KJ FILMWORKS BEHIND THE SCENES โ By Jack Quirk
Most know that I am a drone pilot but donโt know how that came to be.ย ย ย For the past 35 or so years, we (KJ FilmWorks) would need aerial video or photos for a film production we were working on.ย ย This was always a very expensive way to capture footage.ย ย I experimented with using small fixed-wing planes but couldnโt go low, or slow enough in most cases.ย ย This all came to a head about 10 years when we hired a helicopter in North Dakota for about 7 hours and we got a $14,000 bill.ย ย ย That led me to start messing with ways to put a camera up in the air.ย ย Keep in mind, this was way before drones were a thing.ย ย I had the idea that I could put a camera on a large remote control helicopter.ย ย
I went to a large hobby store in OKC and the guy thought I was nuts.ย ย He asked, โhave you ever flown an RC helicopter?โย ย Well, no, but how hard could it be?ย ย He sold me a tiny one to practice with.ย ย Turns out, they are very hard to fly.ย ย I crashed it into just about every tree in my yard and dented all the walls in my shop.ย ย It was mostly out of control.ย ย It was like taking a June bug for a walk on a string.ย ย I did finally get good enough to mount a small camera on it, but it was still a mess to fly.ย ย
About now, there were some hobby companies selling multi-rotor drone kits.ย ย Unlike a traditional helicopter with a single rotor, these had 4 or 6 rotors.ย ย Much like todayโs drones, and they could carry a lot of weight.ย ย ย Keep in mind, these were a box of parts that you had to solder, glue, wire, and program from scratch with very little instruction.ย ย I built about 4 of these and finally got a good working aircraft that could carry a camera, and was somewhat under control when flying.ย
I started to advertise my new aerial photography services and the Enid newspaper did a front-page story about me in the Sunday paper.ย ย On Tuesday I got a cease and desists letter from the FAA, stating I could not fly for money without a commercial pilot license.ย ย The problem was there was no such thing as a commercial drone pilotโs license.ย ย ย It took several years before the government caught up with technology and I got my commercial pilot license.ย ย ย Now you can go to Walmart and buy a better drone than the first one I was flying.ย ย ย The new commercial drones I fly today are amazing with features unheard of back in the day.ย ย Now we are able to capture great footage in all but the windiest days that rival anything we could get with a very expensive helicopter.ย ย ย ย
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