Luminair Lightpool Drone Race: Pushing the Boundaries of FPV Events

Time was ticking by.…I was ready but was everyone else?... When were we starting? Racing through my mind was all the prep, months of organisation, meetings and promotion, and now we were here. Standing backstage waiting to go on. 

I had nervous energy bubbling away in my chest. This was one of the most anxious and intense feelings I had ever had but there was no going back. The music started and I walked out on stage to the bright lights and colours everywhere. To one side I had top UK pilots itching to get flying, on the other, the live stream sending my booming voice out to the world and in front, a huge auditorium full of spectators, all eager to see a drone race! 

Live Stream Links

Not only was the race presented to the live studio audience, but we sent out the show to the land of the internet with our live streams! Unfortunately Race 1 was tripped up with a technical glitch that was easily solved, but would have meant restarting the event - not fun for the live audience. But we pushed ahead with Race 2,3,4 without any troubles and you can see them here: 

Here we go!

The Lightpool festival in Blackpool came to Birmingham Tiny Whoopers with the goal of putting on a spectacular drone race. They had seen our LED drones zipping around and loved the dynamic movement of light through the sky. Of course, anyone who knows me, knows I love bright LED colours on our drones and so together this looked like a great fit. Once we had a meeting in their offices, I knew we could do something really special. 

The Lightpool team have built up a huge warehouse of incredible models for the blackpool illuminations and light festivals that this Capital of light hosts throughout the year. It was like walking into a candy shop of drone feature gates and picking out all the best ones! With Lightpools enthusiasm and support we agreed on the illuminated elements that would feature in the track. It made complete sense that for this first event we would go for the classic beach theme with a blackpool tower, deckchair, umbrella and an interpretation of the giant disco ball on the seafront. 

With our experience delivering international standard micro drone racing events we took these elements away and designed a whole drone racing show. Not just a racing event, but a show. We aimed to entertain the public while also giving an enjoyable racing experience to the pilots. Key to this was the combination of professionals we brought to the table who had years of experience running events and producing incredible quality videography.

But this was all going on in the background a long time before the event! Once we got to the weekend of Lightpool Luminair, it turned into a fantastic blur of activity, fun and drone racing I’ll never forget.

The Setup

Right from the start, arriving with a van loaded to the roof with kit, it was great fun. The Lightpool team has arrived and delivered the models into theatre. Looking up at the huge miniature Blackpool tower was awesome. I had only ever seen it in 2 halves, but now lit up to its full 6m height was impressive. I started setting out the track and tackling the challenge of filling this huge space with the track I had built in my mind. 

Being such a big space, a few elements needed adjusting, but after a couple test packs and tweaks, I was satisfied. It was key that the track would be enjoyable for pilots and relatively easy for the spectators to follow. To do this I tried to make the elements sequential so there was not too much back and forth, but also incorporate some interesting moves. It would be easiest for people to watch if the drones predictably went from one feature to another, Blackpool tower, Star, Deckchair, Umbrella, Starting block, Disco ball, Timing gate and back around. 

Now the track was set up, and right on time, the video production team arrived and started setting up their kit. With incredible quality cameras we were keen to show as much of the flying as possible, both close up and wide shots. Setting these out in position was relatively simple, but it turned out running cables was a pain! Top tip, avoid HDMI if you can. It just doesn't enjoy going long distances or playing nicely with others. Usually this isn't a problem when operating in a village hall, but a huge theatre presented a challenge to cover the distance. A few tweaks to the system and some creative cable runs got all the cameras we planned worked perfectly. My favourite camera by far was the tracking shot across the start block with the pilots lit up and sat in the background. 

This was in no small part to the layout and construction of the theater. Having the raised stage with the right size platforms to elevate the pilots and the commentary box was amazing. It was like the stage was built for us! But not only that, the lighting that we had access to really added to the tension and excitement. Every time the pilots set off to race, the lights dimmed so the drones LEDs really popped in the darkness. It meant the whole crowd could see everything that was going on. 

And there was a huge crowd! Hundreds of people came to watch this, the first of its kind, drone racing show. Luminair Drone Race was very different to the rest of the productions for the Lightpool festival. It was a live, technological performance with winners, losers, crashes and surprises in every one of the four events. But not only did people get to watch the race, they could get involved. 

Hands On Activities

Thanks to the partners we work with we were able to put on four hands-on activities, alongside the race.

Drone Soccer Try-Outs

Where people could take flight with one of the UK’s most exciting emerging sports—Drone Soccer! Combining the fast-paced action of football with the precision of drone piloting, this high-energy game sees teams battle it out in the air, navigating drone “strikers” through goals in a protective cage. 

Join the team and represent the UK here:

Website: https://www.ukdronesoccer.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukdronesoccer/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UKDroneSoccer

FPV Hot Laps 

Hosted by Birmingham Tiny Whoopers, spectators could don the VR goggles and sit onboard the racing drones as the pro pilots took them around our insane illuminated race track. They got to see the world from the First Person View (FPV) of the drone and get a look at what flying really feels like.

Come along to a meet up listed here:

Website: https://www.btwclub.co.uk/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/btw__whoop/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/birminghamtinywhoopers

BMFA Simulator Station

The British Model Flyers Association brought their fantastic simulator stations to the event. Everyone could dive into the world of first-person drone racing and try high-speed flying, sharp turns, and aerial skills—all without leaving their seat! And if you crashed, just hit reset and go again!

Join the UK’s national representation body here:

Website: https://bmfa.club/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/britishmodelflyingassociation/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BMFAOfficial

BDRA Try’n’Fly

This is where people could get their hands on a whoop size drone for the very first time. With the British Drone Racing Association giving lessons to anyone who wanted to try and fly, loads of people lined up for their very first drone flight. They all took control and took to the skies to tackle our beginner friendly track.

Start drone racing here:

Website: https://bdra.uk/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_bdra/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BritishDroneRacing

Fly Drones Near You

Over the 3 and half hours of each event we had hundreds of people enjoy watching the drone race and take part in all our activities. It was amazing to see so many people enthused about this sport that is sweeping the nation. I really hope that from this, a drone racing club gets started in the Blackpool area. I know the BMFA and BDRA are keen to help as many clubs get started as want to across the UK. That way, you can join the clubs from up and down the country that were involved in this event:

Drone Racing Cornwall

Drone Circle (Manchester)

South Gloucester Drone Club

Birmingham Tiny Whoopers

Tiny Whoop Staffordshire

Hanworth Park Drones (West London)

Delta Hawks FPV Racing (Derby)

All the clubs are very welcoming so drop them a message or pop along to a meetup and ask about joining. They will be pleased to share FPV with you.

The Results

We had some seriously talented pilots competing at this event and the racing was incredible. I was commentating and really struggled to keep up with the pace of the top guys zipping around the track. 

Of course we expected Dan Carpy - TWUK League Champion 2025 - to do well. He’s currently the fastest whoop pilot in the UK and so won 3 out of the 4 races across the weekend. This was a tremendous achievement, and just goes to show how fast he is behind the sticks. 

But the big upset was that Dirty McStinky was able to beat Carpy in race 3. They were neck and neck but the pressure got to Carpy and one too many mistakes left clear air for Dirty McStinky to fly by and claim the top spot!

Another hot competition was between Jaggers, James TX and Archie, all nipping at their heels, keeping Dan and Dirty honest. They all went back and forth throughout the weekend with some incredible racing and close runs. You gotta keep an eye on these guys because they are coming for the title, they want to win!

For the pilots, here are the final results and linked racing data

But now we want to hear from you!

Let us know what you thought of this event. Did you attend in person? Did you watch the live stream? Do you think we should have done things differently or have you got an idea to make it even more exciting? 

This was the first time something like this has been done and we already want to change some bits to make it better, but most importantly, what do you want to see?

Help us make drone racing exciting to watch and race and bring bigger events like this to the world of FPV racing