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Gone today at the Western Hotel on East Fremont Street in downtown were the gruesome dismembered mannequins that usually sit behind the defunct casino’s front door.
In their place, drone enthusiasts, from Las Vegas to Miami, entered through a temporarily redecorated Western front entrance with a “DRONE XING” sign affixed to the venue’s door. They were there to compete in a daylong first-person-view drone race.
The first event of the Xtreme Drone Circuit, a new program sponsored by the Downtown Project, drew over 20 pilots, many of whom regularly compete in the budding underground sport of First Person View drone racing. The races require participants to remotely maneuver small four-propeller aircraft around difficult obstacle courses as they watch the racetrack through goggles that display a live video feed from the drone’s perspective.
“It’s a serious addiction,” said Christian Avedon, who drove with a team from Colorado. “It’s like every kid’s dream to fly around like Superman. And you’re basically able to do that in the (drone) because it’s first-person view.”
Shaun Taylor of New Mexico won the competition and received a $1,000 cash prize from sponsors, including Zappos. The runner-up, Abel Almaguer, received a $750 prize. Eddel Veloso of Las Vegas came in third and received $500.
Much of the day was spent conducting three rounds of qualifiers, winnowing down the racers to a final bracket of eight. The final racers competed in two-on-two sudden death races. The last round was best of three. Taylor won in two heats at a top speed of 57 miles per hour.
“I got lucky,” said Taylor, whose team is called Southwest Pod Racing, named for the first-person-view racing in Star Wars. “It’s a game of luck.”
Over the past week, organizers turned the Western Hotel, a Downtown Project property that is rented out for events, into a challenging racetrack. In the lobby, at the start line, organizers constructed a series of free-standing metal arches and hoops. After flying inside those, racers had to fly through a barn-door window, between another pass-through window and through a doorframe. Each race consisted of four laps.
Unlike many first-person races, intended exclusively for enthusiasts, Xtreme Drone Circuit was produced for a general audience. Outside of the track, enclosed by a black net, chairs lined the lobby area where spectators could watch the drones fly past. There were amenities for the audience, including a bar, a light show and music.
Most notably, live video feeds from the competing drones were simulcast on screens scattered around the lobby. When a drone crashed — and one did in almost every race — the audience let out a collective, “ohhh.”
“I’ve never seen this ever in my life before,” said Ryan Lofty, a DJ who works downtown and attended the event.
Drone races are often held in large spaces — fields, parks, garages. But rarely are they held in vacant buildings.
“Nothing’s ever been done like this,” said Chris Thomas, the founder of MultiGP, a league for drone racing.
The drones, which sound like cicadas, can go up to 80 miles per hour. Most pilots, though, had to fly at slower speeds today because the track included tight turns and corners.
“It shows who the top pilots are,” said Lester Kahn, a racer from Las Vegas.
Although the pilots came from different parts of the country, the drone racing community is small and many pilots knew of or were familiar with each other. In the back of the Western Hotel, where organizers set up a pseudo-green room for the pilots, tables were strewn with small electronics, super glue, extra antennae, screwdrivers, replacement propellers, pizza boxes, emptied McDonald’s bags, empty Gatorade bottles and e-cigarettes.
“We’re all great friends,” Jesse Perkins, a finalist from Fort Collins, Colo., said of his team.
Visitors from Fremont Street trickled in throughout the event. A crew for “Real World: Las Vegas” even made an appearance. Organizers are planning future competitions, including one that’s scheduled to coincide with CES in January.
“This was a test event for us,” said Mark Rowland, Downtown Ventures CEO and an organizer of the Xtreme Drone Circuit. “We’ve learned a lot about what we can do to make it even more of a spectator event.”