Who we are

Bellingham Drone Club is the middle and high school branch of the Bellingham Coding & Robotics Club. We meet Tuesday and Wednesday nights alongside our robotics teams at the Coding Club—same vibrant space, shared tools, and a collaborative “pit crew” vibe. If your student loves building things that actually fly, this is their runway.

We start the year in Fusion 360, learning how to design airworthy frames and components. Students 3D-print parts, assemble electronics, and bring their ideas to life—mounting motors, ESCs, flight controllers, and cameras while practicing safe soldering and clean wiring. Along the way, they learn how sensors, firmware, and radio links work together to keep a quad stable in the air.

From there, we move into test, tune, and rebuild. Teams run structured bench tests, complete pre-flight checklists, and capture flight notes to guide smart upgrades. This is engineering in the wild: hypothesize, test, measure, iterate. Students discover that the real secret to performance is thoughtful troubleshooting, not lucky guesses.

With reliable builds under our belts, we shift to precision flying competitions with our Codedrones. In small teams, students run timed gate courses and mission challenges that reward smooth lines, accurate turns, and cool-headed communication. Roles rotate—pilot, spotter, and tech lead—so everyone practices leadership, listening, and fast problem-solving under pressure.

We finish the season by taking off the training wheels: FPV racing in our gym. With safety protocols and a clearly marked course, students experience the thrill of first-person view while applying everything they’ve learned about design, tuning, and flight control. It’s the perfect capstone—high-energy, skill-rich, and unforgettable.

Beyond the excitement, Drone Club builds teamwork and real STEAM pathways. Students connect CAD to manufacturing, electronics to physics, coding to control systems, and data to performance tuning—exactly the blend used in aerospace, robotics, mechatronics, and software careers. They leave with a portfolio of designs, build logs, and flight results that show grit, craft, and collaboration.

No experience required—just curiosity and a willingness to learn. Whether your student wants to design it, build it, fly it, or race it, our instructors and peers will meet them where they are and help them level up together.