Homemade Drone Obliterates World Record With a Top Speed of Almost 400 MPH
Ben Biggs, an Australian with a degree in aerospace engineering, recently built a drone that flew almost 400 mph – a new Guinness World Record. The 15-year drone pilot says he was inspired to create the world’s fastest drone after he watched a YouTube video.
Calling it “a bit of a fun project,” Biggs said he created his wicked-fast drone after watching a video of another drone going incredibly fast. “I saw that video, and it inspired me. I just thought it would be fun to try and beat it, and I think I’ve got the knowledge to do it,” he told Supercar Blondie.
Considering his homemade drone reached a top speed of 626 km/h (389.24 mph), he obviously did. His drone actually flew at 655 km/h (407 mph), but that speed was wind-assisted, so it didn’t officially count.
The latest drone speed record might not last long
By comparison, Biggs’ drone beat the NHRA speed record of 343.51 mph held by Brittany Force by over 45 mph. In September, the Yangwang U9 Xtreme set the record for the fastest production car ever at 308.4 mph. Plus, as SlashGear pointed out, the fastest models from the world’s largest drone maker “only” top out around 87 mph.
“Everything from the 3D modeling to the aerodynamic design, to the electronics and power selection was all my work,” Ben Biggs told Supercar Blondie.
The drone weighs around 4.4 pounds and stands around 15.7 inches tall and 9.8 inches wide. It also has approximately ten times the power-to-weight ratio of a Formula 1 car.
“The peak power is about 16 kilowatts, and trying to squeeze that much power into such a small frame is one of the biggest challenges,” said Biggs.
Ben said that even though he broke the world record for the fastest drone, he isn’t stopping there. That’s a good thing if he hopes to hang on to that record.
Someone else just set the previous Guinness World Record in November 2025. In that case, it was a drone developed by the Dubai Police Unmanned Aerial Systems Center. That drone reached a top speed of 580 km/h (360.3 mph). Before that, the record was set by Samuele Gobbi, a student at the Fribourg School of Engineering and Architecture. He reached 557.64 km/h (346.5 mph) in April 2025 with his drone. So Biggs has plenty of competition.
