Whoop Arena : Singapore First Indoor Drone Racing

 

Always wanted to drone with your kids, but not sure how you can do it.

Now you can, with Whoop Arena!

This dad and his boy have always been fascinated by drones. We were on the verge of purchasing one when new drone laws were introduced in Singapore. Under the current rules, all drones above 250g must be registered with CAAS. A Permit is also required for drones that weigh more than 7kg and flown above 60m. Moreover, users must be at least 16 years at registration. Those below 16 must ensure that the drones they are flying are registered by someone eligible and have permission to use it.

Additionally, you cannot simply just pick a drone up and fly anywhere as there are restrictions on where to fly. Given these restrictions, we decided to give up on hopes of flying a drone... until Whoop Arena invited us for a flight in Singapore's first indoor FPV drone Racing arena. It is an offer that is hard to refuse.

Whoop Arena

Whoop Arena is billed as Singapore's first Indoor drone arena. It is located at Midview City (Sing Ming Ln) as a pop-up store.  When we first reached the premises, we were quite fascinated that you can fly a drone indoors and even more delighted to know that you can race them.

Microdrone-Whoop Arean

The drones that Whoop Arena used is known as microdrone. They are much smaller and lighter than the drones you would use outdoors. Each drone is equipped with a camera that would be linked to a monitor and remote control. This would give you a First-Person-View(FPV). 

FPV

Basically, you would fly the drone by looking at the screen instead of the drone itself. Control is pretty standard. For anyone who played Xbox or PlayStation, getting the drone flying basics would be done in a jiffy. 

Gameplay

Prepare for Flight

For our session, we opt for a 2 x 30-minute beginners session. What we got was a briefing and guidance from FPV Chief Pilot with unlimited tries and batteries.

Preparing for flight

Our session began with a  test flight around the course to get used to the control. 

Going through obstacles

Besides a race around the room, you could add degrees of difficulty by going through obstacles and tunnels.

Tunnel Flight

You could even choose to do different challenges like using nerf guns to bring down your opponents. 

Shoot the Drones down!

There are also targets for you to aim at using the drone.

Target Shooting

Other than Drone Flying and Racing, Whoop Arena also provides other activities such as stem workshops where you can apply coding to drones!

Verdict

Battle Mode

Once we are ready, we had a father vs son speed race around the track. The boy has beaten his old man 5 times out of 5 flights. Needless to say, he is the better pilot. This is probably due to his weekly 'practise' on PlayStation. Predictably, the boy had enjoyed his session that he had asked for another rematch. 

Choose your challenges

 

We were pleasantly surprised by the different games and race we could do there. For a cosy day out, a family of 4 would enjoy a session or two at Whoop Arena. If you have not flown a drone or always intend to fly one, we highly recommend a session at Whoop Arena.

With Izack, the owner

Do act fast, the pop-up store will only last till 30 April. After that, the owner Izack has plans to convert his home to an arena. It will be interesting to see what set up he can achieve in the future.

Whoop Arena 

18 Sin Ming Lane

#06-03

Midview City, Singapore 573960

You can make a booking for a session here.