Sam Nakamura

FPV pilot, drone builder, and racing circuit designer. Sam has covered professional drone racing since the DRL's inaugural season.

Articles

• From Warehouse Hobby to Global League: The Surprising Business of Drone Racing — A decade from empty warehouses to a $250M acquisition, televised global leagues, and AI pilots racing humans. Here's the full story of how drone racing became a serious business.
• What Is Drone Racing? A Beginner's Guide to the Sport Built for the FPV Generation — Formula 1 reimagined for a warehouse — custom-built quadcopters, first-person-view goggles, 90 mph speeds, and an AI revolution already underway. Here's everything you need to know.
• Best FPV Racing Simulator in 2025: Velocidrone, Liftoff, DRL Sim, and Uncrashed Compared — A pilot-tested ranking of the best FPV drone racing simulators in 2025. We break down realism, race-mode quality, hardware support, and which sim builds the skills that transfer to real racing.
• Inside the Drone Racing League: How Professional FPV Racing Actually Works — The Drone Racing League is the closest thing to a sanctioned professional FPV sport. Here is what sets it apart from club racing, and why the speeds involved are difficult to comprehend until you see them in person.
• Best FPV Racing Drones in 2024: From Beginner Whoops to Full Competition Builds — Whether you are picking up your first micro whoop or building a serious 5-inch race quad, this is the hardware landscape for FPV racing in 2024 — what is worth buying, what to skip, and why the price gaps exist.
• How FPV Race Tracks Are Designed: The Physics and Psychology of a Good Course — A well-designed FPV race course separates good pilots from great ones without being arbitrary. Here is what goes into building a course that produces real competition — from gate placement to altitude changes.