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Arthur T Knackerbracket [soylentnews.org] writes:

https://www.extremetech.com/aerospace/hobby-fpv-drone-developer-breaks-400mph-limit-with-new-world-record [extremetech.com]

It's rare that drone hobbyists can hang with the professionals, especially when it comes to setting records. But hobbyist drone developer and videographer Luke Bell and his dad have recaptured the world record for the world's fastest first-person drone, reaching 408 miles per hour.

The Bells have been competing in this niche game of record-breaking cat-and-drone for the past year. As TechSpot details, they set a record just shy of 300 miles per hour in June 2025, only for fellow YouTube content creator Samgo to hit 346mph with his Fastboy 2. The Bells responded with a new design of their own that upgraded cooling, aerodynamics, and power, managing 363mph, only for professional drone videographers Ben Biggs and Aiden Kelley to steal the crown with a new 389mph drone flight.

Now, the Bells are back, and this time they're smashing through the ceiling. Their latest design uses new motors, a new aerodynamic chassis, and trimmed rotors to achieve the latest milestone record: 408mph.

To really show off their achievements, they built a second version of the drone and fitted it with a 360-degree camera so it could capture incredible second-hand footage of the world's fastest FPV drone. It makes a fantastic whine noise as it flies past observers, almost too fast to see.

I don't typically follow consumer drone developments, but having kept an eye on Ukraine's own innovations in this space over the past few years, it's fascinating to see this style of drone in Ukraine's Wild Hornet Sting drone interceptor. Notable for their ability to catch up to some of Russia's jet-powered one-way-attack drones, you have to imagine that Ukrainian developers will be keen to see if they can make similar speed advances to improve the interception rate moving forward.

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