SOUTH AFRICAN INVENTOR BREAK GUINNESS RECORD FOR FASTEST DRONE FLIGHT
After defeating Ryan Lademann's previous record of 224 mph, South African photographer and content creator Luke Maximo Bell and his father Mike Bell now hold the Guinness World Record for the fastest drone flight in history. Now that they have the title of "fastest ground speed by a battery-powered remote-controlled (RC) quadcopter," the younger Bell is sharing the steps they took to construct Peregreen 2, including the mistakes they made along the way.
Bell has long had a strong passion for his quadcopter project. "I made the fastest drone in the world last year, but I always felt like it was a kind of prototype and not quite fast enough," he says in a YouTube video. My dad and I made the decision this year to enhance every feature of the first Peregreen drone in order to produce an incredible replacement. Bell aimed even higher, even though the drone from the previous year reached speeds of almost 250 mph (400 kph). This achievement wasn't without its difficulties. Following several prototypes, fires, and modifications, Bell's Peregreen 2 sped through four speed runs.
The Bells created a drone with four motors on a carbon fibre frame in order to accomplish this feat. They opted for even larger motors this time around, replacing the Velox V2808s that powered their previous drone. Utilising T-Motor Velox V3115s resulted in an instantaneous failure. Any drone maker would find it discouraging that their early prototypes would frequently catch fire. A redesign was required because their motors were overheating their batteries. The Bells thought about giving up, but they persisted. After some time, they created a working prototype that had stronger motor wires.
The Peregreen 2 was capable of flying, but not at previously unheard-of speeds. They had their final version to win the title after replacing the motors with even more powerful ones and simplifying the design to be more aerodynamic. In order to counteract the wind speed, the Bells launched the Peregreen 2 for two speed runs on April 21, 2024, in Worcester, South Africa. The runs were conducted in opposite directions. The drone took two seconds to reach 186 mph (300 km/h) at full throttle. With an average speed of 298.47 mph (480.23 kph), Peregrine 2 achieved an official top speed of 317 mph (510 kph).
By the way, Maximo Bell had affixed an Insta 360 Go 3 Action cam to the drone's nose for the speed runs. It turns out that he was able to create a functional camera drone faster than Red Bull's Drone 1, which broke records at 217 mph (350 kph) after Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen's full-speed lap around the Silverstone Circuit. He had not anticipated getting any useful footage at the drone's higher speeds.