– Red Cat Holdings, Inc. has been selected as the winner of the U.S. Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) Program of Record. The production selection was made after a test and evaluation process of Teal’s next generation sUAS, completed by the Army Project Management Office for Uncrewed Aircraft Systems, Army Maneuver Battle Lab, Army Test […]
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a…no, it’s definitely a bird. For the people in Orlando on the night of Nov. 20, 2024 they were treated to a record-breaking drone show.
2,484 drones flew over the Orlando Convention Center as part of a Guinness World Record attempt. The record broken? “Largest aerial display of a bird formed by multi-rotors/drones.” And though not a formally-tracked record by Guinness standards, the drone show was the largest drone light show flown in the United States.
Drone light show company Sky Elements put on the show as part of IAAPA 2024, a massive conference all about theme parks. This year specifically, the IAAPA conference is heavily emphasizing drones, both for attractions like nighttime drone shows as well as practical use cases like cleaning.
(Photo courtesy of Sky Elements)
Record-breaking drone shows
This particular show marks the Sky Elements team’s 10th Guinness World Record attempt. It also marks the company’s third attempt specifically at the IAAPA conference. Sky Elements broke two Guinness World Records at IAAPA Expo 2023 the prior year for the categories of “largest logo flown with multi-rotors/drones” and “largest flag created with multi-rotors or drones.”
Guinness World Records tracks about 65,000 world records, and there is a large handful having entirely to do with drone light shows. Other records up for grabs include the record for “Largest aerial display of a fictional character formed by multirotors / drones.” Sky Elements earned that one when it put 2,400 drones on the field of Petco Park in San Diego as part of a “Deadpool and Wolverine” themed show for San Diego Comic Con. Other notable records to its name include most remote-operated multi-rotor drones launching fireworks simultaneously.
Photo of a past Guinness World Record drone show courtesy of Uvify.
Sky Elements flies a model of drones from UVify called the IFO Swarm drones. In fact, Sky Elements was one of UVify’s first U.S. customers, and Sky Elements has the largest standing fleet of IFO drones in the United States.
Sky Elements is the first company to have received FAA approval to fly pyro drones in the U.S. For its pyro shows, Sky Elements uses the UVify IFO-P, which is a retrofitted version of its IFO drone and is capable of carrying up to 12 pyrotechnics devices.
How to get your own light show drone
Each IFO drone costs $1,585. That means there’s going to be nearly $4 million in tech in the sky at one time tonight.
And should you want to buy your own, it’s relatively doable. UVify’s setup is a turnkey system, meaning everything needed is included. That means you get training, hardware, software, 24/7 support every day of the year, and access to the company’s Fleet Augmentation Bank. Shortened as FAB, it’s a rental network that enables operators in the UVify IFO network to access thousands more IFO drones to augment their fleet size at their convenience. That’s useful if, you know, you want to put on a world record attempt.
You can’t just buy a light show drone on Amazon or any other big store. You’ll have to reach out and email UVify’s sales team.
When you do, drop my name. It benefits you! Mention UVify coupon code DGIFO in your email for a 5% discount plus an additional free battery and set of high-performance props per IFO.
The UK has announced the retirement of its Watchkeeper Mk 1 drones by March 2025 as part of a broader effort to modernise the Armed Forces and adapt to evolving threats. The decision, unveiled by Defence Secretary John Healey, reflects the rapid pace of technological advancements in unmanned aerial systems and lessons learned from the […]
– Anduril has been awarded a $200 million, five-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract by the U.S. Marine Corps to develop and deliver a Counter Unmanned Aerial System (CUAS) Engagement System (CES) for the Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS). The MADIS CES Program of Record will provide cutting-edge, expeditionary CUAS capabilities to protect the […]
As grizzly bears continue to repopulate Montana’s northern prairies, wildlife managers use variety of methods to push them away from ranches and other potential trouble spots, including shouting at the bears over drone speakers. The noise of drone propellers alone sometimes isn’t enough to get the grizzlies to scram, said Dave Kemp, the Montana Fish, […]
Urban Aeronautics Alleges DJI’s High-End Drones Violate Emergency Landing Technology Patent by DRONELIFE Features Editor Jim Magill Urban Aeronautics, an electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing vehicle manufacturer, is suing DJI, claiming the China-based drone giant improperly copied the Israel-based EVTOL company’s technology for safely bringing down a multi-rotor aircraft after one of the rotors fails. A patent lawsuit, […]
Thermal imaging and AI software integrated into Red Cat’s Black Widow drone Teledyne FLIR, part of Teledyne Technologies, has been chosen by Red Cat Holdings, Inc., to provide thermal imaging and Artificial Intelligence (AI) embedded software for the Black Widow™ small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS). This selection comes as Red Cat secures the U.S. Army’s […]
With FAA approval for Beyond Visual Line of Sight missions, Carbonix and ArgenTech Solutions bring advanced VTOL drone capabilities to industries demanding precision and endurance. by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian J. McNab In a first for the Australian fixed-wing VTOL space, drone developer Carbonix recently announced that their Volanti UAV has received permission to conduct […]
Intuitive, All-in-One Software Empowers Beginners and Experts to Design Stunning Drone Choreography with Ease by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian J. McNabb Latvian drone software company SPH Engineering recently announced a new product- Drone Show Creator, which allows beginners and professionals alike to quickly and easily put together impressive drone shows. By breaking down the technical […]
– Red Cat Holdings, Inc. has been selected as the winner of the U.S. Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) Program of Record. The production selection was made after a test and evaluation process of Teal’s next generation sUAS, completed by the Army Project Management Office for Uncrewed Aircraft Systems, Army Maneuver Battle Lab, Army Test […]
