Welcome to the 2025-2026 TSA Challenge!

Smoky Hill’s Drone team is excited to announce two upcoming virtual drone racing challenges in December and January, building momentum toward the TSA State Championships. These events are open to all schools, whether or not they plan to compete at state—making this a perfect opportunity for pilots to sharpen their skills and experience competitive racing.

Why Join?

Compete against drone pilots from across Colorado in a fun, fast-paced environment.
Rankings will be posted individually, by team, and by division (Middle School and High School) to ensure fair recognition at every level.
Divisions include Middle School, High School, and an Instructor category.

How It Works

All racing takes place on the Velocidrone simulator.
Pilots of all skill levels—from beginners to experts—are welcome.
No prior experience is necessary, but we recommend practicing before the event.

Practice Window
You can practice the official course as many times as you like until December 31 at midnight.

Got Questions? Email: Dan Cornell: Dcornell2@cherrycreekschools.org

The 2025 SDS December TSA Challenge

Welcome to the 2025 SDS December TSA Challenge!
This exciting event brings together drone pilots from across Colorado for a fun and competitive experience. This was originally set up for the official TSA event who already have the software and controllers, but it also gives other schools an opportunity to try out the event. Any school can join—even if they’re not participating in the TSA state championships. Pilots will be ranked individually, as part of a team, and within their division (middle school and high school).

All racing will take place using the Velocidrone simulator, and pilots of all skill levels—from beginners to experts—are welcome. Divisions include Middle School, High School, and an Instructor category. No prior experience or equipment is required, though we recommend practicing before the event.

You can practice the official course as many times as you like until December 31 at midnight.

The December track can be downloaded through VelociDrone by searching for:

Track Name: TSA December Challenge 2025-26

Uploaded by: CRANK-E

Track Designed by Cumber FPV- Smoky Hill Class of '27

PILOT REGISTRATION

TEAM REGISTRATION

*How to download the course and race in Nemisis mode?

First go to the Track Manager.

Search for 'TSA", find the track called "TSA December Challenge 2025-26" and hit Download.

Choose Nemisis mode and it will open the drone options page.

DaRules

Drone Requirements

This is an indoor FPV course featuring smaller gates that are better suited for micro drones and 3-inch quads. While the design favors compact drones for agility and precision, any size drone can be flown on this track.

Indoor courses typically require tighter turns and more technical control, making them an excellent challenge for pilots looking to improve accuracy and flow. In contrast, outdoor tracks use much larger gates—often 60-inch square—allowing for higher speeds and wider maneuvers.

Registration

You must register individually to participate.
Team registration (5 pilots) is optional but recommended for community engagement. Even if you need to recruit new pilots to ensure you have a full team.

Race Mode

All qualifying runs must be flown in Nemesis Mode to ensure consistency and fairness. *This will also automatically rank you with the other pilots.

Submission & Verification

Record your best run and submit your time; you can fly the course as many times as you want until the deadline. *Suggestion enable auto time upload.

Scoring & Leaderboard

Fastest verified times will be posted on the official leaderboard.
Team score will be based on Average Time:

Team rankings will be determined by the average time of all registered pilots on the team. This approach ensures a fair playing field for teams of different sizes and emphasizes consistency across the entire roster, not just individual speed.

Because every pilot’s time contributes to the team average, one slow run can significantly impact the overall score. This creates an incentive for all team members to train harder, refine their skills, and support each other to achieve steady, reliable performance.

Integrity & Fair Play

This competition is based on honesty and trust.
You must fly using your own account.
Do not allow anyone else to fly in your place.
Times submitted should reflect your actual performance.

Community Conduct

Respect other pilots and maintain a positive, sportsmanlike attitude.
Any cheating or misconduct will result in disqualification.

What is Velocidrone? Velocidrone is a fast paced multi-player and single player FPV drone racing simulator. Using real world racing drones you can fly through an unlimited array of custom tracks with a variety of gates and barriers to hone your racing skills. Some of the gates even move! Our Time attack mode also lets you set the pace and improve with every lap whilst racing against yourself. https://www.velocidrone.com/

What is the cost? This competition is free, but you will NEED the software ($15) and a controller ($17). You can use an XBOX controller, but it is not ideal. Students can purchase a lifetime software licenses for ~$22. I purchase the licenses in bulk and students can be directed to buy from Smoky Hill for $15 which will also include the Microdrone upgrade Micro Class Quads pack ($5.12). Send a receipt and I will send the student a code.

Most of my students use a shared license, I have a license for each computer. SDS Pilot (1-30 ) and I teach 3 drone classes in a semester and the students share based on the computer they sit at.

I purchase the licenses in bulk and students can be directed to buy from Smoky Hill for $15. Send a receipt and I will send the student a code.

https://cherrycreek.revtrak.net/high-schools/shhs/shhs-student-class-fees-/shhs-student-class-fees-/#/v/SHHS-COMPUTERAPPLIED-TECH-CLASS-FEES

This is the BEST controller, at $17 which is a steal. I also have a 15% discount code. if you need it. Let me know . . . This is what we use in the class room on SIMS.