A U.S. military Reaper made an emergency landing during a flight in Polish airspace on Tuesday, according to U.S. and Polish authorities, as spikes in GPS jamming across NATO’s eastern flank deepen concerns over the airspace around the Baltic Sea. A U.S. airborne drone made an emergency landing near the town of Mirosławiec in northwestern […]
On Feb. 27, 2024, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., in cooperation with the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), conducted a series of tests on GA-ASI’s Sonobuoy Dispensing System (SDS) using the MQ-9B SeaGuardian Unmanned Aircraft System on the U.S. Navy’s W-291 test range in southern California. GA-ASI’s SeaGuardian flew the full test flight event configured […]
Oro Navigacija, the air navigation service provider (ANSP) of Lithuania, is extending its Frequentis uncrewed traffic management (UTM) solution with a digital, automated, risk assessment tool to speed up the classification of the risk posed by a drone flight in the specific category of operations and for the identification of mitigations and of the safety […]
Rotor Technologies, Inc. and Robinson Helicopter Company jointly displayed the R550X, an uncrewed helicopter based on the Robinson R44 Raven II, at Helicopter Association International’s HAI Heli-Expo in Anaheim, California. The R550X is the first production uncrewed aircraft to be built on a Robinson platform. Capable of lifting heavy loads up to 1,200 pounds 550 […]
SkyPixel has named the winners of its 8th Annual Photo & Video Contest. You saw the best drone photos of 2024 shared here earlier this week. And sure the photos were stunning, but something about video is next-level. Among the 130,000 submissions into this year’s contest (which, by the way, is an 100% increase over last year), this year’s judging panel narrowed the video submissions to one grand prize winner.
That top winner is a video called “Haines Alaska Through the Eyes of Luke Bredar.” The short film depicting a skier racing down a snowy mountaintop landscapes with breathtaking shots of Alaska’s mountainous, winter terrain was filmed by Luke Bredar.
Screengrab from the award-winning film “Haines Alaska Through the Eyes of Luke Bredar.”
Watch the full film here.
“The motivation behind creating this video was to evoke themes of otherworldliness, objective risk, the interplay between risk and the essence of human spirit, solitude, impermanence, self-sufficiency, and the journey of incomplete wandering intertwined with heartbreak,” Bredar said.
That video was selected by a judging panel of seasoned experts including:
Michael Fitzmaurice, best known as the Aerial Director of Photography of “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”
Xiaoshi Zhao, best known for his award-winning work on “Forever Enthralled”
Bing Xi, a prominent figure in the Chinese TVC industry
Filmmaker Brandon Li
Beyond honor and glory, Bredar walks away with a prize pack worth more than $14,000, including an Inspire 3 drone. Bredar also earns the title of ‘official SkyPixel Creator.’
What is SkyPixel?
SkyPixel is an online community of aerial photographers and videographers. At its core, artists post their work to the site (and that in turn makes them eligible to win the title). According to SkyPixel, there are now more than 42 million registered users.
The winning video this year took us to Alaska, but what about last year’s SkyPixel video winner? Check out the best drone video of 2023. And in case you missed it, you have to scroll through the list of the best aerial photos of 2023, also based on SkyPixel winners.
Other mesmerizing drone videos to watch in 2024
And of course, while Bredar certainly deserves the title of SkyPixel Drone Videographer of the Year, that’s hardly to say that’s the only award-winning drone video you’ll see this year. In fact, earlier this month, another video-sharing site, AirVuz, announced its own drone video contest winners.
As part of the AirVuz 2023 drone video contest, aerial videography company AeroCircus walked away with the award of Drone Video of the Year for their Showreel 2023. In addition, Skynamic Drone, another drone filming company, won FPV Video of the Year with their reel, FPV Demoreel. You can watch those award-winning videos (and learn more about Airvuz’s contest) here.
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Weather and Drone as First Responder: Scalable DFR Requires Trusted Digital Weather Services By: Dawn Zoldi All images courtesy Virginia Innovation Partnership. Drone as First Responder (DFR) programs, in which a remote pilot in command (RPIC) can instantly activate a drone in response to a 911 call to provide incident awareness and assessment before first […]
SimActive Inc., a global leader in photogrammetry software development, announced on March 19, 2024, its strategic approach to integrating Ground Control Points (GCPs) through its flagship Correlator3D™ software. This development is aimed at both enhancing and validating the accuracy of photogrammetry projects across various domains. SimActive’s Correlator3D™, renowned for its advanced photogrammetry capabilities, now enables […]
Terra Drone’s Strategic Investment in Aloft Technologies Catalyzes U.S. Market Expansion and Global UTM Advancement Terra Drone Corporation, a global leader in drone and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) technologies, has taken a significant step towards expanding its international footprint by investing in Aloft Technologies. This move not only marks Terra Drone’s entry into the U.S. […]
Elevating Women in Technology and Sports: The DRL and U.S. Air Force’s Pioneering Initiative In a groundbreaking move to advance gender equity in technology and sports, the Drone Racing League (DRL), in collaboration with its long-standing partner, the U.S. Air Force, announced the launch of “DRL’s Women Taking Flight.” This initiative aims to recruit and […]
Drone racing might seem like a stereotypically male activity. The Air Force might also seem so. But a project called “Women Taking Flight” aims to buck those stereotypes.
The Drone Racing League and the United States Air Force teamed up to launch what’s called “Women Taking Flight.” After all, women currently make up around just 5% of pilots across the entire aviation industry, according to the Centre for Aviation.
The initiative, which launched today, centers around bringing more female drone pilots into the industry. The initiative encompasses a range of activities including drone racing competitions, esports tournaments, and STEM curriculum. The goals? To recruit more talented, female drone pilots to fly with DRL. Even for female pilots who might not want to go all-in on flying with DRL, the program could encourage women to participate in drones generally. With that, DRL might reach more potential, untapped fan bases.
“Our DRL Women Taking Flight platform will inspire women and girls to pursue their dream careers as drone pilots, athletes and engineers while helping them develop their skills so they can compete on the highest stages,” said DRL President Rachel Jacobson in a prepared statement.
DRL put together a promo video for the project here:
What is DRL? And how will it interact with Women Taking Flight?
Drone Racing League (DRL) is a New York-based, professional drone racing entertainment and tech company. Founded in 2015, the company’s bread and butter entails putting on races with professional pilots. Those pilots navigate custom-built drones through intricate, three-dimensional courses at over 80 miles per hour using first-person view goggles.
The League broadcasts races on platforms like NBC and YouTube for viewers to tune in at home. Meanwhile, the live races are often spectator sports in themselves, held at flashy venues. For example, DRL held its DRL Algorand World Championship Season 2021-22 finale on an outdoor course along the Las Vegas strip at T-Mobile Arena.
Though, DRL has also branched out beyond hosting physical races, through products like its DRL SIM. It’s also dabbled in hardware, such as the 2021 launch of the 5G DRL racing drone made in partnership with T-Mobile, dubbed Magenta.
But its roster of official pilots is ultra-male dominated. With “Women Taking Flight,” that might change.
Photo courtesy of DRL
For starters, DRL will invite top female drone racers to train with existing DRL Champion Pilots. The female participants will also compete in an esports tournament on the DRL SIM. DRL SIM is a drone simulator that functions as a drone racing video game. Top competitors will then earn the chance to receive a professional contract in the league.
“The winning pilot will be named a DRL Pilot, participating in DRL races and supporting DRL’s upcoming “Girls Who Fly” STEM course to encourage girls to aim high and pursue tech, sports and aviation careers,” according to a statement from DRL.
It’ll be an excellent opportunity to finally put women on DRL’s rosters. It’ll also contribute to increased coverage of women in sports in general (or in this case, e-sports). As of now, female athletes receive only 15% of all U.S. sports media coverage. That’s despite the fact that they actually participate in nearly half of all sports competitions, according to Wasserman data.
The Air Force’s role in Women Taking Flight
What is the Air Force’s role in the “Women Taking Flight” program? Technically, the Drone Racing League runs “Women Taking Flight.” Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force is a founding partner.
It’s all shaping up to be a recruiting opportunity for the Air Force. That’s both to bring in more women either as pilots or in other technical roles. Across all aspects of technology jobs, women today hold less than 27% of tech-related roles, according to data from Deloitte. For what it’s worth, the Air Force has the highest percentage of female active duty service members of all the branches in the U.S. military. But still, it’s a minority. As of 2020, women made up just 21.1% of the U.S. Air Force.
“DRL, and this partnership, helps us inform women of opportunities in the Air Force and Space Force, so we’re thrilled to help these women pilots soar to new heights,” said Barry Dickey, Air Force Recruiting Service’s Chief Marketing Officer in a prepared statement. “Through the DRL Women Taking Flight program, the Air Force is able to connect with a talented group of drone pilots, as well as tech innovators and their audience.”
The U.S. Air Force has already had a fairly robust, longstanding partnership with DRL. Last summer, DRL and the United States Air Force (USAF) announced the continuation of what has now been a seven-year long partnership pegged around recruiting. New to this year, the partnership includes an actual pilot endorsement. With that, the USAF endorses a DRL Pilot, who flies as the official U.S. Air Force Team Pilot and engages in special appearances with veterans and military families at DRL race events.
Consider it a clever example of how companies are investing in diversity, equity and inclusion. And it’s an indicator that even some of the most long-standing employers are improving their creative talent-pipeline development strategies through innovative sports like drone racing.
A U.S. military Reaper made an emergency landing during a flight in Polish airspace on Tuesday, according to U.S. and Polish authorities, as spikes in GPS jamming across NATO’s eastern flank deepen concerns over the airspace around the Baltic Sea. A U.S. airborne drone made an emergency landing near the town of Mirosławiec in northwestern […]
