These Guys Strapped a RED Camera to a 100mph FPV Racing Drone

Filmmaker and YouTuber Potato Jet recently teamed up with first person view (FPV) racing drone pilot Paul Nurkkala to try something kind of crazy: they strapped Potato Jet’s RED cinema camera to a custom-built, high-speed octa-copter and took it for a spin… and a flip… and a few more maneuvers besides.

It’s worth pointing out that Nurkkala isn’t just any FPV drone pilot, he’s actually a regular contestant in the Drone Racing League on NBC and the 2018 world champion of drone racing. He also shoots commercially for movies and television, capturing high-speed stylized footage that you simply can’t shoot with a “regular” drone that has a bunch of sensors onboard to keep you from crashing.

In other words: If you’re gonna let anybody take your RED camera for a joy ride while strapped to a high-speed racing drone with no safety features whatsoever, Nurkkala is probably your best bet for getting that RED back in one piece.

For this video, Potato Jet and Nurkkala first explain what makes racing drones special: mainly touching on the crazy power-to-weight ratio and how that makes these drones incredibly hard to control. Then they practice on a few smaller drones before Nurkkala puts googles on his head and a RED camera in the air.

To see all of this and more for yourself, check out the full video up top.

And if you want to dive deeper into the world of FPV drones, definitely check out Nurkkala’s YouTube channel or head over to his website. As interesting as this particular drone-to-camera mash-up is, it’s far from the coolest footage Nurkkala has captured this year.