Colorado Drone Airshow 2023
On October 6th and 7th, FlyRoute is proud to be exhibiting at the first annual Colorado Drone Airshow. As an immersive drone experience, there will be 35 unique exhibitors, live drone demonstrations, educational sessions, drone racing, a drone light show, and more! Come by our booth and talk with us about our drone pilot opportunities!
VIP Industry Day will be on Friday, Oct 6th from 10a - 5p for $149/individual.
Community Day will be Saturday, Oct 6th from 10a - 5p.
Location: Christman Airfield 3985 Laporte Ave, Fort Collins, CO.
To learn more and get your tickets, visit: https://coloradodroneshow.colostate.edu/
FlyRoute Drone Operations
Week 5 of the football season FlyRoute supported 39 high school football events with 49 drone pilots.
Shoutout to FlyRoute pilot, Jeff Fisher, for providing exception in-game drone film to Douglas County High School. Coach says, "thank you [Jeff and FlyRoute] for all you do. I don't bother watching any other film besides the drone angle anymore."
Drone Pilot Spotlight: Gayle Kakac
My name is Gayle Kakac and I’ve been teaching film for close to 30 years at the high school level.
In 2016, I attended a drone seminar and fell in love with drones. I studied for three months to earn my Part 107 and passed my first exam in Feb of 2017. I have since recertified in 2019, 2021 and 2023. I started teaching drones classes at Valor Christian High School in 2019-2020. I am also a drone flight instructor for UAV Coach, one of the markets leading drone companies in the world.
I have two daughters, one attends Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and plays lacrosse there, the other is a senior at Valor planning to play for Kennesaw State University in the fall. I have been married for 27 years. My husband Brian and I love extreme sports and were former wakeboard and water skier coaches. We have coached women’s lacrosse for about 20 years together.
As a teacher for Valor Christian High School's drone film program, can you tell us a little more about what the program offers to students?
My program allows students to explore the world of drones and how it could translate to a potential career. Students learn the basics of flight and flight safety, they learn the content to pass the CFR Part 107 sUAS exam and are required to pass the Part 107 practice exam with a passing score in order to get an A. First semester we focus on 3rd person view flight skills and photography. We create landscape prints and learn to edit in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. Second semester we focus on 1st person view or FPV flight skills and cinematography. The students learn 20 cinematic shots and how to edit in Adobe Premiere. Advanced students go on to advanced flight skills, practicing on a NIST Course and creating more advanced productions such as hyperlapses and more cinematic shorts.
As an instructor for UAV Coach, what is involved and what steps can other pilots take to get involved with instructing for UAV Coach?
UAV Coach is an outstanding program based out of Nashville with Alan Perlman. They have coaches in different states and they offer Part 107 training through Drone Pilot Ground School and flight training through UAV Coach. We have two instructors here in Denver and we work with students who want to learn to fly a drone. Some students are brand new, others are professional photographers who want to learn to add a drone to their tool kit. My students have ranged anywhere between 10-75 years old. I love working with them, it’s so fun to meet new students and help them on their journey. It’s kind of what I do here at Valor but with people I’ve never met. I’ve loved working with everyone I’ve worked with so far, it’s a blast.
Having experience with filming sporting events from the pressbox for FanVu, what tips can you provide to other pilots for capturing high quality sports film?
The best tip I can give is to get as much experience as possible. I have filmed high school sporting events with Stream-it-Sports and lately FanVu for about 11 years. The more I do it the better I get. I also maintain an attitude that I always want to learn and I always want to improve. While most people watch pro football and focus on the game and the plays and the players, I watch it for the camera operators work and see how they are filming to see if my work resembles theirs and if not how I can improve. I have also been teaching high school film classes for close to thirty years, and I am always learning more daily. Never stop learning, growing and improving, and never feel like you have arrived!
Fly Safe, Film Smooth, Have FUN!