Meet Roo
Susan Kay Smith – aka Roo – is a woman drone racer based in Pennsylvania in the United States. She lives with Tom Smith – aka Smitty – and has three amazing stepchildren.
She got her nickname several years ago before a trip to Australia over her enthusiasm to see her favorite animal, kangaroos. Her friend told her, “You talk about kangaroos so much, I’m going to call you Roo.”
Racing drones did not come naturally for Roo
Smitty first got into drones around in 2015. In the early days of the Drone Racing League (DRL), he qualified for the first DRL simulator competition in New York City. Roo was extremely privileged to get to meet the pilots competing for the first sim to pilot contract – including Jawz, JRod, FalconX, AKNumbers, Whitenoise, KFine, Robogenesis and more.
But drones did not come naturally to Roo. With no RC background, her attempts at the simulator were pretty hilarious – but frustrating. She kept trying to fly now and again, but when Smitty bought her a micro drone for Christmas, she was finally hooked. She didn’t have to worry about breaking his drone, and she saw she could crash down the stairs, into walls, and into the floor without breaking the drone or the house!
Ready to fly 
My first microdrone!
Roo began flying in Rookie races hosted by Safety Third Racing – but usually could only complete 1 lap in 2 minutes. She would race in the sim with members of the Safety Third club and be dead last – for months.
She kept practicing, though, and slowly began to get better. In 2019, she dedicated herself to improving. Now she can sometimes beat Smitty!
She has competed in the FAI U.S. Team Selection Race twice, as well as attended the MultiGP International Open in 2018 and 2019. She encourages every woman she sees at drone races to get off the sidelines and take up the sport as well.
3rd place in a local rookie race 
Fifth in the PA State Champs
Her drone accomplishments include:
- One of two women to qualify for the 2018 East Region MultiGP championship.
- Fourth fastest female in the 2019 MultiGP qualifier.
- One of three women competing in the 2019 RDQ MultiGP Championship sports class.
- Fifth place overall (only female) in the 2019 Pennsylvania State Championship.
- Competing twice (in 2018 and 2019) in the FAI U.S. team selection race.
- Fastest lap and second fastest 3 consecutive laps at 2019 Fed-o-ween.
- Second place in the 2018 MultiGP International Open Rookie track.
Using drones as a motivational speaker
She is an accomplished public speaker, winning numerous Toastmasters competitions. In fact, she has competed at the District level in all four Toastmasters public speaking competitions: International (Motivational), Humorous, Evaluator and Table Topics (Impromptu).
Roo is interested in using her experience as one of the only female drone racing pilots in the United States for motivational speaking to inspire women and men to achieve their dreams.
In her professional life, Susan serves as a web/digital project manager for a Fortune 500 company. She has previous experience as a digital content manager, editor and marketer. She has taken UX courses through NN/g and is working toward a UX certification.