Flying High in Las Vegas

An Albertan competed in the 2019 Swatch DRL Simulator Try Outs,
but came short of winning the $75,000 contract.

Over 200 drone racers from around the world traveled to Las Vegas on February 9 to compete for a chance to win a $75,000 pilot contract with the Drone Racing League, but this race differed from others. No real life flying actually took place. Instead, pilots competed through the Drone Racing League’s simulator.

Simulators, or sims, allow racers to compete virtually together from the comfort of their homes in any location and allow racers to hone their real-life flying skills without destroying their bank accounts. Simulators also expand racers’ experiences by allowing them to fly tracks that they wouldn’t find easily in the real world.

“There are no greater worlds created to hit gaps and craft your style”
– Drone Racing League (on their simulator)

Anthony Resurreccion from Calgary, Alberta, better known as his racer tag, “Rocketfpv”, was excited to travel and compete. Resurreccion has been flying drones in real life since 2017, but jumped onto simulators last year and has flown about 250 hours on the DRL sim.

He ended up qualifying for the try outs after placing in the top 30 during the qualifying period from October to January and was one of two Albertans to take the trip to Las Vegas.

“DRL put together the most polished event I have ever attended to date,” Resurreccion said. “Just the atmosphere that they created for the participants of the event was absolutely flawless.”

The event took place at the E Sports Arena in the Luxor Hotel on the Las Vegas strip and encouraged everyone interested to come and watch the races for free.

Many drone racing celebrities were also at the event supporting pilots, including two-time Canadian drone national champion, and DRL pilot, Gabriel Kocher, better known as Gab707, and many American pilots: Alex Vanover (Captain Vanover), Evan Turner (HeadsupFPV), and Jordan Temkin (JET).

Although Resurreccion didn’t take home the top prize, meeting some of his favourite pilots and other Youtube drone celebrities was a highlight of the trip.

“For me the coolest part of that event was seeing and meeting most of my ‘FPV heroes’,” Resurreccion said.  “I was so used to seeing these guys only on my computer screen when I watch Youtube, that to see and meet them in person was just a crazy experience.”

Pilots at the event also got a chance to race against the celebrities in the simulator, compete in a Tiny Whoop exhibition race, and network and learn from celebrity drone groups like Rotor Riot and Team Blacksheep; good condolence prizes for anyone who qualified and made the trip, but didn’t win the contract.

Resurreccion ended up finishing in 38th place out of 200, beating out his fellow Albertan who placed 70th. He owes his placement in the race to the advice given to him by another drone pilot he looks up to who was at the event.

“My most memorable experience during the event was when I got to meet and learn from one of the best in the league, Emmanuel Mota (UFO),” Resurreccion said.

Mota ended up taking home second place at the 2018 DRL Try Outs and is currently a DRL pilot.

“He is super down to earth and just an overall awesome dude,” Resurreccion said. “I didn’t know too many people at the event, so I was just kind of keeping it to myself when I ran into Emmanuel.

He saw that I had a tryouts shirt on, so he came up and talked to me. He gave me some advice on how to approach the tryouts mentally and physically so that I can get the most out of the experience. His tips alone definitely helped me during the competition. I owe him for that.”

An American pilot named Chris Spangler or Lil Phluxxy, ended up taking home the win, scoring the $75,000 pilot contract with DRL.