580 km/h: A Summary for People in a Hurry

So, a couple of blokes decided 480 km/h wasn't quite fast enough. Their solution? A custom motor, some clever maths, and a frankly worrying amount of dry ice. The result was the Supernova 3220, a motor that powered their Peregrine drone to a ludicrous 580 km/h in the Dubai desert. Yes, you read that correctly.

This wasn't just a case of strapping on a bigger motor. Chris Rosser did the hard yards from his bedroom, figuring out that once you nail the magnetic geometry, you can just tweak the windings for whatever prop you fancy. To avoid simulating every possible magnet layout until the heat death of the universe, he used some high-brow Bayesian optimisation. Think of it as educated guessing, but with more Greek letters.

Of course, a pretty CAD file doesn't break records. RC inpower had the unenviable task of actually building the thing to tolerances tighter than a gnat's chuff. Then, to stop the motors from melting into a sad little puddle in the Dubai heat, the team resorted to a bit of thermal savagery: pre-cooling them with dry ice. It’s not cheating if it works.

The whole affair is a masterclass in pushing components well past their comfort zone. We've got the full, unabridged story for you to sink your teeth into right here. Or, if you'd rather just watch the man behind the motor explain it all, we've got that for you, too. Don't say we never do anything for you.