A home-built drone from Cape Town has set a new world record by reaching an astonishing speed of 657 km/h, as confirmed by Guinness World Records.

Mike Bell, 63, and his son Luke achieved this remarkable feat on December 11 at a farm near Melkbostrand, surpassing the previous record for the fastest battery-powered remote-controlled quadcopter. The drone now outpaces electric cars, bullet trains, and even World War II Spitfires.

Speaking to Cape Argus, a very proud Luke, 31, said the achievement came after more than two years of hard work and about 30 test flights to perfect the drone’s design.

“We have been doing test runs for the past five months on this design,” Luke said.

“Each time we go out we try different configurations, aerodynamic improvements, propellers — everything to optimise the final drone.”

He said he has been flying this type of drone for years now.

"So it’s easy for me to fly," Luke, who lives in Green Point, said.

"No practice is necessary but a lot of test flights to tweak everything is needed ... for this version we probably did about 30 test flights all in all."

The duo first set the record in 2023 at 380 km/h, then again in 2024 at 480 km/h.

Their record was later beaten by engineers from Switzerland and Australia, but in December, just three days after the Australian record, the Bells reclaimed the crown with 657 km/h.

“I had the random thought about it two and a half years ago and just Googled what the record was,” Luke said.

“I thought it was beatable and we’ve just gone from there.

"This is the third time we have beaten the record, and it feels amazing to finally achieve it.”

He said it was a fun experience.

"The back and forth and challenge of it all is what we love,” Luke said. “There is so much hard work that goes into this project, to finally achieve the goal is epic.”

The drone, built entirely in a home workshop in Cape Town, is now the fastest electric flight on the planet.

The propeller tips approach the speed of sound, and it reaches Mach 0.53.

“It accelerates faster than a Formula 1 car and its top speed is twice as fast,” Luke said.

Luke said he and his dad were very close and had a tight bond, and spent hours tinkering and testing the drone together. (IOL)

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