All the planning, work, negotiation, building and volunteer effort all comes together today to find out who are our three class finalists and winners of this year’s Birmingham International Race Days Tiny Whoop event.
For once in the history of drone racing, we finished the qualifying racing exactly on time giving us plenty of time to have a decent meal and a decent night’s sleep before today’s racing. Once again I was first to arrive and very soon after, did my eager helpers turn up to help get paper sheets swapped out for fresh ones, gates all in the right places, projectors, TV’s, lights, all switched on and ready to go.
We had stayed late last night to get through all the VAR requests and even with us checking over everything there were still a few times that were not quite right. I had a few people contact me and say that they were not where they were meant to be. In any other sport you’d expect this to be people annoyed that what they thought was their best time had been missed and demanding a review. But in Tiny Whoop culture, it’s the opposite. People from 4 different countries came to me and asked for their times to be reviewed because they were too fast! They didn’t want to erroneously take the space of someone who was demonstrably faster than them and deprive someone of the chance they should have, to take the top spot. All of them could have stayed silent and raced in the higher class, but they were honest and demonstrated exceptional sportsmanship to raise their times for review and drop a class. I really love the people in the hobby for this attitude. Everyone is overwhelmingly there for a good time and to support each other. This did mean, however, that even after all the reviews we made last night, there were a few more to do this morning. Had they not affected the classes people were racing in, the Double Elimination format would have sorted them out anyway, but every single one made a class change which was important to do. We decided to push the start of the livestream and racing back by 30 mins to make these changes, which was the right call.
Hobby Class Racing
But after that, we were off and running with everyone tuning up when and where they were meant to, even though I forgot to send out the emails with each person’s start time! (Must not forget to do that next year!) The Hobbyist class were first up with practice batteries for the pilots. This was another change we implemented from feedback last year. Pilots wanted just a couple packs to get warmed back up and settled into the hot seats before any race made an impact on their positions. It added another 30 mins to the day, but all the pilots were grateful for it, especially after the skinful some had had last night!
Whereas during qualifying all the pilots were randomly distributed across the day into 3 groups, these races were taking place with all similarly fast pilots. It meant that every flight had some really close racing, and all of them made a difference to how far the pilot progressed towards the class finals. We ran the Double Elimination format for the first time this year after some grumbling but eventually taking on board the pilots feedback. I had to remind myself that I may be organising the race, but its got to support the majority of pilots passionate desire for what they see as the best format. This meant that after their first races, the pilots in 1st and 2nd would progress along the “Winners” bracket and those in 3rd or 4th would enter the last chance saloon in the “Losers” bracket. From here, if they lost once more, they would be out and that would seal their position. But keep winning and you could go all the way to the finals!
Hobbyist Class Finals
Archie sprung off the line and down the straight leaving everyone behind with a significant gap. Round the first corner, up over the weBLEEDfpv split S he had an immediate lead. InfernoFPV, his biggest competition, had a technical issue leaving him sitting on the start block watching everyone disappear ahead. Archie pulled out a good lead thru the first 2 laps flying smoothly and cleanly. Meanwhile the battle for 2nd was a lot closer with JamesTX and RCManiac98 chasing each other around the track. But the nerves getting to Maniac gave him twitchy thumbs, leading to a couple more bobbles and crashes let JamesTX get a small lead that started to grow. Archie comfortably brought home the win parking it in the crash gate. And almost a lap ahead of RCManiac98, JamesTX took the 2nd spot. But the commentators, remembering last year’s rules, went nuts when he bounced out! They wanted him to get that 2nd spot so much they were calling out to keep flying and park it in the crashgate, but he was safe with the 2nd position as RCManiac98 flew over him, into the crashgate for 3rd leaving InfernoFPV sitting where he started, suffering an unlucky faulty whoop but still taking home the 4th place Hobbyist class title and a bunch of prizes from BIRD 2025.
Hobbyist Class Results
- Archie
- JamesTX
- RCManiac98
- InfernoFPV
- Berats Builds
- DavNav
- The Hann FPV
- Yggdrasil FPV
- Norfolk N Good
- Viking FPV
- Dr Prop
- Ubik
- Les Cargo
- Jippyhesus
- Kiz
- Thornberry
Seeing all the close racing was amazing and this had just been the Hobbyist Finals! I remember when I found out the list of pilots attending, I had fun going through the list trying to work out who was going to be in Elite Class. There were so many fast pilots that as I scrolled down the list, I kept thinking “that pilot, and that pilot, and that pilot…. could all be Elite…” but there wasn’t enough space for them all.
Advanced Class Racing
With lots of fast pilots, the Advanced Class was going to be fast and very competitive. It was immediately a step up and the racing was fast with pilots pushing to stay in the 1 & 2 spots. It got so close that race number 3 had to go to the video referee for a decision. Quax had a terrible start crashing immediately at the timing gate and having to loop back around to avoid being disqualified. It took him a lap to settle back down and start laying down some quick times chasing Mike and Martian. Elderondo was out ahead and comfortably stayed there the whole race. This meant Mike and Martian were fighting for 2nd position to avoid being relegated to the losers bracket so kept swapping placed as the pressure forced mistakes. This gave Quax time to catch up, taking Mike and then catching Martian on the last corner. It was then a straight shot to the crash gate which is when Quax pitched right forward and 100% throttle sent it to try and catch Martian. They both entered the crash gate at seemingly the same time but on video review there was just 1 frame of video separating them. Quax had crossed the timing gate behind Martian but then his speed and momentum had caught Martian and just pipped him to the post, to claim the number 2 position. This was a contentious decision for the VAR team and RD as it relegated Martian to the cutely named “losers” bracket.
This year we had stepped up the video production with help from Birmingham City University media students. They were on site with cameras, microphones and lighting to get interviews with the pilots about the racing. I watched this happen and knew we had to get a post race interview between these pilots. Collaring them in the pits we had a great chat about the race and had a chance to see the camaraderie and sportsmanship that the Tiny Whoop community fosters. They both wanted the position but the racing was excellent and they were both laughing and joking around congratulating each other for the race.
I had a great time doing the interview with the pilots and the BCU students. They now had only an hour or so to cut it together and get it over to the live stream while it was fresh. I went and badgered RC Maniac on the VAR station to dig out the video and he expertly fished out the DVR. Bringing it all together and telling the story meant it was my favourite interview and bit of video of the whole event. This was a huge step toward making BIRD an entertaining show, not just a livestream of some nerds flying toys – as fun as I find those anyway! Haha!
I can’t go into detail of all the racing in Advanced class but it just kept getting faster and faster, with pilots giving it their absolute all, but pretty soon we were staring at the final 4 pilots; Eldronado, Rich, Dan Carpy and Dirty Mc Stinky. Big names in their own right now flying for glory.
Advanced Class Final
Dan Carpy jumped off the line and got an early lead all the way thru to the first puff the magic dragon circuit. Rich goes down and lets Eldronado thru but is up and flying again chasing him down. They are neck and next thru the dutch eight and Dan Carpy bounces off the gate under Puff letting them close the gap a little. Dirty Mc Stinky at the back but looking quick keeping the pressure on till a bounce on the weird triple thing sets him back, but its Oven Ready Dan Carpy leading the charge all the way to the crash gate. Eldronado having shaken Rich off his heels puts it neatly away for 2nd place but Dirty has closed the gap silently and swiftly catching up and he took rich on the way around Puff for the last time before a bobble on the hurdle sends him crashing out and hands 3rd place to Rich in a dramatic finish.
Advanced Class Results
- Dan Carpy
- Eldronado
- Rich
- DirtyMcStinky
- antihype
- maxPOWER
- Bgarage
- MDV_FPV
- Meska
- QuaxFPV
- Jaggers
- MikeFPV
- AC Unit
- Ed
- Chrissy
- Martian Mcfly
I had great fun designing the track this year as I tried to take on a lot of feedback from all the previous years tracks and feedback from setting tracks every week at our regular meets. I set out with a goal of it being no longer than 30 seconds at my pace. I figured this meant the fastest pilots would get somewhere around 20 seconds but even the slowest pilots would take no longer than 45 seconds to one minute. But I also wanted to incorporate a lot of interesting elements, the best of which were two inflatable dragons that would make interesting features to fly around. After lots of planning and thinking about the different moves for a long time, I was very happy to get compliments from racers about the track. It’s something a little bit different and a little bit special, which I am glad I was able to create given that a sports hall is a very blank canvas. FPV Gilbert said it was like a SIM race with all the elevation change and 3D elements which is high praise given he came fourth overall and is a top FPV racer known across the world for racing in DCL.
I’m also honored that (Circles) has recreated the track in the Velocidrone simulator so that everybody can have a go and fly our crazy track from BIRD 2025. If you get a chance, have a go, and let me know what you think!
Elite Class Racing
Now it was time for the big boys. After some practice batteries to get them warmed up, and a bit of crazy singing from our RD and live stream host Cerb, it was time to see what they could do.
Once again the racing was turned up another notch. Every single heat in this class was quick and some serious battles unfolded and drama caught out some pilots. Some bad hardware problems took down Infinity too early, Kwadastrophy’s video went all squiffy costing him lots of time, Lightsail got caught under Eric sending him into the losers bracket and Minus_1 missed the crashgate and ended up in a pile of prizes! But I won’t spoil all the action, you should watch the livestream and enjoy the skill of these pilots.
The titans that have battled thru all the stages of double eliminations now meet on the starting line. Nightwing and Daylight both making it look straight forward with 1st place in all their races, meeting in race 11 they both went thru and pushed ReeFPV into the elimination zone. FPV Gilbert took the long way round and had to fight to stay alive for 3 races to get to this point. Meeting ReeFPV in race 13 they went head to head and both got thru and now show down again in the final race of BIRD 2025.
Elite Class Final
The beeps set them off all together and its a train of LED’s zipping thru the air. ReeFPV has a great view of Daylight and Nightwing’s lights, not 1m ahead of him as they round Eric the sea serpent. FPV Gilbert just goes a bit wide and a light touch down throws him off line letting the rest of the pack get ahead, where Ree makes up a place on Daylight in the weird triple thing, chasing down Nightwing into the infinity tunnel. Taking the dive and puff the magic dragon smoothly they all cork the hurdle and fire off down the straight onto their next laps. FPV Gilbert makes up time on Daylight in the big weBLEED split S and has the lead into the infinity tunnel but a mistake on the dutch eight sends him spinning and Daylight retakes 3rd spot. As Nightwing starts his 2nd lap, Ree is right on his tail taking opposite side swoops into the webleed split S they are right on top of eachother into the infinity tunnel where Ree takes a tumble. This gave Nightwing a few seconds but he spends them on bouncing off the dive gate and taking another attempt. Ree follows suit taking 2 attempts at the dive letting that gap extend but Nightwings next mistake under Puff and lets Ree make the pass into the number 1 spot. For the first time, Nightwing is chasing and Ree is getting away, over the big split S and into Eric he can see Ree’s lights ahead of him. Meanwhile Daylight had a good lead on FPV Gilbert but just tring to slice the infinity tunnel to sharply he crashes into oblivion and spends way too long recovering. 1 turtle, 2 turtles, 3 turtles and a spin around to exit the tunnel but this has let Gilbert catch up about ¾ of a lap keeping the pressure on. Nightwing is chasing Ree hard up and into the dive gate go 3 whoops at once, lapping FPV gilbert, its neck and neck around Puff the magic dragon. Over the hurdle on the last corner ReeFPV has a wobbly exit and runs just a little wide, but thats all Nightwing needs. With a clean corner and a straight shot into the crashgate, he sends it hard as Ree piles in behind him just missing the win on the last corner! History repeats itself as Nightwing takes the 1 spot and Ree into 2nd with Daylight bringing in a comfortable 3rd and Gilbert who had one too many bobbles, gets a resounding cheer for 4th.
Elite Class Results
- Nightwing
- ReeFPV
- Daylight
- FPV Gilbert
- oscarnova
- Minus_One
- Joe FPV
- Kwadastrophe
- GoProMaster
- Lightsail
- jM
- MaKenins
- TheRedMati
- PigodFPV
- Infinityfpv
- (CircleS)
Now all the racing done there was one more flight that everyone could take part in – the Paper Trail Line Of Sight Endurance Battery Torture Mass Flight Event….thing…
This is where every pilot was invited to join in and tie a length of paper streamer to their whoop. When ready, they all had to fly their whoops en mass line of sight, until all but one fell out of the air. After a bit more cat herding and distribution of paper streamers, about 30 pilots all took off all at once and flew around the hall. It was mad to see so many whoops in the air at once and the paper trails made it tricky to keep flying. If you went high to avoid others paper trails, you risked someone getting tangled in yours and dragging you down. And going too low meant you might get tangled! Some took the anarchistic approach and bombed around trying to take out as many whoops as possible and others snuck away and hovered quietly in a corner just trying to out last everyone else. After 2 mins of aerial pandemonium whoops started dropping as batteries gave up their last mAh. Finally there was one whoop left and Berat’s Builds took the prize!
Now the flying was done I was furnished with a microphone and, along with Cerb, had the great pleasure of awarding the podium prizes and thanking all the helpers and sponsors for their support.
Our wonderful gold sponsors who gave from the bottom of their hearts and their wallets to facilitate this race. They are the most generous companies in FPV and help spread the gift of flight even further with every purchase you make from their stores. Please take time to visit them and thank them with a purchase
💛 weBLEEDfpv 💛
💛 Minifigs.me 💛
Continuing their long running support of BIRD we have our glorious Silver sponsors who also gave generously to this event. You’ll have gifts from them in your pilot packs so try out their stuff and share the love for
🤍 HQ Prop 🤍 🤍 HappyModel 🤍
🤍 ViFly 🤍 🤍 Gemfan 🤍
And last but not least the collection of Supporting Sponsor companies who just wanted to throw their hat in the ring and offer love and support for what we are doing at BIRD. Making it extra special and giving something back to the FPV community. Thanks to you all.
👍 TinyWhoop.com
👍 Racetech – Bringing real racing seats to FPV & Gaming
👍 Speedy Pizza Drones & Italian Whoop League
👍 HGLRC
👍 BMFA – for bringing their simulators
👍 Diatone
👍 SqueakyPrints – For 3D printing everything in the hobby
👍 T-Motor
👍 SkillSupply – for running STEM education using drones
👍 VCI Hobby
👍 BetaFPV – For their support every year since the first ever BIRD
Finally, Thanks from MiniRollsRule 💚
5 years ago it was just me, a laptop, and a timer. But now this huge production requires help from so many people. People who have come together, been to meetings, planned visuals and scenes, worked out the tech, donated and developed kit, created apps and produced graphics and pumped out social media posts all in support of this weekend. And then, come along and taken on responsibilities and tasks, giving up their weekend to help make BIRD incredible. I can’t thank all the volunteers and companies involved enough because without them, none of this could have happened.
This one was epic
Now off to the WhoopHaus for a party
See you next year at BIRD 2026
