Track Setup

• Gates must be no larger than 7 feet wide and no taller than 6 feet
• Flags must be at least 8 feet tall
  • Something as simple as a piece of PVC stuck in the ground is fine
  • One Track will be released in September for all the schools to fly.

Drones

• Max Frame Size – 305mm
• Max Battery Cell Count – 6
• Max Propeller Size – 6″
• 25mw Raceband video transmitters or HDZero video transmitters will be required for the National Championship
• A minimum of 4 LED’s are required on all aircraft racing in this year’s championship. They must be at least 4 static LED’s but ideally RGB switchable. 
  • Ideally more than 4 LED’s are used and lighting is on both top and bottom or sides, or more. LED string light wrapping around the frame is perfectly acceptable. 

Teams

• There is no maximum number of pilots that can participate on each individual team. However only three pilots’ scores will be used to qualify each team (see scoring section).
• Each team must register via the registration link.

Scoring 

• After a day of flying, individual pilots should submit their fastest three consecutive lap times for the day
  • Lap times begin and end with the start/finish gate
  • Lap times should be recorded by a spotter with a timer or using onboard DVR. 
• Pilots’ individual times are converted to a point value using the formula: score = 100 / time
  • Using a point system equal to the inverse of pilot times means that faster (lower) times result in higher scores
  • This allows for teams of two to compete with teams of three or more. The third pilot for a team of two is simply given a score of zero. (this can’t be done using only lap times).
• Team scores are calculated each month by taking the sum of each team’s three highest pilot scores
  • If a team has less than 3 pilots only those pilot’s scores that participated will be added.

Qualification

• At the end of January, the top 10 Teams based on the sum of the top 3 pilots will be invited to the Championship.
• There will be 1 team and 1 individual that will qualify from the Velocidrone Tournament held in February.
• Six pilots from the IRL leaderboard will also be invited to the Championship, if they are not already on a Team that is invited. Selection will start at the top of the leaderboard and move down until 6 pilots have accepted.
• After the racing season ends the remaining spots will be filled using the final individual rankings from the IRL leaderboard.
• Each team can bring up to 6 pilots from their school.  These members must have submitted a time in either the in person tracks or participated in the Velocidrone tournament. A team may bring an unlimited number of support members from their school, but only the qualified pilots may fly.
• An Academy of Model Aeronautics membership for each pilot is required to participate in our championships as it provides insurance necessary for the event. More information about becoming a chartered AMA club can be found under “About Us” and then the “Start a Club” drop down.