MCK is crowned 2026 MultiGP Champion, BetaFPV releases the analog Meteor75 Pro II and new latency tests compare FPV systems: this week’s FPV news.
MCK wins the 2026 MultiGP Championship in Dallas
South Korea’s Minchan «MCK FPV» Kim won the 2026 MultiGP Championship, held October 15–17 at Dallas Drone Racing in Carrollton, Texas. It’s his third title after 2022 and 2023, and he barely planned to be there: he entered at the last minute after almost two years away from elite racing, flying 3D helicopters instead. He still topped qualifying with three consecutive laps in 33.18 s and didn’t lose a single round in the A Main winners bracket.
For the first time in Championship history, the four fastest qualifiers all made the final: MCK, Minjae Kim, Yuki Hashimoto and Killian Rousseau. A mid-air collision between Minjae and Yuki right after the start turned it into a two-pilot race, and France’s Killian finished just two seconds behind, his third runner-up finish at a major MultiGP event this year. Minjae’s triple-crown bid is over, defending champion Jbox finished tenth, and 12-year-old Alikhan Nsanbaev of Kazakhstan took fifth.
BetaFPV Meteor75 Pro II Analog: a seriously powerful 1S whoop
BetaFPV now offers an analog version of the Meteor75 Pro II, a 75 mm 1S tiny whoop that updates almost everything from the original: a Matrix 1S 5-in-1 II board (FC, 12 A 4-in-1 ESC, 2.4 GHz ExpressLRS receiver and 25–400 mW VTX), 1102 motors and 45 mm Gemfan tri-blade props. It weighs 28.2 g without a battery and 40.9 g with a 1S 480 mAh pack.
In Oscar Liang’s review, published October 9, it hit around 85 km/h and he calls it one of the most powerful 75 mm 1S whoops he has flown. The trade-off is battery hunger: flying hard, he got 4 to 6 minutes on 480–680 mAh packs. Two things to watch: the antenna isn’t secured, and the board can ship with different gyros depending on the batch.
Real-world FPV latency: analog, DJI O4, Walksnail and ArtLynk
Oscar Liang has published end-to-end latency measurements (from camera to goggle screen) using a simple home method: an LED and a 240 fps action camera, where each frame is about 4.17 ms. Results: analog 20 ms; DJI O4 with Goggles 3 at 28 ms (100 fps), 44 ms (60 fps) and 20 ms in Race Mode; Walksnail Avatar with Goggles X at 28 ms (100 fps); and BetaFPV ArtLynk at 64–80 ms.
The takeaway: for racing, analog and DJI’s Race Mode still lead; for freestyle or cinematic flying, a few extra milliseconds are worth the better picture. And if you own a GoPro or Osmo Action with a 240 fps mode, you can test your own setup.
Defense: AI-guided FPV drones in Ukraine
NPR reported on October 12 that both Russia and Ukraine already use AI-powered FPV drones. Ukrainian company The Fourth Law, run by Yaroslav Azhnyuk (co-founder of Petcube pet cameras), builds an autonomous terminal guidance system: the pilot picks the target, then an onboard microcomputer locks on and flies the final phase, making the drone harder to jam.
According to Azhnyuk, Ukraine will produce over 7 million FPV drones this year. The report also notes President Zelenskyy’s warning that AI could start leading battlefield decisions as early as next year.
Remote Reaper leaves Steam Early Access
Ukrainian FPV simulator Remote Reaper launched version 1.0 on October 14 after a year and a half in Early Access. It was built by solo developer Vladyslav Fomenko together with active-duty military drone pilots. While the theme is combat, it adds a new time-trial mode with three tracks and supports real radios (Radiomaster, DJI FPV, TBS, BetaFPV) as well as gamepads and keyboard.
It holds a 93% positive rating on Steam and costs $19.99 (25% off at launch). One more way to keep your thumbs sharp over the winter.
Summing up
A big week for racing with MCK’s comeback, a 1S whoop that flies like a 3-incher and some really useful latency data for choosing a video system. If you’re planning your own race build, check out our drone frames, and if you’re comparing digital systems, browse our HD FPV equipment.