The Person In The Seat Is NOT The Pilot

A drone capable of carrying a person and performing aerobatics has been built and flown by Drone Champions AG as a way to promote its Drone Champions League video game.

The DCL has released a video of the drone flying in Croatia. While the aircraft is designed to carry a person, that person is not the pilot. The aircraft is intended to be flown from the ground.

The so-called "Big Drone" is built around an all-carbon aerodynamically-faired frame with six arms supporting two coaxial rotors for a total of 12 rotors.

New Atlas reports that the video was captured by a Red Bull camera crew. A camera inside the aircraft gives a pretty good representation of the extreme maneuvers of which the drone is capable. It performs loops, rolls and other stunts that will look pretty familiar to anyone who has ever watched an air show.

However, the manned flight carrying Drone Champions founder Herbert Weirather was much more sedate. "We have developed and built the first-ever manned aerobatic drone with the vision to create a brand-new future racing experience and to recruit drone pilots through DCL – The Game," Weirather said. "Everyone should have the opportunity to fly, and DCL – The Game provides a starting point."

(Images from DCL YouTube video)

FMI: Source report