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It’s high-speed, high-tech racing where mid-air crashes are common — but luckily, these pilots keep both feet on the ground.

It’s all part of the fast-growing world of drone racing, where participants don goggles that are linked to the drone’s camera, giving them a live first-person view as they weave their small multi-propellered aircraft around a race course at top speed.

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“When I was a kid I really wanted to be a bird, or superman, and this is the closest you get to get that feeling,” said Jason Mainella, an organizer for the Montreal Drone Expo.

“When you put on the virtual goggles, you get almost an out-of-body experience.”

On Saturday, several dozen pilots attended the event, held at a local football stadium, to test their skills and try to qualify for bigger races, such as the Drone National World Racing Championships and the International Drone Racing North American Cup.

With about 50 participants, Mainella says Saturday’s event was among the biggest held in Canada thus far for a hobby — some call it a sport — that has been growing by leaps and bounds.