Alien Sightings Were Not A Concern For This Testing Run... Maybe

By Maria Morrison, SNFDD Feature Editor

Sun 'n Fun's first night airshow is Wednesday night, and by Tuesday evening 60 performers didn't have their wings attached.

The 60 drones sat on a level patch of ground in the center of Lakeland Linder International Airport, ready to test their show. A crew of four from the Great Lakes Drone Company--Owner and CEO Matthew Quinn, Ashley Munson, Christian Nitz, and Lindsey Nitz--unloaded the small aircraft from the trailer where they lay on the floor, setting them out on the grass instead. 

The drones connect to Quinn's computer inside the trailer, sending in data about speed, position, satellite connection, and more. The accuracy begins at 3 meters, but counts down to the target of only 0.8 m.

As the software of the drones gets set up, so does the hardware. The crew starts screwing on blades, four to each drone, color-coded and in black and white.

For an ideal testing run, GLDC would fly each of the seven rows of eight drones (and one row of four) through the 14-minute show separately, so as not to give away the whole show to whoever might still be looking out at the airfield after dark.

Quinn recounted many times that people have seen the show from afar, thought the dancing lights signaled an extraterrestrial invasion, and turned to social media videos or the police. Such calls are so frequent that GLDC calls the local officials around their home base at Watervliet Airport to give a heads-up when they will be running the drones. To the nearby public, they are affectionately known as the "aliens."

Mock alien sightings were not a concern for this testing run, though, because time constraints kept all but four drones on the ground. As the last Amazon jet landed at LAL, the airspace cleared and GLDC's one-hour block of practice time began. One hour isn't enough to run each row through the show, so four were prepared for takeoff as the others sat, softly beeping and flashing.

The four corner drones were laid out in a specific grid pattern. Speaking to each other through headsets, Quinn watched the screen in the trailer as Munson and Christian walked the devices out into the field. Quinn's computer refreshes every two seconds with the current location of the drones, watching as they line up in a roughly 75-foot square.

Once the cornerstone drones are set, the perfect location is marked with a can of orange spray paint to make the setup quicker and easier on the performance day. After some final checks and a safety briefing from Lindsey Nitz, the four lift into the air.

The starting sequence of each show includes a staggered takeoff, in which one row rises to 30 feet, then to 100 as the next row follows. The purpose of the lines is for staff on the ground to watch and confirm no drones are lagging behind or acting improperly.

A potential issue lies in the connection of drones to satellites. Each must be connected to a minimum of 12 satellites to run. However, if seven drones in a row are connected to 18 satellites but one is connected to only 12, it might be flying the whole show lower than the rest. This starting lineup is the time in which the team could identify a drone that is flying improperly and seamlessly pull it from the show.

The four drones in the Tuesday testing had no problems as they ran through the performance. They flash and pulse--white, green, blue, yellow--as they form hints of the shapes that will appear when they are joined by their 56 co-performers. With a maximum speed of 3 m/s, they make a whirring buzzing noise that complements the mosquitos flying around the trailer.

Over the headsets, Quinn, Christian, Munson, and Lindsey call out the shapes being made, debating if the lights that flash out momentarily are part of the intended formation or a problem with the machine.

Inside the trailer, the two large computer screens run constantly updating telemetry data, keeping track of each drone's position on its carefully crafted flight path.

The drones land, then are joined in the grid by the 56 others, which form a flashing square of green, amber, and red lights. The group is tested, displaying their high-powered LED blubs in unison.

Once all the tests are complete and midnight is rapidly approaching, the team makes quick work of detaching each battery, carefully stacking the drones in herringbone sets of four and laying them out in a specific order in the trailer. Satisfied with the test, the crew lock up the trailer, climb into the RV that they take on the road, and transport the 60 little aliens from the field.

FMI: https://greatlakesdronecompany.com/?fbclid=IwAR1Y4qpgKoPHmlIOGm02qq9XBSyUYTTG9Ht7zhJ9LJN3KcMQf3quWGdGiQY