Father and Son Team Score World Record With Speedy Drone

Mike and Luke Bell have officially reclaimed the Guinness World Record for the fastest battery-powered, remote-controlled quadcopter.

Their custom-built drone, the Peregrine 4, clocked a staggering average speed of 657 kilometres per hour during trials near Melkbostrand in the Western Cape, South Africa.

The achievement marks the third time the father-and-son team have held the title, snatching it back just days after an Australian engineer had set a new benchmark. To secure the record, the duo had to average two flights in opposite directions to negate wind influence. At its peak, the Peregrine 4 reaches Mach 0.53, meaning its propeller tips approach half the speed of sound.

The Bells’ feat is a triumph of home-grown engineering and 3D-printing technology. Utilising a high-end printer, they created a unified carbon-fibre body that integrated the camera mount and landing system into a single, aerodynamic component. They also upgraded the propulsion system to include four high-torque brushless motors.

“It accelerates faster than a Formula 1 car and its top speed is twice as fast,” Luke Bell recently told a local publication.

While father Mike is a renowned architect – famous for designing the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga – Luke is a tech content creator. Together, their two-year journey of “tinkering and testing” has resulted in the fastest electric flight currently on the planet.

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