Shooting Down Drone Airplanes is Becoming a Growing Sport

When I first came across this I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted to be a shooter or the pilot. I think, this is the most fun you can have with your clothes on. It's called "Gnat Shooting" and it's like Skeet/Sporting clays, but instead of shooting at little orange clay discs you're shooting at a 'drone airplane' loaded with pyrotechnic charges on-board. When you hit the drone it will either explode a cloud of white smoke or a 'direct hit' will down the airplane. These ATS Gnat Shoots have become very popular sport that charitable organizations are using them as fundraisers.

The ATS Gnat Shooting System is a unique shotgun sporting event that normally involves the downing of conventional targets such as clay pigeons. However once you've shot at a drone coming at you at 80 to 100 miles per hour, you'll be hooked for life. Once you score a hit and/or down the airplane, you'll hear a small explosion, you'll see a cloud of smoke and your adrenaline will be racing faster than the drone you just shot. After a day of Gnat Shooting those little orange clays will never do. The high speed, maneuverable, radio controlled drones take the sport of skeet and clays to the next level.

Recently the Disability Resources, Incorporated (DRI) had their annual 'Celebrity Clay Shoot' and featured the Gnat Shooting System to entertain the shooters. Kelly Young Vice President and Operations Manager at DRI said 'they were very popular with all the shooters.'

Young went on to say, "We will be using the Gnat Shooting System again next year, because it was hugely successful. We had a couple of shooters, myself included that scored hits. The real highlight of the day came when, Dr. Norman Dozier scored a direct hit and managed to blow a three inch hole in the airplanes wing. The Gnat Shooting System had all our shooter smiling and that makes it for a successful shoot.

Source: Kelly Young V.P. Operations Manager DRI

 

Basically it’s an airplane just like the ones the big boys in the military use for target practice, but much smaller and specifically designed to be shot at with shotguns.  Imagine it, after a session of shooting conventional clays, a zippy little target airplane comes zipping in from the right, shows a flash of belly as it pulls up into a steep climb. You won't be able to resist the temptation of pulling the trigger. Just watching the video alone gets my adrenaline running, how about you, do you have what it takes to shoot one of these drones down?