District I
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
Although I have been a contest director for local drone racing events and the 2016 National Drone Racing Championships in New York City, I had never been to a Tiny Whoop drone race until Wayne Witter posted an ad on the District I Facebook group for a race at the Whoop Racing Barn in Foster, Rhode Island. On November 11, 2023, Associate Vice President Steve Brehm and I attended the 2024 Season Race #1 event to see what Tiny Whoop indoor racing was all about.
The huge Whoop barn is located on a 14-acre farm next to a wine vineyard and Carlos Compos’ home. The photos show how awesome the race-course is, with a variety of gates at different levels above and below the open rafters, holes through walls, colorful changing LEDs, a fog-generating machine, and multiple monitors displaying race results within the pilot pit and control center area. This was heaven for the 15 passionate, competing pilots.
It’s amazing to see how agile these 65mm Whoops are. With high power-to-weight ratios, they are capable of extremely fast attitude changes that are needed for this challenging racecourse.
While watching the races and the speed of not only the Whoops but the pilots’ finger movements on both transmitter sticks, it was obvious to us that lots of practice and skills are necessary to be competitive.
What blew our minds was the LiveTime FPV software suite that automates nearly all of the event activities, including registering, scheduling, timing, scoring, announcing laps, race results, and live streams, while recording the FPV video from each Whoop for pilots and fans to follow on monitors in the barn or online.
We had a blast learning about the fun that MultiGP and AMA members are having with Tiny Whoops. A special thanks to Carlos, Mark Silva, and Chris Perry for answering all of our questions, and all of the FPV pilots who support the hobby.
2024 Tiny Whoop pilots can be seen racing at www.multigp.com/venues/view/?venue=The-Whoop-Racing-Barn.
Andy Argenio
Vice President
am district I [REDACTED]
[REDACTED]
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www.amadistrict-i.org
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENTS
Steve Brehm, Jamestown RI; [REDACTED]
Jim Cyr, Madison CT; [REDACTED]
Andrew Figlar, Shelton CT; [REDACTED]
Steve Goler, Salem MA; [REDACTED]
Daren Hudson, Greenland NH; [REDACTED]
Ray LaBonte, Standish ME; [REDACTED]
Tom Lavoie, N. Smithfield RI; [REDACTED]
Joan Liska, Middletown CT; [REDACTED]
Mark Montella, Falmouth, MA; [REDACTED]
Thomas J. Puma Jr., North Clarendon VT; [REDACTED]
Tom Rocheleau, Wethersfield CT; [REDACTED]
Joel Rosenzweig, Marlborough MA; [REDACTED]
Tom Siwek, Shrewsbury MA; [REDACTED]
William Unghire, Newington CT; [REDACTED]
Ted Wojcik, Fremont NH; [REDACTED]
TECHNOLOGY AND SAFETY OFFICER
John Yassen, Nashua NH; [REDACTED]
EVENT SANCTION COORDINATOR
David Surwell, Nashua NH; [REDACTED]
