The bodies: who writes the law, the codes and the racing rules.

Drone racing answers to three kinds of body: the government authorities that make aviation and radio law in each country, the model-aircraft associations whose codes bind their members, and the sport bodies and organisers that write racing rules. This page names each and says what it does.

Fly within the rules

This page explains what aviation authorities, model-aircraft associations, racing bodies and researchers publish. It is not legal advice and not a substitute for your aviation authority's own rules, a club safety officer or proper training.

Aviation authorities: the law, country by country

Only a government authority makes aviation law, and only for its own country or bloc. Each has its own page in this section, because the rules are different everywhere and never carry over.

Where	Authority	Main texts used on this site
United States	Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)	49 U.S.C. 44809 for recreational flying, and 14 CFR Parts 48, 89 and 107, read mainly from Cornell's Legal Information Institute copies, with Federal Register documents, because faa.gov could not be opened. See the law in the United States.
United Kingdom	Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)	The Drone and Model Aircraft Code, CAP2320 (March 2026), which summarises the UK versions of Regulations 2019/945 and 2019/947 and the Air Navigation Order 2016. See the law in the UK.
European Union	EASA's pages and FAQs explain the EU framework	Regulation (EU) 2019/947 (as adopted in 2019) and EASA's FAQs and pages. See the law in the EU.
Canada	Transport Canada	Canadian Aviation Regulations Part IX, as explained in its Aeronautical Information Manual RPA chapter (19 March 2026). See the law in Canada.
Australia	Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA)	Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 Part 101 and CASA instruments, read from the Federal Register of Legislation and from a copy of one CASA instrument hosted by the MAAA, because casa.gov.au could not be opened. See the law in Australia.

Radio regulators

The video and control links use radio transmitters, so radio law applies too, and it comes from different bodies: the FCC in the US, Ofcom in the UK, CEPT's Electronic Communications Committee as the regional body for Europe, ISED in Canada and ACMA in Australia. See radio rules by country.

The FAI: the international sport body

The FAI, the world air sports federation, runs drone racing through its Aeromodelling Commission, known as CIAM, as category F9 Drone Sport. Its F9 rule book (2025 edition, effective 1 May 2025) names a Drone Sport Subcommittee Chairman and the CIAM Bureau as the bodies that select World Cup events (A.2.1 and A.2.2). The FAI says in that rule book that national air law takes precedence over its sport rules wherever it applies.

How the FAI took up drone racing

The FAI's older drone-racing page records this sequence:

2014: the CIAM Plenary created a UAV Working Group.
2015: it set up an Organising Committee for International Events for Drones.
2016: it approved a racing class and a World Cup, and created an "FPV Racing and Similar Activities Subcommittee". The class was then called F3U, for electric multirotors with at least three propellers and a maximum flight weight of 1 kg.

The FAI's CIAM page, read on a 2025 mirror of fai.org, repeats those steps and adds that the 2018 CIAM Plenary created a new category dedicated to drones, so that from 1 January 2019 all drone matters fall under F9 Drone Sport. A search summary of FAI pages that themselves returned errors also says Bruno Delor has chaired the subcommittee since April 2016; that point is unconfirmed.

The World Cup

The FAI Drone Racing World Cup has two series, Challenger and Masters, and every event in it is an FAI Second Category event on the FAI calendar (F9 2025, A.2). The Drone Sport Subcommittee Chairman selects Challenger events, at most two per country (more for countries spanning over three time zones); the CIAM Bureau selects Masters events. Anyone holding a valid FAI Sporting Licence or FAI Drone Permission may enter, though Masters events may be restricted by a sliding 12-month World Cup ranking (A.3). How points are scored is on how a race works.

MultiGP: an organiser and league

MultiGP sells race sanctioning and runs a league, so this site treats it as an organiser. Its home page names Chris Thomas as CEO and founder, and claims it is the world's largest drone racing league and FPV community; that is MultiGP's own description. It runs local chapters that hold races and a Global Qualifier that feeds its annual championship. It names RaceSync as its official scoring software and Velocidrone as its official simulator.

From Wikipedia only: MultiGP was founded in February 2015 by Chris Thomas, is based in Palm Bay, Florida, is a Special Interest Group of the Academy of Model Aeronautics, and has run a Global Qualifier open to any FPV pilot worldwide since 2018. MultiGP's home page shows the AMA logo but does not describe the relationship. Its classes are on MultiGP classes.

The Drone Racing League: an organiser, status unconfirmed

Wikipedia says the Drone Racing League (DRL) was founded in 2015 by Nicholas Horbaczewski, launched publicly in January 2016, and raced identical drones built by the league (Racer2 in 2016, Racer3 in 2017 and 2018, Racer4 from 2019). Its launch date is reported two ways: Arab News (16 September 2018) also says the first season began in January 2016, while Fortune (26 January 2016) reported that the season was to launch on 22 February 2016. The DRL was acquired by Infinite Reality in April 2024, according to The Drone Girl, a trade publication (22 October 2024). Trade press reported in November 2024 that the DRL had announced its pilot line-up for a "2025 DRL U.S. Air Force Miami Invitational".

Wikipedia also says the DRL is no longer active, after a planned 2025 event was postponed indefinitely, and that its assets, including Racer4 drones, were auctioned in 2026 in a liquidation. No primary or press source for that was found, so it is unconfirmed.

National model-aircraft associations

These associations write codes for their members. In some countries the aviation authority has given an association an authorisation or exemption, so that members flying on its terms may do things the general rules would not allow. The association's code is still not the law; the authority's instrument is.

United States: Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA): Publishes the National Model Aircraft Safety Code (effective 1 January 2018) and Document 550 on first-person-view flying (updated 3 March 2021). Under 49 U.S.C. 44809(a)(2), recreational flyers follow the safety guidelines of a community-based organisation recognised by the FAA. A search summary of the FAA's list of recognised organisations (the page itself could not be opened) names the AMA, the First Person View Freedom Coalition, the Flite Test Community Association and STEM+C Inc.; that list is unconfirmed.
United Kingdom: British Model Flying Association (BMFA) and FPV UK: The BMFA holds a CAA Article 16 Operational Authorisation for its members and British Drone Flyers members; its page gives the current one as Issue 8, dated December 2025. A December 2025 trade report says FPV UK received its own 8th-issue Article 16 authorisation for 2026. CAP2320 (March 2026, page 24) notes that membership of a recognised association may give additional flying permissions on its conditions.
Canada: Model Aeronautics Association of Canada (MAAC): Transport Canada exemption NCR-011-2019 (signed 17 May 2019, effective 1 June 2019) exempts MAAC and members in good standing from CARs Part IX for models of 250 g to 35 kg flown under MAAC's safety guidelines. The page read is on Transport Canada's legacy site with no current-status statement, so whether the exemption is still in force is unconfirmed.
Australia: Model Aeronautical Association of Australia (MAAA): Holds CASA instrument CASA.RPAS.0572 (read from a copy hosted by the MAAA), which approves first-person-view flying for MAAA affiliate members and listed visitor classes at registered MAAA club fields and CASA-approved MAAA events, from 1 September 2022 to the end of August 2027, under the MAAA's FPV policy MOP066. In MOP066 the MAAA describes itself as recognised by CASA as a Recreational Aviation Administration Organisation; that is the association's own statement.

What each association's rules require of FPV pilots is on flying with goggles and observers, and their training schemes are on how people learn.

Sources

Keep reading

The law in the United States

The eight conditions of 49 U.S.C. 44809, when Part 107 applies, the TRUST test, Part 48 registration and the 0.55 lb line, Part 89 Remote ID and FRIAs, ages, and enforcement, each with its rule and date.

How people learn

The knowledge tests and certificates each aviation authority requires, country by country; the AMA's FPV novice and spotter rules, the BMFA Achievement Scheme with its FPV extension, MAAC's FPV documents and the MAAA's Wings; and simulators as organisers name them.

How many people fly

MultiGP's own pilot and chapter claims against Wikipedia's, the CAA's 500,000 estimate, the FAA's registration figures (unconfirmed), and the World Games and World Cup fields, each with its source and date.