Luke, front left with the goggles, watches a drone while his dad, Mike, talks to him. It is this very drone that helped them shatter a world record for the third time. Is it a bird?
Is it a plane? No, it is a tiny home-built drone from Cape Town that just smashed a world record. Mike Bell, 63, and his son Luke have done it again, hitting a staggering 657 km/h and setting a new fastest speed for a battery-powered remote-controlled quadcopter.
The quadcopter, a type of drone, is faster than an electric car, a bullet train, and even a World War II Spitfire. Guinness World Records officially confirmed the achievement, which took place on a farm near Melkbostrand on December 11. Speaking toIOL, a very proud Luke, 31, said the achievement came after more than two years of hard work and about 30 test flights to perfect the drone’s design.
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“We have been doing test runs for the past five months on this design,” Luke said. “Each time we go out, we try different configurations, aerodynamic improvements, propellers — everything to optimise the final drone.” He said he has been flying this type of drone for years now. “So it’s easy for me to fly,” Luke, who lives in Green Point, said.
“No practice is necessary, but a lot of test flights to tweak everything are needed … for this version, we probably did about 30 test flights all in all.” The duo first set the record in 2023 at 380 km/h, then again in 2024 at 480 km/h.
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