How to organize a drone race guide

Organize your next drone race on UAVLance! www.uavlance.com

Contents
1. Preliminary Step: Register on UAVLance....................................................................3
2. Pay Attention to the Background Work .......................................................................4
I. Budget...........................................................................................................................................5
II. Goals...............................................................................................................................................5
III. Permits.....................................................................................................................................6
IV. Advertising............................................................................................................................6
V. Sponsorship ..........................................................................................................................7
3. Determine the Type of Drone Race You Want to Run .........................................8
I. Rotorcross..................................................................................................................................8
II. Drag Race ....................................................................................................................................8
III. Time Trials ............................................................................................................................8
IV. Other..........................................................................................................................................9
4. Determine the Class Type of the Drones You Want to Have............................9
I. Spec Class....................................................................................................................................9
II. Open Class ..................................................................................................................................9
5. Preparing For a Race Versus an Event..........................................................................9
6. Race day registration and management...................................................................10
I. Pre-race registration:.......................................................................................................10
II. Race day registration .......................................................................................................10
III. Race day management................................................................................................ 11
7. Rules, Guidelines and SAFETY.........................................................................................11
8. After the Event...........................................................................................................................13

How to Organize a Drone Race
UAVLance is the first drone racing site that is geared towards drone race
enthusiasts and amateurs, and helps them organize their own drone races and
drone events. Whether you are looking to race amongst friends, or want to take
things a little further and create a local or national event, UAVLance has created
a system that lets you organize your own drone races or other drone events
effectively.
To help you put together a fun, highly entertaining, and – most importantly – safe
drone race that will get the adrenaline pumping, we have created a step by step
how-to guide. It includes an explanation on how to determine what type of drone
race to organize, the class of drone to use, how to prepare for a race or an event,
as well as the rules and safetymeasures you should have in place for your event.
1. Preliminary Step: Register on UAVLance
Seriously, this is the single most important way in which you can save yourself a
lot of stress and headache. It’s like a ready-made race organization package that
takes care of all the details. Instead of doing several things on different
platforms, and paying separately for each aspect, you can handle them all in one
place and save time and money. How does UAVLance work? Simple, really:
 Race organizers and racers create profiles.
 Once registered,the organizer creates a race and fills out race forms
 Thereafter, the system displays the payout calculations and the organizer
approves it to get started.
 The system then creates a race page and sends out notifications to racers
interested in getting notifications. It also sends invite emails to race
invitees and sponsor invitees, and external partners interested in sharing
race info with their visitors ormembers.
 Racers register for race before the last date to sign up and provide
payment, if required.
 The system adds registeredracers to race page.

 Once the race is complete, the organizer enters the race results in “My
Races”.
 Race results are then sent to racers. They approve the results and provide
feedback to the organizer. In the event that racers disagree with the
results, they must protest the race result within 24 hours of the race
results being posted. Racers can also upload their FPV race videos I
support of their claim.
 Once all racers approve or after 8 hours of posting the results where there
are no disputes, the system releases payments. If one or more racers
protest, the system will hold the payments until the conflict is resolved.
 The system will then update the race page to include results, payouts,
organizer ratings for each racer and organizer and post-race videos and
images uploaded by the organizer and racers.
 The whole process saves you time and money required to take care of all
these aspects.
Organize or Join a Race on www.UAVLance.com
2. Pay Attention to the Background Work
When you are organizing a drone race a lot of preparatory ground work needs to
be undertaken behind the scenes, long before the race day draws near. You
should start your planning and organizing about 6 months out from the event.
This will give you time to adjust your timelines as necessary and get all moving
parts of the drone race into place.
To help you we have split up the work that needs to be done in the background
before you get underway. Please note that safety is a huge part of drone racing
and is of paramount importance; so even as you’re addressing all of these other
issues, you should always be considering how each will impact safety. For this
reason we have dedicated an entire section to drone race safety protocol and
guidelines later in our race guide.

I. Budget
One of the very first steps you need to take is to create a budget. The last thing
you want is for your drone race to become a hole you keep pouring money into.
Whether you are running a drone race for charity, fun, or as an organized event,
you do not want it losing money.
Creating a budget is a great starting point. It is a good idea to add in all the costs
you think you will incur for running the event, and then add an extra 10%-20%
for contingencies. Make sure to include everything that will have a cost attached
to it, including acquiring permits, meeting health and safety regulations, awards,
staffing costs and race day costs.
From this point you can work backwards and provide your drone race
competitors with an entry fee for joining the event. Having a well thought-out
budget ensures you won’t get caught out from a monetarypoint of view.
II. Goals
Flowing on from your budget, you have to set goals that realistically mirror the
number of competitors or participants you would like to have in your drone race
or event.
The most important thing to remember is that the numbers you want to attend
must reflect your budget. If you have too many people you may not be able to run
an efficient event. Conversely, if you don’t have enough you may find that you are
diving into your own pocket to make up costs that you have incurred in
organizing the event. Not to mention that the lack of numbers may impact the
entertainment factor of your race, and hence the likelihood of future
participationby others.
UAVLance makes it easy for you to create a race, generate a race page and
organize your invites and registrations for your race. With the various

functionalities available on our website, keeping track of number of participants,
registrations, and other factors is easy. Participants can also make payment for
registration through UAVLance. It is a fantastic, easy way to align your goals and
make sure you are tracking well in regards to your budget. UAVLance also allows
you to make necessaryadjustments to your budgets and goals as you progress.
III. Permits
Organizing a drone race or event will require a number of permits. It is very
important you begin the process early because it can take a lot of time for them
to be approved. The last thing you want to do is to have to postpone or cancel
your drone race because you are still waiting on permit approval. That has both
costs and reputational implications foryou.
Remember, you will need permits for nearly everything that affects your drone
race. Permits may include aviation authority consent for the drones, noise
permits,event permits and possible traffic permits if necessary.
It is important to work with police and local authorities so they understand your
event and can plan accordingly, especially when it comes to traffic management
and safety of the public.
IV. Advertising
Advertising is a big part of organizing a successfuldrone race or event.
a) You can use UAVLance as a means to connect with participants, sponsors and
external partners to help build up race awareness and profile. UAVLance can
send out emails, notifications and invites about your race. Using UAVLance is a
great way to expand your reach and an extremely efficient marketing tactic,
given that the site already has lots of drone racing enthusiasts who are your
primary target. By emailing your potential audience, they have the ability to

share and pass on race and event information to their own members or
customers.
b) Social media is also a great way to advertise your drone race. When you create
an event on UAVLance, people can access it from their Facebook pages and link
to it in tweets and Instagram posts to build up an audience and awareness. The
more social media channels you expose your drone race to, the more likely you
are to grow and expose your event to your target audience, and UAVLance helps
you to do that. You can also pay to promote Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
posts to specific people to create visibilityfor your race.
c) UAVLance provides participants with the race website and allows online
registrationfor members.It is an easy way for you to get participants to sign up.
d) Lastly, do not neglect word of mouth and organically reaching out to your
potential race day competitors and sponsors. Make sure you get out and about in
the weeks leading up to your drone race to promote it and engage with the
community. You may find it is a great way to attract local businesses and get
more people on board. Also advertising in print, flyer drops, local newspaper and
radio if you have the budget can help you promote your race.
V. Sponsorship
Following on from advertising, sponsorship is a great way to create hype and
revenue for your drone race. When asking for sponsorship you can either ask for
a monetary contributionor prizes.
It is probably easier to approach local businesses to help with race day prizes
and organization than asking for sums of money. You could let sponsors set up
race day marquees or stalls to help grow their awareness as well. Remember
sponsorshipis a two-way street and businesses needto get something inreturn.

The best way to approach potential sponsors is through your own network and
the network of your race day participants. Ask around if they know anyone or
any local business that would like to be involved. Remember, you can also send
around emails through UAVLance.
3. Determine the Type of Drone Race You Want to Run
There several types of drone races that you can choose from for your event. Here
is a brief explanation of each type of race and what you can usually expect for
each.
I. Rotorcross
Essentially, Rotorcross is where up to four drones simultaneously combat it out
to be the first to cross the finish line. It is a great option if you want to have a
knock out style competition. Also, it is great for the crowds wanting to see a few
collisions.
Remember, if you choose Rotorcross races, safety is paramount when organizing
a Rotorcross circuit. Also, it can be an expensive exercise for your participants, if
they regularly lose drones.
II. Drag Race
A drag race is very similar to its car namesake. Drones compete against each
other to cover a distance, usually around 100m, in a straight line as quickly as
possible.
III. Time Trials
This is probably the most common, safest and easiest to manage of all drone
races. A time trial, similar to that of the Tour De France, is where one drone at a
time flies through a course and the quickest time wins.

IV. Other
There are, other types of drone competitions too. Freestyling and stunt contests
are more about performing complex maneuvers rather than racing around a
course. They are great fun for those who like to perform a few tricks and
entertainthe crowd.
4. Determine the Class Type of the Drones You Want to Have
Determining the class of drone that can take part in your event is an important
decision. Essentially the class type you choose reflects the type of participant you
will have for your event. Classes are kept simple to make it easy to understand
for drone race participants and organizers.There are two mainclass types:
I. Spec Class
Spec Class is reserved for beginners. Participants that operate in this class must
use a quadcopter with 3S LiPo batteries and propellers that measure 5 inches in
diameter.
II. Open Class
Conversely, open class is exactly how it sounds, everything and anything is
allowed. Usually, the only restriction put in place in the open class is on the
weight of the drone, for safetypurposes.
5. Preparing For a Race Versus an Event
On UAVLance, a drone race organizer can create a single race, or an event.
If you are organizing a day or evening of several races, or a tournament, then you
need to create an event. On the other hand, if you are only organizing one race,
then it's a race.
It is important as a race organizer to know the key differences between
organizing a drone race comparedto a drone event.

 Preparation: It is a lot more complicated to organize a drone event and
requires more elaborate planning and arranging.
 Assistance: To run a drone event you will need more people to assist in
running the event. You will require more help and more volunteers.
 Course Design: To run a drone event you may need to prepare multiple
courses. Compare that to a drone race, where only one course is required.
A flow on effect from this is that an event will require far more planning
and permits, for multiple courses covering a biggerarea.
 Numbers: A drone event will require a lot more participants compared to
a drone race.
6. Race day registration and management
I. Pre-raceregistration:
As mentioned earlier, UAVLance provides a system to organize your race
registration online. It is possible to set up your race website with UAVLance.
Furthermore, you can manage online registration for participants and adjust
your race structure
II. Race day registration
Unfortunately, no matter how organized you are using UAVLance, there will still
be participants who show up wanting to participate without having registered
prior.
There is a quick and effective way to sign up participants on the day and it may
be a good idea to put this into your planning. On arrival, you can have them do
the sign up quickly on UAVLance. Putting race day registrants into their own
category is a good solution, so you can spend your time worrying about running
the event, rather than wasting time trying to get everyone signed up and fit in to
your race or event.

III. Race day management
It is important as the race day organizer to be the first one there. This allows you
to control things from the outset to ensure that everybody and everything sets
up where it should.
Before the races, make sure that those helping you are each delegated their own
section. This ensures that you are not overcommitted and allows you to oversee
what is happening. Also before the race it is important to have open channels of
communication with different interest groups. Safety officers, police,
participants, volunteers and officials must all have a port of call to you. This is
why it is so important not to get caught up in registering latecomers and other
time consuming activities. Delegate these so that you remain in control.
When the races get underway, your most important consideration will be to
ensure the safety of spectators, participants and the general public. Again this is
where preparation is key because once your drone event has begun it can be
difficult to contain. Make sure that all the right people are in the right places and
your communication channels remain strong with all interest groups throughout
the race or event.
7. Rules, Guidelines and SAFETY
Safety is the most important aspect that needs to be covered in organizing your
drone race or event. As we have stressed throughout this guide, without a good
safety plan in place, you are exposing yourself to legal liability for any injury or
harm to people and property. To ensure that everyone is having a good time and
to cover your liability, you need to ensure you have an effective safety protocol in
place.
On UAVLance, drone race and event organizers can post information on the race
registration page. It is at this point that you should post registration rules and
guidelines around safety.

Also, on race day, at the registration table there should be clearly visible rules
and guidelines. To make sure that your participants understand the rules, it can
be a good idea to make them sign a race agreement and waiver.
To help you, we have added a list of safety guidelines you should adhere to.
Please note this list is not exhaustive and more of a guide to ensure that you are
taking minimum necessary precautions in regards to safety. For your own event,
it is a good idea to sit down with local authorities to put in place stringent safety
protocol.
 Separate spectators from drones by at least 50m and cordon off the
racecourse area as necessary.
 Flying zones should be at least 150m from busy metropolitan, industrial,
residentialor commercialareas.
 Flying zones must not inhibit aircraft. Ensure that you have permits that
allow you to fly drones that will not encroach on any airspace used by
aircraft.
 Creating a risk register is a great way for you to identify the safety risks
associatedwithan event and helps you mitigate them with goodplanning.
 Have a participant briefing before the start of the race that sets out:
o When participants can fly/power drones
o Where they can fly
o Outline of the course
o Safety precautions
o Highest flying altitude
o Frequency management (ifapplicable)
o Emergencystop procedure
o Where participants can/cannot be situated
o Insurance

o Disclaimers (ifapplicable)
o Walk of the course to familiarize participants withit
o Practice laps if necessary
8. After the Event
Once your drone race or event is completed, make sure that participants and
spectators alike are allowed to enjoy the occasion. Providing entertainment, a
ceremony, prizes and giveaways are a great way to enhance the experience for
all involved.
Also, post-event, it is important to make sure everything is cleaned up and you
have enough manpower to ensure the entire event site is left in the condition
that it was prior to the event. This is crucial, as it will ensure you have been
responsible and maintaining a clean record will help you secure permits for
future events.
When the event is over make a note of what worked well and what can be
improved upon for future events.
Happy drone racing and for your next drone race or event, don’t forget to check out
UAVLance.com

How to organize a drone race guide

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How to organize a drone race guide