Australian aerospace engineer Benjamin Biggs has just clocked 411 mph (661 km/h) with a battery-powered, remote-controlled drone. No official Guinness stamp yet, but it's faster than the current record held by South African father-son team Mike and Luke Bell.
The sporting rivalry between Biggs and the Bells has turned into an ever more thrilling speed race. What started in May 2024 with the Bells' Peregrine 2 hitting 300 mph (482 km/h) has become a dizzying escalation: 363 mph (585 km/h) in October 2025, 389 mph (626 km/h) in December, and 408 mph (656 km/h) in early January 2026. Now Biggs has fired back with a from-scratch design that hit 411 mph (661 km/h).
"So, a couple of weeks after we set our new world record, Luke went and beat our record," Biggs explains at the start of his video documenting his latest attempt. "So, we couldn't have that!"
Biggs ran two passes following Guinness guidelines. One downwind at 395 mph (635 km/h) and one upwind at 429 mph (690 km/h), averaging 411 mph (661 km/h) after accounting for the mandatory 328-ft (100-m) measurement zone. Unfortunately, he couldn't get certified professional drone pilots on-site in time to make it official – a Thursday morning logistics problem that means the record stays unofficial for now.
The secret to squeezing out those extra miles per second is in balancing motor power and battery output without overheating, while slashing aerodynamic drag and weight. Biggs uses two SMC 7S 6,000-mAh batteries wired in series to create a 14S configuration – basically, more voltage means you can push the same power through lower current, which keeps things cooler. He also overcharges the batteries to 4.35 volts per cell instead of the standard 4.2, letting them maintain higher voltage under load so the motors spin faster.
Biggs’ design also breaks from convention. The engineer went with a "puller" configuration – motors up front – so the propellers bite into clean air instead of turbulent wash from the frame. The custom-wound AAX 2826 Competition motors have extra-long coil leads fed directly through the drone's arms and soldered straight to the speed controllers, eliminating unnecessary wiring and keeping the arms ultra-slim. The Blackbird's propellers were trimmed down to hit higher top speeds as well.
During the record run, the motors spun at 34,000 RPM while the batteries held 3.1 volts per cell at peak velocity. "I think those motors will just fly all day like that," Biggs says after landing, with the batteries still at 8% charge and a relatively cool 169 °F (76 °C).
This particular Guinness category is explicitly limited to battery-powered, remote-controlled quadcopters, a technological niche where 411 mph is already seriously impressive. Will the Bells answer with an even faster Peregrine V5 before Biggs manages to formalize his record once he rounds up the required official witnesses, or will the Australian engineer tune things up for an even quicker official run?
Either way, each design iteration pushes the boundaries of what lithium-ion batteries and propellers can achieve in dense air at low altitude – though given the relatively marginal speed increase achieved by the Blackbird over the current official record, we wonder whether this particular battle for aerial supremacy has about run its course for current technologies.
Source: Benjamin Biggs/Drone Pro Hub
