Baykar hosts FPV drone race to train young future aviators

Young FPV pilots turned the Özdemir Bayraktar National Technology Center into a proving ground on Aug. 1, with Baykar casting the race as a test of speed, reflexes and adrenaline for the next generation of Turkish aviators. The company said the young competitors were chasing more than fast laps, they were learning the kind of split-second judgment that separates a promising pilot from a future elite racer.

Baykar’s own framing made the competitive hierarchy clear: the race rewarded courage and skill under pressure, not just raw throttle. In its post on the event, the company said the pilots were “young pilots” who tested themselves on the course, while the English-language version emphasized that “speed” and “reflexes” were central to the contest and ended with the line, “Geleceğin havacıları bugünden yetişiyor!” That message positioned the event as a talent pipeline, with FPV racing serving as an entry point into aviation rather than a standalone spectacle.

The setting also fit Baykar’s broader industrial story. Baykar says it was founded in 1984 and is Türkiye’s first tech company to develop indigenous UAVs. Its Bayraktar TB2 page lists 1,250,000 hours of flight, a 12-meter wingspan, 27 hours in the air, a maximum speed of 120 knots and an altitude record of 27,030 feet, details that underline how deeply the company links youth training and drone racing to its defense-aerospace brand.

That branding extends to the Özdemir Bayraktar name itself. Baykar says the center’s art installation was selected through an international architecture competition, and Ukrainian participant Oleksandr Nikitenko won the “Art Installation Competition for the Özdemir Bayraktar National Technology Center” on July 23, 2022. The naming honors Özdemir Bayraktar, whom TRT World described in 2021 as an early architect of Türkiye’s drone success and the man who planted the seeds of the country’s UAV industry.

The FPV race also sat inside a much larger ecosystem. TEKNOFEST maintains a Drone Championship page with seasons listed from 2018 through 2026, showing how drone competition has become a recurring pipeline for talent in Türkiye. Internationally, the format has grown fast enough that 32 pilots from 27 countries raced at Istanbul’s Teknofest in 2025, giving Baykar’s youth race a wider competitive context: this is no longer a hobbyist lane, but a feeder system for serious drone racing and technical aviation careers.