NEW THIS YEAR, THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF DRONE ADS CREATED A LIGHT SHOW. THE SUN BRINGS US AN EXCLUSIVE STORY WITH THE COMPANY THAT CREATED THE DRONE LIGHT SHOW. IN THE DARK AT BALLOON FIESTA PARK. THERE WAS LIKE I WAS ASK AROUND WHO WERE AN AERIAL DRONE SHOW BRING COLOR TO THE EARLY MORNING SKY. ON THE DRONE SHOWING SPECTATORS WHY ALBUQUERQUE IS A HOT AIR BALLOON CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. ALSO DISPLAYING SYMBOLS OF HER STATE FROM THE NEW MEXICO STATE FLAG TO OUR STATE BIRD, THE ROADRUNNER, AND EVEN SOME MARIACHI HATS AND INSTRUMENTS. YEAH. KOAT GOT AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK AT THE DRONES. WE HAVE THE LED, WHICH YOU CAN SEE FOR UP HERE, LIKE 2 TO 3 MILES. OWEN SCHNEIDER, THE CHIEF PILOT FOR VERGE ARROW, THE COMPANY CREATING THE DRONE LIGHT SHOW, SAYS IT’S AWESOME TO FLY HUNDREDS OF ROBOTS AND MAKE PRETTY PICTURES IN THE SKY. THE FIRST SHOW WE DID HERE, THE DRONES GO UP AND ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU JUST HEAR A GAS FROM THE CROWD. YOU’RE LIKE, OH, I NEVER SAW SOMETHING LIKE THAT. HE SAYS THE DRONE LIGHT SHOW IS DESIGNED ON A TIMELINE SIMILAR TO VIDEO EDITING, SO IT’S PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD. EACH DRONE HAS LIKE A PREDETERMINED FLIGHT PATH, SO IT’S JUST FOLLOWING A LINE THROUGH THE SKY, GOING TO POINT A TO POINT B TO POINT C AS IT FLIES ALONG. EACH DRONE HAS FOUR SPELLERS AND MOTORS. SO THEN THIS IS THE INSIDE OF THE DRONE. WE HAVE THE GPS ANTENNA ON TOP AND IT TAKES AN ENTIRE FLEET TO PUT ON THE PERFORMANCE. VERGE ARROW, THE COMPANY THAT PRODUCES THE DRONE LIGHT SHOW, BROUGHT 300 OF THESE GUYS TO CREATE A CAPTIVE WAITING EXPERIENCE WHILE BALLOONS ARE SENSITIVE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS, DRONES, NO LESS. SO WE WERE STILL ABLE TO FLY THE SHOWS IN SOME INCREMENT WEATHER CONDITIONS, EVEN WHEN OTHER THINGS COULDN’T GO ON. SO PEOPLE COULD STILL SEE AN AWESOME SHOW. EVEN IF THE YELLOW FLAG IS UP AND THE BALLOONS MUST STAY DOWN, THE DRONES CAN STILL FILL OUR SKIES WITH SHAPES AND COLORS. REPORTING HIMSELF ON KOAT ACTION 7 CHOOSE THE NEXT AERIAL DRONE SHOW WILL BE THIS THURSDAY AT 7:45 P.M. THERE ARE ALSO SCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY EVENING, SATURDAY MORNING AND SATURDAY
300 drones create aerial light show at Balloon Fiesta
KOAT spoke exclusively with the chief pilot of the company that designed the drone light show
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Updated: 12:28 PM MDT Oct 4, 2022
Dawn Patrol is normally the first event each morning of the nine-day Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. New this year, a drone light show welcomed spectators to kick off the 50th anniversary. Balloon Fiesta organizers went all out to celebrate the golden anniversary of the largest hot air balloon event in the world -- by bringing in hundreds of drones. KOAT spoke exclusively with the chief pilot of Verge Aero the company that designed the drone light show."It's pretty awesome to fly hundreds of robots in the sky and make pretty pictures," Owen Schnieder, the chief pilot of Verge Aero, said.He said designing the drone light show isn't as complicated as it looks. "Our whole philosophy with drone shows is that you shouldn't need to be some computer genius or some expert in technology to be able to fly or create a drone show," Schnieder said.The show is created on a timeline, similar to video editing. "Each drone has a predetermined flight path. It's just following the line through the sky going to point A, to point B, to point C as it flies along," Schnieder said.Three hundred drones were brought to Balloon Fiesta by Verge Aero, including as some backups if some fail. Each drone has LED lights, four propellors and motors, and a GPS antenna. While hot air balloons are sensitive to weather conditions, drones can handle mother nature better. "We're still able to fly the shows in some increment weather conditions, even though when other things couldn't go on. People could still see an awesome show," Schnieder said.Even if the hot air balloons stay grounded, the drones can still fill the sky with all shapes and colors if the wind is below 15mph wind gusts.The aerial drone show will perform:Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7:45 p.m.Friday, Oct. 7, at 7:45 p.m.Saturday, Oct. 8, at 5:45 a.m. and again at 7:45 p.m.Sunday, Oct. 9, at 5:45 a.m.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Dawn Patrol is normally the first event each morning of the nine-day Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. New this year, a drone light show welcomed spectators to kick off the 50th anniversary.
Balloon Fiesta organizers went all out to celebrate the golden anniversary of the largest hot air balloon event in the world -- by bringing in hundreds of drones.
KOAT spoke exclusively with the chief pilot of Verge Aero the company that designed the drone light show.
"It's pretty awesome to fly hundreds of robots in the sky and make pretty pictures," Owen Schnieder, the chief pilot of Verge Aero, said.
He said designing the drone light show isn't as complicated as it looks.
"Our whole philosophy with drone shows is that you shouldn't need to be some computer genius or some expert in technology to be able to fly or create a drone show," Schnieder said.
The show is created on a timeline, similar to video editing.
"Each drone has a predetermined flight path. It's just following the line through the sky going to point A, to point B, to point C as it flies along," Schnieder said.
Three hundred drones were brought to Balloon Fiesta by Verge Aero, including as some backups if some fail. Each drone has LED lights, four propellors and motors, and a GPS antenna.
While hot air balloons are sensitive to weather conditions, drones can handle mother nature better.
"We're still able to fly the shows in some increment weather conditions, even though when other things couldn't go on. People could still see an awesome show," Schnieder said.
Even if the hot air balloons stay grounded, the drones can still fill the sky with all shapes and colors if the wind is below 15mph wind gusts.
The aerial drone show will perform:
- Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7:45 p.m.
- Friday, Oct. 7, at 7:45 p.m.
- Saturday, Oct. 8, at 5:45 a.m. and again at 7:45 p.m.
- Sunday, Oct. 9, at 5:45 a.m.
