Pilots to donate proceeds and parts to encourage a new generation of drone builders
C4K has been chosen as the beneficiary of the 3rd Annual Castle Hill Drone Race, organized by CvilleFPV and located at Castle Hill Cider on Sunday, May 19th, 2019. Members of the public are welcome to attend this free family-friendly event. Also on site will be the Firefly on the Fly Food Truck. Castle Hill will donate 10% of the day’s proceeds to C4K. Learn more here: http://bit.ly/C4KDroneRace.
On Sunday, May 19th drone racers from across the state will descend on Castle Hill Cider for the region’s premier FPV (first person view) drone racing event. Drone racing is a motorsport in which racers pilot radio-controlled multi-rotor quadcopter drones through a series of obstacles, flags, and gates. Racers use video goggles to see via the camera mounted to the drone, allowing the pilots to navigate the race course with precision and speed. Racers will compete for prizes from local sponsors Evolution FPV and FLYRCNOW. A live viewing station will be available for spectators to see the action from the racers video feeds.
Racers are invited to donate drone-building parts to C4K at the event. C4K’s youth members will use the specialist parts to build drones with their mentors at C4K after school. By building drones themselves, youth will understand drone mechanics, plus how to fix anything that might get broken in-flight. C4K’s 1:1 and group mentoring program provides local youth personalized mentoring on projects including drone building, programming, game design, electrical engineering, robotics, audio and video production, 3D modeling, and VR. In addition to donating parts, CvilleFPV will give $5 of the pilot registration fee to C4K.
Owen Zanzal, the race organizer, said:
“This is the 3rd year Castle Hill has hosted this event and we wanted to do something special by giving back. We love how C4K mentors inspire youth to learn about STEM careers by having fun and learning through hands-on projects. Drones are a fantastic way to access many aspects of STEM in an exhilarating way. We hope this event will inspire future drone builders and hope to see C4K youth racing in future events.”
Every year, C4K serves an average of 175 youth in grades 6 – 12 from across Charlottesville and Albemarle County. All programs are provided to youth year-round, free of charge. C4K is open to youth after school during the school year and all day during the summer.
Kala Somerville, Executive Director of C4K, remarked:
“The drone race brings together fascinating new technology and digital connectivity. By partnering with CvilleFPV, we are introducing our youth to this exciting trend sport. We believe that to flourish in today’s dynamic global economy; every young person should have access to an education that culminates in 21st-century readiness for college and careers. We provide mentors and personalized-training to support young learners toward a future full of choice.”
About CvilleFPV
We are a group of FPV enthusiasts based out of Charlottesville VA. Concentrated on multirotor racing and freestyle drones but FPV pilots of all kinds are welcome. We offer support and advice through our Facebook group and at meetup events. More info here: https://www.facebook.com/cvillefpv/. Click here to see a video from last year’s race.
About Castle Hill Cider
Our cider makers blend time-honored traditions with modern techniques to bring you refreshing and award-winning Virginia heritage cider. Born of apples grown in our orchard of nearly 7,000 trees, our ciders are dry in style and free of additives. We invite you to visit Castle Hill Cider Thursday – Monday in beautiful Keswick, Virginia, just 20 minutes from downtown Charlottesville. More info here: www.castlehillcider.com
Drones racing at 2018’s CvilleFPV Drone Race at Castle Hill Cider