TONY JONES, PRESENTER: Imagine being able to shrink yourself Alice in Wonderland style and then climb into a tiny plane to race around an empty warehouse with all your mates?

That comes close to explaining the thrill of drone racing. We've heard a lot about the unmanned aircraft being used in warfare and in business, but drones are also the latest thing in sport.

Special glasses and a camera mounted on the drone give racers the feeling that they're flying.

It's not just for fun, there are major competitions and sponsorships and prize money.

Lateline's Jason Om takes us inside the underground world of drone racing.

JASON OM, REPORTER: It's Friday night in Melbourne's outer suburbs, and these drone racers are tuning up their machines.

JASON OM: Do you talk back to it?

DRONE RACER: Sometimes. I swear a lot at it. Especially I crash.

We found these young men through the network of drone hobbyists on the Internet.

DARREN FRENCH, DRONE RACER: Everything seems to be working, so it'll be ready to race tomorrow.

JASON OM: They've spent hour's custom building their own drones, equipping them with onboard cameras.

DRONE RACER 1: This is a screen that you can actually see the first person view of the aircraft.

JASON OM: What type of vision do you usually go for?

DRONE RACER 1: If I fly indoors I usually look for the obstacles. If I go- I mean if I fly outdoors, I just look for some good sceneries.

DALE PEARCE, DRONE RACER: I've replaced parts here and there.

JASON OM: Where did you get this from?

DALE PEARCE: Tupperware? That's from a $2 shop essentially.

JASON OM: So it's not your mum's?

DALE PEARCE: (Laughs) No, not my mum's.

JASON OM: They've mostly been flying at empty car parks late at night but their next race will be held at an abandoned warehouse.

DARREN FRENCH: The faster you go off, if you crash sometimes, you'll get a nice adrenaline rush out of it.

It's very realistic.

JASON OM: So why do you do it?

DARREN FRENCH: It's addictive. It's something you can go out, you can- it's like playing a video game but it's fast and the more you do it the more you want to play it.

JASON OM: After a few final checks, it's time for some pre-race training.

DARREN FRENCH: It always helps to spend a little while- I'll often spend the night before even at the same day an hour practising 'cause it just gets your reflexes up.

JASON OM: I'm kind of nervous actually. I don't want to stuff this up.

Alright. What's going on? I can't even get lift-off.

DARREN FRENCH: It's all in the throttle control.

When you reset hold your throttle to the ground.

JASON OM: Straight in to the ground. Hang on.

DARREN FRENCH: How about we give you an open area without a roof?

JASON OM: (Laughs) I failed.

DRONE RACER 2: For me personally, I like how you can get a bit of speed up and you get nice big corners that you just take it really smooth around the edge.

JASON OM: Most of the time, the racers fly indoors for the challenge of manoeuvring around tricky obstacles. Outdoors in open air space they're restricted from flying too high or too close to buildings and people.

But for these enthusiasts, safety is a priority.

DALE PEARCE: If you see people that aren't part of us or anyone out there, just call out, "People on the field", let the pilots know they're out and about so we can slow down and just not hit them.

We will have a lot of graffiti artists come walking out just suddenly and not give two poos about what we're doing...

JASON OM: It's known as FPV racing or first person view because of these goggles which give the racers a drone's eye perspective.

CHAD NOWAK, DRONE RACER: I fly a full-size aircraft and I like being up there but there's no way you would catch me in my glider flying between two trees because if I get it wrong, I'm going to end up in a coffin but with something like this I can go out there and do it.

If I get it wrong, worst thing that happens is I need to rebuild the frame. So it gives you this freedom and that boyhood dream of the just doing crazy things. You can do it now, in a fun and safe way.

MARK COCQUIO, DRONE RACER: It's like playing a musical instrument or something. You just go into this meditative space. And you get this flow on.

That's what it is for me. I'm not particularly competitive. These guys might get a little bit more competitive than me, but yeah, I'm in it for the fun and when you're chasing someone it just looks amazing. You know, you've just got that view and you're all in this space together. It is that whole Star Wars thing.

JASON OM: In Australia, the larger FPV groups gather in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania at the grass roots level.

Overseas, the movement is gaining pace, and some drone racers in Australia are pushing for a more formal competition here.

DALE PEARCE: In the near future we want to legitimatise it a lot more by having official meets that have all the approvals, all the insurance and everything like that, so we can start giving out prizes, start having things televised.

JASON OM: Chad Nowak is one to watch if FPV racing does become a sport in Australia.

DRONE ANNOUNCER: We're all good to go. 3, 2, one ... launch!

We have a race winner. Stand up, please, sir. Chad came in first.

CHAD NOWAK: Now, I'll do a quick flip.

JASON OM: He's fast and furious moves have earned him a trip to California where he's being sponsored to compete in the United States national drone championships in July.

The competition is the first of its kind in the US, and approved by America's largest model aircraft sporting body.

CHAD NOWAK: Do I think I'm fast? Yes. Do I think I'm the underdog? Yes. I'm going over there to have fun, to meet lots of friends that I know on forums and look if I do well then it's a bonus but I'm going over there- it's an experience of a lifetime for me.

JASON OM: What's the top prize?

CHAD NOWAK: Top prize is apparently $10,000. There is lots of smaller leagues happening all around the world.

And they're growing in size and eventually, they're all gonna combine or there's going to be one entity that is going to dominate and then that's when you'll have the national championships.

JASON OM: Perhaps one day this subculture might grow into a fully fledged sport.

And when it happens, this group is likely to be at the forefront.

DALE PEARCE: It's cool to experience the world differently than anyone has ever been able to experience before. Most pilots have to get in a plane, take off in an airport where we can just go down to a park, have a five-minute flight, enjoy the surroundings and just go, "This was cool" and then go somewhere different.

TONY JONES: That is so gonna go viral. That's all we have for tonight.