Drone racing will soon become an official sport. Enthusiasts from around the world are organizing their own races, competing in a crazy, adrenaline-fueled competition. But for some of them buying a drone is not enough and they decide to customize or build flying machines on their own.

In 2015 Yuki and Bogdan, a marriage of drone geeks from San Diego decided to make the fastest race drone in the world. They have initially started the project back in July 2015 but they had to stop due to lack of funds. Despite the difficult start, the couple did not give up. The project was launched again a few weeks ago on Kickstarter.

The name “Tanky” comes from a mechanism for vertical adjustment of the built-in HD camera by Sony, which looks similar to a tank. As creators said – “The inspiration for Tanky’s name came from Tiny Tank, a video game from the early 2000s about a cute killing machine. Tanky is a cute flying machine”.

The first thing that distinguishes it from commercial drones is an amazing velocity, a good strength and intuitive control. The drone reaches a speed of 100mph (160 km/h). What is amazing is the incredible agility at such a high-speed. It can go incredibly fast, flip, roll, or race through the trees. To achieve this, Tanky can lean at an angle up to 80°.

Tanky was designed with an X-shaped frame. The more you lean it over, as you accelerate, the more aerodynamic it becomes. With Tanky leaned over by 45 degrees it actually provides a slight amount of lift, which means more of the motors’ energy can be redirected to forward momentum.

Drone has a rugged housing made of light carbon fiber and the body covered with polycarbonate. The plastic cover around the motors protects them from an impact. Another advantage is the size and weight. With just 282 grams it weights up to 30% less than comparable competitors.

In the package you also get a controller that offers a flexible configuratio e.g. you can control angle of the the build-in camera during a flight. Drone is equipped with sixteen programmable diodes that indicate a position in the air to allow is easier control of the device. Another feature is a dedicated carrying case. But that’s not all. In the premium package you can also purchase Tanky with VR goggles that will allow you to fully experience the flight!

What else to add… Tanky hypes my expectations and I wish Yuki and Stefan to successfully carry out this project to success.