Tampa Bay's Premier Drone Club
A Flying Club Built On Community - Since 2015
In 2015 A Retired Veteran Formed And Officially Started Tampa Drones meetup group in tampa bay which was the first well organized group for pilot to casually gather, fly and learn in pinellas county florida. At the time, the club was only focused on providing open flying events to local member's in the region from the newly emerging technologies.
In 2023, Tampa Drones was retired and re-shaped into Tampa Bay Drone Club. TBDC Now hosts Events in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Manatee and soon more counties with multiple new exciting events through the transformative power of Aviation, STEM education, and Entrepreneurship (STEM).
Today, we honor our legacy and continue to host 40+ annual flying events, 5 racing events and other special events throughout the year. TBDC has been in the forefront of creating new events and making a lasting community that will inspire the next generation of enthusiast's and workforce.
Our member's consist of governmental employees, regular citizens, and commercial operators with years of experience. We believe together we can safely promote model aviation to the community and the local economy
Our Mission
" TBDC's purpose is to inspire, train, and launch the next generation of aviators, innovators, and entrepreneurs by breaking technical barriers that limit access to aviation, STEM, and business opportunities—for youth, veterans, and individuals in our communities"
Open Flying Events - What We Started With
Come Join Our Flagship Event. Since 2015, We have hosted over 400 + events and continue to add 40 new events every single year! We welcome all persons who have any interest in STEM fields or aviation. We encourage schools, universities and other groups to join us for safe weekly events!
Open Flying Events Allows Anyone with a RC Vehicle, Plane or Multirotor/Drone To Fly in Our Events. To date, we have 40 + flying locations that we frequent and is the most of any group in tampa bay.
Safety, and legally is at the forefront of TBDC. We promote safe, and legal aircraft modeling without the red tape. Learn the safe spots and how to read the airspace.
TBDC Offers Free Account's For Sponsorship Accounts For Land Use.
Drone Racing - Flying Events
We host frequent drone racing events. Timed And Untimed events. We reward our pilots for flying safe with swag and free membership perks. Drone Racing events included in your membership!
Our Tracks Are Planned, Executed To Be Fun, And Challenging. We use all software such as Geographic information system's (GIS) and basic surveying equipment to plan track layouts. Each layout is presented to community member's in Velocidrone before actual field setup.
Feel the need for speed for racing through gates, and seeing where you rank against other club member's, and nationally. Don't feel like racing? No worries, there is plenty of opportunities to learn from GIS Designs, To Surveying Technique's and setting up tracks on race day.
Best Part? It's Included In Your Membership Fees. We do not charge for these events!
Hands On Flight Training - Since 2015
TBDC Started Hands On Training In 2015, and since has grown our courses collection.
Get hands on flight training for beginners including a remote pilot training program, where you can learn the basics of flight from theory to actual flight time in the field. Additional in-person courses are available upon request for individuals or groups.
We have trained hundreds' of pilots since 2015, and we continue to promote our mission to encourage the next great generation of aviator's. Join TBDC's growing community and join the fun!
