Drone Art for Aviation Fans
Dozens of aviation enthusiasts gathered in Riyadh for the Saudi General Aviation Airshow, the 6th annual Sand & Fun. International air crews demonstrated their skills and artistry for 5 consecutive days. Each day ended with a dazzling 2,000 drone light show combined with lasers and fireworks.
To celebrate aviation culture and sciences, we designed aviation-themed animations. The final picture of drone-built fireworks flowed seamlessly into real pyrotechnics electrifying the night sky over Al-Thumamah Airport.
Challenges Met and Mastered
As all event planners know, such complex projects usually go with a set of challenges. Here is what we overcame to reach flawless result:
- no cover from sand
Due to the busyness of the event, the launch site wasn’t yet ready when we arrived. This meant the drone motors could be damaged by sand grains during test flights. However, we still ran tests without site cover not to waste time and ensure error-free flights in the next 5 days.
- busy air traffic
The airshow had a large number of participants, mostly planes. For safety, we synced all flights with the control tower and marked our flight zone with 4 signaling drones making it easy for pilots to see.
- high winds
In a windy Al-Thumamah Airport, we faced possible show cancellation several times for these 5 days. Luckily, no wind messed up any of 5 launches.
- sync challenges
The show needed a common timecode sync. But since we were at an active airport, cables on the runway were not allowed. So we used our own timecode device, activated it from the control room, and gave commands to pilots via radio.
Putting on a series of 2,000 drone light shows for 5 days in a row was intense. Lumasky drone art gave as much excitement to the crowds as the top aviation talents performing in the sky over Riyadh.
