blade. It climbs and hovers like a normal quadcopter, but when flying at high speeds, the pilot points the craft horizontally and presses the throttle.
Lademann says his custom chassis, internal layout and construction are the secret sauce here. Electronics are off-the-shelf. It includes Tattu R-Line 6S LiPo battery pack, Spedix ESC, Cobra 2207 2450 kv motor, HGLRC Zeus flight controller and video transmission system, Beitian BN-180 GPS, Caddx Ant FPV camera, APC 5.2 x 6.0 prop. increase. In fact, he provides links to all these components from his website on the project. At current prices, he can buy all the electronic components of this drone for US$400. This includes his set of FPV goggles for $120.
quad star drone
To set an official world record, the quads had to be flown back-to-back in two opposite directions to disable wind assistance and leveled altitude to disable gravity assistance. Peak speed means nothing. The speed of each pass is recorded as the average speed over a distance of at least 100 m (328 ft), then he speeds in the two opposite directions are averaged as the final number.
When the XLR V3 set a new Guinness World Quadcopter Speed Record of 224 mph (360.503 km/h) last November, professional witness Lademann and a small group of other enthusiasts gathered in Scottsdale, Arizona. I was. On previous flights, he set his instantaneous top speed record of 257.25 mph (414 km/h).
Watch the short video below. The drone is far from the ground, the FPV camera is a small analog unit, and the ground camera is so far away that the quad barely registers on the screen, so it doesn’t look Hollywood-grade. An official world record and the culmination of a project Lademann started in 2016.
Drone world, can you beat it?
Guinness World Records: World’s fastest quadcopter drone
Source: Quad Star Drones / Guinness World Records
