It’s no secret that I’m a fan of all issues Star Wars. I really like Child Yoda. Ewoks and I are kindred spirits. My favourite drone for youths is that this Star Wars drone (and I had a hoot testing it). And naturally, I’m the Drone Lady. But regardless of having coated this trade for greater than 10 years, I’d nonetheless by no means seen a drone gentle present. That’s, till I noticed the Sky Parts drone present.
Sky Parts, which is knowledgeable drone gentle present firm based mostly inTexas, has placed on a whole lot of drone gentle reveals across the nation (and has even accomplished some worldwide reveals). However their most particular present — to me no less than — was their Oakland A’s Star Wars Drone Present held in August 2023.
It was my first ever drone gentle present seen in individual — and it couldn’t have been higher. Observe me all through my expertise of the entire afternoon and night spending time with Sky Parts — from set off to viewing the precise drone present — proper right here:
What it’s like watching the Sky Parts drone present
After the Oakland A’s performed the Orioles (and alas, the A’s misplaced), the gates of the Coliseum stadium opened and the viewers was allowed to flood onto the sector so everybody may sit on the grass and take pleasure in a drone gentle present that includes 500 drone, every fitted with good LED lights.
As soon as everybody had their place on the sector, the stadium lights dimmed and the music began. A hush fell over the gang as everybody waited to see what would occur subsequent. Then, out of the blue, a whole lot of drones rose up over the stadium, increasing into the phrases “Star Wars” within the iconic font with opening crawl.
From there, drones took the shapes of all kinds of Star Wars characters and themes, together with a 200-foot Darth Maul from Phantom Menace, BB-8 from the most recent trilogy, Grogu from “The Mandalorian” and Ahsoka Tano from the most recent within the Disney+ spinoff sequence of reveals. All of it, naturally, was set to the enduring John Williams soundtrack.
The designs for the present have been made in collaboration with The Oakland A’s and the Sky Parts staff, which incorporates chief pilot Preston Ward and chief Rick Boss.
Maybe most impressively is that solely did the Sky Parts drones fly into shapes, however Sky Parts designs absolutely animate. That included an AT-AT lurking in the direction of the stadium as a drone-lit snow speeder swooped in and tangled its legs with cable to convey it down. There was additionally a ‘battle’ between drone-lit variations of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.
And on this present, truly fireworks exploded too, corresponding to when the AT-AT made its crash touchdown, and when lightsabers collided. Sky Parts says that was the primary time that pyrotechnics have complemented its reveals.
Sky Parts leads the nation’s drone reveals
Sky Parts is among the leaders for large-scale, U.S. drone gentle reveals. The reveals are managed by a single pilot who makes use of software program on a central laptop system to program the drones to observe particular flight paths and exhibit numerous colours and patterns with their onboard LED lights.
Its portfolio contains the drone gentle present for Serena Williams’ gender reveal get together and it even holds a Guinness World File by producing 40 drone reveals in a single weekend, which it did through the 2023 Fourth of July weekend.
The corporate has been acknowledged on the award-winning worldwide stage, corresponding to having been a winner within the SPH Engineering Worldwide Drone Present Competitors.
An alternative choice to fireworks
Drones are largely billed as an alternative choice to fireworks, which is probably unsurprisingly why the 2023 July Fourth weekend was so crammed with drone reveals. They’re thought-about extra eco-friendly and so they scale back noise air pollution — audiences couldn’t hear something associated to the drones from the bottom of the Star Wars drone present (no less than not over the John Williams soundtrack). After all, they’re additionally much more customizable — fireworks can’t explode within the form of Child Yoda, in spite of everything.
And for reveals like this Star Wars drone present, the drones have been the principle attraction, however fireworks have been sprinkled in for added aptitude. But even in that present, fireworks have been used sparingly, nonetheless chopping down on air pollution versus a traditional fireworks present.
How Sky Parts arrange the Oakland A’s present
For the Oakland A’s Star Wars drone present, Sky Parts flew immediately above one of many stadium’s parking tons, which was blocked off to automobiles for the present.
Whereas only one individual “flies” the present — which on this case was Sky Parts chief pilot Preston Ward — there’s truly a sturdy staff of individuals there to calibrate the drones, in addition to to carry out security checks and lay them out in a grid for takeoff (these of us are typically employed contractors who come from fields corresponding to movie manufacturing).
That setup course of takes just a few hours — that means the crew arrived lengthy earlier than even the beginning of the sport. And since the Oakland Coliseum is positioned so near Oakland Worldwide Airport, the Sky Parts staff additionally wanted to hunt permission to fly in what was in any other case restricted airspace.
Drone reveals take to main fan occasions
The present on the Oakland A’s recreation is considered one of an growing variety of drone reveals introduced in to cap off sporting occasions. In actual fact, simply the week prior, Sky Parts flew one other drone gentle present on the Los Angeles Dodgers stadium.
This isn’t even Sky Parts’ first time flying on the Oakland A’s Coliseum stadium. The Sky Parts staff beforehand flew two smaller Star Wars drone reveals with 200 and 250 drones. It then returned in June 2023 with a 300-drone Pixar-themed present, which got here after one other 250-drone Nickelodeon-themed present in August 2022. This newest Star Wars drone present in August 2023 was probably the most drones to fly over the Coliseum to this point,
“Rising the drone depend to 500 was the following step in wowing the viewers beneath,” in accordance with a press release from Sky Parts. “With the next drone depend, the staff was capable of get rather more detailed with results and faces. A 12 months in the past, 500 drone reveals for Sky Parts have been a particularly huge deal.”
The Oakland A’s Star Wars drone present additionally seized the chance to advertise future sporting occasions. For instance, on the finish of the Star Wars Sky Parts drone present, drones flew into the form of a QR code, which followers may then {photograph} and obtain a hyperlink to a coupon for $5 tickets to the following Athletics recreation at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. QR codes have been used for drone gentle reveals previously to take viewers to all kinds of net hyperlinks, together with one QR code at a Travis Scott live performance that took audiences to an unique hyperlink to hearken to a musician’s single.
Another excuse why that 500 drone depend was so essential? Sky Parts says they wanted greater than 300 drones to really be capable to create the scannable drone QR code on the finish.
Why drone gentle reveals are set to change into extra frequent
Whereas drone gentle reveals aren’t too frequent for now, that’s possible set to alter. Sky Parts says that —— as a result of drone gentle reveals are nonetheless a comparatively new type of leisure — a giant issue holding them again from being extra commonplace is just lack of knowledge.
Different elements holding drone gentle reveals again for now embrace regulatory constraints and price. The value of a drone gentle present from Sky Parts varies based mostly on present measurement, however sometimes begins at $20,000 for smaller reveals (with bigger, extra intricate performances unsurprisingly costing extra).
That stated, Sky Parts chief Rick Boss says that costs have already dropped enormously in simply the previous 12 months although as the corporate finds methods to streamline its processes. Boss factors to simplified present design software program, enhanced present operations and environment friendly drone upkeep procedures as methods they’ve introduced down prices. That features a sophisticated floor station software program system, which automates drone placement and flight readiness checks — which each reduces threat of human error and makes the setup course of extra environment friendly.
One other enormous think about Sky Parts value is the fee to buy the drones themselves. Sky Parts makes use of drones from UVify, which is a South Korean drone maker with headquarters in San Francisco, California. UVify makes all kinds of merchandise ranging together with the $200 UVify OOri Good Racing Micro Drone. However its standout product is its IFO and IFO-S drone gentle present drones.
Costs for UVify’s drones can differ, however they presently promote on-line for about $2,000 every. At that value, the one Star Wars drone present would have featured $1 million value of drones within the sky at one time.