AUSTIN, Texas – The youngest pilot in the Drone Racing League is representing not just America, but Texas, in the professional, international sport.
- Alex Vanover is from Dallas
- He’s been racing for 4 years
- Drone racing is getting big in Texas
"I've been racing drones for about four years," said Alex Vanover, a Dallas native who still remembers the moment he knew he wanted to be a professional drone pilot.
"In 2015 or 2016, I saw a YouTube video of Drone Racing League, and it never occurred to me that drone racing was a thing or potential sport," said Vanover.
Since 2016, professional pilots around the world have competed seven times a year in Drone Racing League, also known as DRL.
Alex Vanover wearing VR goggles at a drone race. (Courtesy: Drone Racing League)
“Drones are amazing technology, they cross language barriers, they cross cultural barriers," said Nicholas Horbaczewski, CEO and founder of Drone Racing League. "I think drones are just one of those technologies that fascinates everybody and it forms a great platform to bring people from around the world together.”
At 19 years old, Vanover is the youngest pilot in the league.
“Being the youngest in the league puts a lot of pressure on me, but that drives me at the same time. I need that pressure in order to perform my very best," said Vanover.
DRL pilots fly FPV, or first person view, wearing VR headsets to navigate 3D courses at more than 90 miles per hour.
Vanover sticks to a strict training regimen.
“My days, every day I get up and I fly about six or seven hours a day, just constant practice and try and reset the bar in terms of what I can do as a drone racer," said Vanover, who says the Dallas drone racing chapter is one of the biggest in the country.
Alex Vanover posing with his drone. (Courtesy: Drone Racing League)
“The Dallas, Fort Worth area in Texas in general is a really central hub for drone racing," said Vanover. "It’s even growing all across the state in Austin, San Antonio. I’m having people come up to me and, you know, talk about how their drone racing chapter has 20, 30 people. So the whole hobby and the whole sport’s getting much, much bigger. It’s really cool to see.”
Which is nothing but good news for Vanover’s career.
“I feel like my job is to come out here and prove that I can be the best in the world and that I can improvise, adapt, and overcome, and that’s why I’m here to do it," said Vanover.