Drone demo at Oso beach

Julie Druker | Jul 23, 2014

Those attending the Sharbot Lake Farmers Market and others enjoying Oso beach on July 19 likely noticed some unusual sights hovering overhead. Two drones operated by Alex Wright, owner of the Toronto-based business Drone Depot, were part of a special presentation he gave at the market. Wright set up a booth from where he piloted two of the Chinese-made drones he sells. Onlookers were invited to view a screen that showed the real time recorded images of the market venue from the drones’ cameras hundreds of feet overhead.

Wright gave demos of the larger Octocopter drone (which I did not get a chance to see) and also the DJI Phantom 2 drone, a white, four propeller 1.5 foot long drone that he flew using a remote control. Demonstrating the control possible with the drones, he made the Phantom 2 hover just feet from his face and then launched it into the sky over Sharbot Lake, informing onlookers that it has a range of 1500 metres.

The images received from the Phantom 2’s camera were clear, stable and fascinatingly picturesque, offering market goers and vendors a chance to see themselves, the venue and the surrounding landscape from angles that they most certainly have never seen before nor will ever see again.

Wright's business not only sells a wide selection of the DJI drones, which in Wright's words, “are the leading makers of consumer drones”, but also all the necessary technology to go along with them. He trains buyers to fly the drones at his Drone Depot Flight School and also offers service and repairs. Wright had nothing but good things to say about the DJI drones. “These have flight controllers that make these drones extremely flyable, stable and level. You can fly them around like a camera track in the sky because they have 3D stabilization in them. Before these, you had to fight to keep the drone in one position. Now you can release the controls and the drone will hover in one single spot.”

His demonstartions brought his point home. Both the Phantom 2 and the Octo-copter flew like things from a sci-fi movie - precisely, smoothly and with a soft beating hum. These drones use DJI Light Bridge technology, which allows Wright to send a 1080 P digital video downlink from the drone to a smart phone or TV screen.

Wright is often hired to film special events and recently he used the drones to film the Tim Horton's Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival on June 21 and 22. “We had TVs set up on the beach so people could watch and had live digital broadcasting that also went out to viewers on CTV”. Wright was also recently hired by the owners of the Sumac Centre in Central Frontenac to film their extensive property for promotional purposes. Wright said that filming and broadcasting has become a big part of his business. Transport Canada requires drone pilots of commercial flights to acquire special permission and a special flight operations certificate. Wright also said that presently commercial drone flights are not allowed in the US yet. In Canada currently there are no regulations on recreational drone flights, something that Wright does not agree with. “I think there should be regulations and training. Personally, I train a lot of my clients especially with the larger units like the Octo-copters. It just takes just one idiot flying one around an airport like the recent incident that happened in Vancouver to create huge problems and if that happens enough times, Transport Canada could ground everyone, which would be terrible for the industry.”

Wright said that the DJI drones he sells have a special no-fly zone feature that causes them to auto land if they fly within 1.5 kilometres of an airport. Wright opened his business in November 2013 and said that the business is going “gang busters”. “We're getting into major retailers and I am piloting for large scale events like the Lake Ontario 300, the longest fresh water sailboat race in the world.” For more information about Drone Depot contact Alex Wright at 1-647-302-0072 or alex@dronedepot.com