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Hellooooo ladies!! Are you searching for a way to learn more about drones, learn to fly or maybe even start your own business using your drone? Dart Drones is offering a set of scholarships including "Women In Drones", "Aspiring Drone Entrepreneur Scholarship ", "Career Change Scholarship", an scholarship for high school and college students, plus several more! If you've been overwhelmed by the financial undertaking getting into drones can be, definitely check out these scholarships or share this post with a friend who might benefit! Keep up with drone scholarship news here on the Women Who Drone blog. Keep flying high!

Take a moment to imagine stepping onto a plane, feeling the excitement within you rise as you anticipate reaching your desired destination. Suddenly, the plane jolts, you see engine parts falling to Earth and your entire life flashes before your eyes…149 people boarded the Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 plane on Tuesday with Captain Tammie Jo Shults at the controls with no inkling about the life changing event that would occur before making it to Dallas. Shults is a U.S. military and Navy Reserve veteran and well-known for her professionalism when it comes to flying and piloting. Shults was commissioned in 1985 and completed flight training in Pensacola. Serving at the Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron in Point Mugu, Calif. as an instructor pilot, she flew the EA-6B Prowler and F/A-18 Hornet. She then achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander. After leaving active duty in 1993, she served in the Navy Reserves until 2001. It’s stories just like these that make me reinstate any doubt that a higher existence is in power and watches over us. If not for Tammy Shults and her ability to calmly bring down flight #1380, there would be much more than one causality and seven injuries as a result from this emergency landing. The cause of the accident as far as investigators know was metal fatigue in an engine fan blade that broke off, which caused the engine to explode mid-flight. Shrapnel flying into the air and smashing a window is what ended the life of one passenger and fortunately only injured seven others on board. Photo Credit: latimes.com Shults is one of the many female pilots out there saving life, changing the world of flying, and engaging with passengers both in air and on the ground alike about how a calm and collected mind can really allow one to hone in on actions that must be taken to save hundreds of people’s lives in these scenarios. Females are no longer suited just for the home; they are in continuous lift-off to even better achievements and aspirations. Here is to Shults, an inspiration to other young female want-to-be pilots!

The creative geniuses at Intel were at it again with another eye-catching drone show that lit up that skies at one of the most renowned musical festivals in the world, Coachella! Held in Indio, California, thousands of people gather together to engulf themselves in a variety of electronic dance, indie, and rock music as well as beautiful art sculptures and installations. With several stages hosting live music, there is a lot for the eyes to see. Photo Credit: Elena Buenrostro The music at Coachella may be popping, but Intel once again broke the barriers of creativity with a unique light show performed by Shoot Star Mini Drones. While the company did not go near as big as the Super Bowl or the Olympic Winter games, they did something even better, which was go live! They put thousands in awe with a surprise drone performance during the Odesza’s act, which blew everyone in the audience away. The show features 420 of the infamous shooting star drones, creating the Odesza’s geometric logo. Photo Credit: Drone DJ With creatively designed software that is programmed and automated by Intel, the Shooting Star Mini Drone may be light-weight, but powerful in performance. The software simply informs each drone where to fly to create images. The software is advanced enough to choose specific drones that have more battery life and is lead with quality GPS reception. Light shows that used to take weeks and months to build are now being created in just a matter of days. One of the biggest draw dropping facts about these light shows to me is that it only takes one brave soul to pilot the entire light show. With the small LED lights packed into each mini drone, the software can perform a total of 4 billion different color combinations, which leaves endless room for creativity and awe-like performance. Which amazing event will another one of the light shows take place? It’s hard to say, but 2018 is the doorway to bigger, better, easier creativity thanks to those working hard in the droning world!

In case you missed it, Women Who Drone had their first ever event at the DJI Headquarters in NYC! It was an amazing turn out, full of creative content, drones and fun! Laura Chukanov and Elena Buenrostro took the reigns and discussed what Women Who Drone have been up to as well as what we have planned in the near future! We had the pleasure of welcoming, filmmaker and 2016 NYC Drone Film Festival winner, Jody Johnson who screened an original video about her love story with drones. DJI Public Policy Coordinator, Jennifer Thibodeau gave an informational piece about public policy and drones as well as Women in Tech. We also announced our upcoming workshops taking place in Brooklyn, NY which you can sign up for here. Take a look at the FB live below if you were not able to make it out. As we continue to grow our community, we want to encourage more women to reach out to us on how they can get involved and learn more about the booming drone industry. Take a look at the photo gallery of the event. Photos by Edward Kostakis, Xizmomedia

Even if you are only as technically advanced as being able to toast something without burning it, everyone loves a heart-wrenching story. This story in particular places the spotlight on an unlikely hero. Earlier this month in a heavily wooded area of Moore County, North Carolina, an 11-year-old girl by the name of Kaniya Chambers ventured off mindlessly into the woods seeking adventure but found herself lost beyond belief. When Moore County deputies reached the scene, they spent almost an hour searching and combing over the woods with no luck in locating the little girl. Thankfully, the Moore County Sheriff’s office had started a drone program within the last year, in which a member of the squad had one. The deputies called in the help of lieutenant Tim Davis and his drone with heat sensing capabilities. Within a mere fifteen minutes, the little girl was located and brought to safety with her family. Despite the eyes of several people in the search party, Chambers was hidden under leaves, but that certainly did not stop Davis’s drone from spotting her. Since the incident, the Moore County Sherriff’s Department has added six additional drones to their emergency team for use in similar situations that occur in the future. Photo Credit: David Kovalenko Seriously, how cool is this?! Drones are absolutely amazing and virtually unstoppable machines in the beginning of 2018 alone have had many other labels added to their already awesome capabilities. From saving lives, showing off fashion, to creating eye-boggling displays in the night sky, the droning world should be one that excites even the guy that just burnt his toast while reading this.

2018 has certainly been an eventful year already and no, I am not referring to the Tide Pod epidemic among the teenage population. In the droning world, there is not only amazing advances being made, but the use of these intricately awesome machines is being expanded by even the craziest of realms! I thought I had seen it all when it came to drones. From the stellar photo opportunities they capture to helping us ground-bound humans view our planet from bird-eye perspectives, drones are nothing to laugh about. These tiny yet magnificent machines have managed to make heart-throbbing firework-like displays this year at the 2018 Winter Games and they are being seen in slightly odd events in other countries as well. The 2018 Milan Fashion week would not be a place you think drones would be present, right? I thought so too, but they were more of the stars than the Dolce and Gabbana autumn and winter collections that made their debut on the runway. Photo credit: The Verge While actual models took the stage for the blouse and dress portions of the runway show, drones magically made their way up and down the catwalk, showing off the newest handbags in all their glory. Talk about a 360 degree view! Each drone even managed to fit the occasion by being decorated with a shiny gemstone on the top. There is footage of people in lab coats on the sidelines as they monitored their pride and joy showing off 2018’s latest handbag fashions. It was fascinating to watch the live footage of each drone taking it’s time down the catwalk to allow spectators to really view the colors and details of each handbag. So, this bears the question of what other occasions will drones be making an appearance in during 2018? Literally, the world of drones is becoming limitless!

Photo Courtesy of Xizmomedia As the last couple decades have faded into oblivion, the entire world has been drastically changed by how media is envisioned, filmed, created, stored, and enjoyed. For those like me that were born in the early 90’s, I believe we have gotten to witness first-hand the tides of positive media evolution from the way we watch television, engage with the internet, bring our imaginations to life, and beyond. Just 25 years ago the internet was being born; who knew that less than 30 years later, the way we see the entire world could be as jaw-dropped as it is today! I don’t know anyone that dislikes the cool angles that help us to envision places we may never step foot on differently. Every media platform is or has utilized drones to capture scenes at unreachable heights. From being engulfed into the ridges and crevices of our planet to seize moments in time, getting up close and personal to dangerous creatures and inclement weather, and even capturing video from various points-of-view in sporting and other live events, the creation and evolution of the droning world has given the human race the capability to do unimaginable things within media. So, where can one experience the absolute best droning films of 2017? The Drone Film Festival hosted in New York City, of course! This year’s film festival is to be bigger than ever. The fourth annual Drone Film Festival will be held on March 3rd and 4th, 2018. While this type of festival may seem mediocre to those who don’t drone, it has grown wildly popular over the last three years. For the 2017 year, there were over 4,000 videos submitted to be considered! The years before less than 1,000 videos were submitted for review. 2018 Drone Film Festival Schedule If you wish to engage in this must-see festival, here is a play-by-play of this year’s festival events: Saturday, March 3rd – BMCC Tribecca Performing Arts Center 1 P.M. – 6:30 P.M.: Drone panels led by droning professionals 7:30 P.M. – 10:30 P.M.: NYC Drone Film Festival screening and award show Sunday, March 4th – The Liberty Science Center Sunday is known as “The Day of Drones” at the film fest. There will be featured classes, presentations, seminars, and lectures from those in the drone industry. There have been some pretty awesome talks in the past years. While the actual scheduled is being finalized, you can see some of the things to take place below: Micro drone racing and freestyle FPV competition Screenings of the winning drone films from the night before Storytelling, production, and post-production courses Aerial cinematography seminars and other master classes Drone expo and flight cage If you are interested in attending the fourth annual NYC Drone Film Festival March 3rd and 4th, then buy your tickets here! If you are just planning to attend Saturday evening, you can use the promo code NYCDFF 15 to get tickets for just $15. If you are considering attending the festival in its entirety, then you can use the promo code FESTPASS60 to get your all weekend pass for $60 instead of paying $75. Head to the official UAV Coach website 2018 Film Festival page for more information and to view their favorite 2017 festival videos!

Those who know me know that I am not a sports fan; while I get excited on occasion when my partner gets pumped about a football team scoring a touchdown or dunking a winning goal, I could care less. When you mix my least favorite season with sporting, this is a negative double-whammy for yours truly. But there was an amazing aspect of this year’s 2018 Winter Games that caught my eye on social media that might just get me to change the channel and check out sporting events more from time to time. The millions of people who tuned into the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Games witnessed a performance that shattered previous world records. If you were one of the ones who watched in awe as thousands of drones created animated shapes such as a moving snowboarder, a dove, and the classic Olympic rings, then you know there are very few words to describe the amazing performance conducted by a complicated set of drone piloting software. Creating moving figures more than 300 feet in the air, the 2018 drone show that stole the hearts of viewers everywhere as well as the opening show for this year’s Winter Games. With more than 1,200 drones responsible for this show, it crushed previous world records as the largest swarm of synchronized drones in history. Talk about putting firework displays in their place! All the drones that were involved in this spectacular light show were Intel Shooting Star drones, which are about the same weight as a volleyball. This is to ensure peace of mind as thousands of these guys swarm close together to create incredible light displays. Thanks to sophisticated technology software, all 1,200+ drones are able to be controlled by computer systems. While this sounds easy, it is very challenging for software creators to get all the drones to fly in a synchronized fashion to make those jaw-dropping animated shapes. But only two drone pilots are necessary to make the inner-workings of these light shows happen! Despite advancements in drone technology, these drones are only able to fly in particular weather conditions, which is why set back the drone show to another night of the Winter Games. The biggest weather condition is the extreme cold, since drones rely on batteries to operate. Pair the bitter cold with excessive wind and wind-chill factors and you have a recipe for drone-piloting disaster. If you recall the 2017 Super Bowl half-time show where Lady Gaga shocked all of us, you will probably remember the American flag coming together behind her at the end of her performance; this was also created by synchronized drones! With continued advancements in drone capabilities, you should expect to see more of these drone-created light shows throughout the world as they take the place of some firework displays and less-extraordinary light performances. See the video below!

Calling all Women Who Drone! UAV Coach has recently launched two scholarships for college and high school students looking to become involved in drone operation for STEM fields. Women remain a minority in the drone industry and we're here to change that! Read on to find out more about each scholarship. UAV Coach recently launched a scholarship for U.S. college students that will provide $2,000 total, with two awards of $1,000 each. As technology improves and drones get less and less expensive, we’re seeing a proliferation of different niche applications, from uses in agriculture, mining, surveying, fire fighting, and much, much more. UAV Coach wants to hear from thoughtful college students inspired by drone technology from all walks of life—when they think about the possibilities and the future of the drone industry, what do they imagine? To learn more, and to apply, visit the Drone Technology College Scholarship webpage. UAV Coach is also sponsoring a high school scholarship offering free access to Drone Pilot Ground School, and remote test prep course for the FAA’s Part 107 test. There is no limit to the number of applications that will be awarded and the first 150 applicants will have their test fees covered (up to $150). To learn more about UAV Coach’s high school scholarship, visit the High School STEM Scholarship for Aspiring Commercial Drone Pilots webpage.

This weekend the women who drone got a chance to test out the DJI Mavic Air before it’s release in stores! In our review we’ll let you know what’s in the box and what new features this pocket-size powerhouse has to offer, plus you’ll see footage of the new quick shot modes in action. Catch the video below and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more drone news and reviews! #dji #mavicair #review

Women Who Drone Co-Founders, Elena Buenrostro & Laura Chukanov Often times, other women ask me how I got involved with drones and what drone they should start with. Now, as a video producer, my fascination with drones really began with the ability to film the world from above, but then the ease of using my DJI Mavic Pro is what made me continue to use and fall in love with the technology. Most women I talk to mention they are afraid of crashing the drone, but I always explain its actually pretty difficult to do so with the intelligent flight features in place. There’s no denying that drones are simply becoming more and more user-friendly and DJI happens to be the leader of this industry. So, just when you thought it couldn't get any better than the Mavic Pro, they surprised us yet again with the DJI Mavic Air. That’s right, this new compact drone features mostly everything the Mavic Pro encompasses with a few differences. Elena Buenrostro flies the DJI Mavic Air Today, the release of the new Mavic Air was announced in NYC and we got to see it for ourselves. Amongst what was mostly a packed room of men, the petite drone was showcased on stage by DJI's Managing Director, Michael Perry. Perry not only demonstrated how easy it was to use with its intelligent flight features and flight performance, but also how extremely portable and compact it was by taking three of them out of his pocket! Quite honestly, it’s almost like the DJI Mavic Pro and Spark had a baby. I got to chat with Michael Perry after his presentation and he stated, the Mavic Air, "Will help people fly with a lot more confidence." I thought placing my Mavic Pro into my purse was pretty cool, but the Mavic Air can now easily fit inside your pocket! How amazing is that? And the specs are nothing far from amazing. The Mavic Air uses a 1/2.3-inch sensor that shoots 4K video at 24 or 30 frames per second, or 12-megapixel stills, all with a wide-angle 24mm f/2.8 lens. It tops out at 42.5 miles per hour, can withstand winds of up to 22 miles per hour, has a 2.5-mile range (within visual line of sight) and not to mention comes in three different colors all for just $799. After trying the Mavic Air myself and experiencing apas (advanced pilot awareness), I think the Mavic Air just may take the lead in becoming the next beginner’s drone on the market (especially for women), simply because this feature literally stops or goes over obstacles avoiding any type of collision. Overall, the Mavic Air is an unlimited amount of creativity in your pocket all while being one of the most advanced portable and affordable drones DJI has to offer. Pre-order yours today or buy it in retail stores beginning January 28th.

Photo By Elena Buenrostro. 2017. Big Sur, CA. Have you ever found yourself in total awe of the world from the window on a plane? Have you ever gotten the chance to see the world from an entirely new point of view, whether it be on a roller coaster, hang gliding, or after the tiring trek to the top of a mountain? If you have been blessed with this type of opportunity, you know all too well that seeing the world from above is a metamorphic experience. Things we see in the everyday world become something totally different to the naked eye. Fields become slashes of brilliant color, circus tents look like a tiny box of goodies, and lifeless trees become eerie spider webs. Photo By Merr Watson. 2017. City Beach, Western Australia. With the creation and use of drone technology, we as human beings have managed to take the need to brainstorm how to get high into the sky away to showcase tiny copters that are more than revolutionary. While the birth of amazing digital technologies has allowed us to see and capture Mother Nature in all her glory, it’s no secret that the age of digital images is becoming more and more saturated by the day. We can now capture detailed photos and videos with mobile devices, which with all of the creative minds in the world, leaves us with very little room to really stand out amongst the crowd. This is where the perks of owning a drone really comes in handy. Unless you just happen to be traveling on a plane high in the sky, you are very unlikely to have the opportunity to get high enough to capture the aperture of entire landscapes at various angles than just from where you stand. With drones, however, pilots are not only able to vividly capture factual representations of landscapes, but they are able to create abstract art from their shots as well. Photo By Nikita J Shah. 2017. Quincy Quarries Reservation. With the unlimited creative opportunities a drone offers, artists can make gorgeous images from above. They can make people really tune into an image, making them see the world in a newfound way. Drones have given talented content creators the chance to experience viewing Mother Nature in a whole new way, resulting in the discovery of beautiful patterns and colors in nature that can be utilized to create grand artistic pieces. There is also a plethora of companies out there searching for various ways to help their business stand out. What could help one stand out more than a piece of art utilized in a commercial-like way that attracts the attention and imaginations of potential customers? Drones are even being considered as another method of delivering products and services to people as well! How cool would that be? The main reasons marketing teams are considering drone technologies now more than ever is because: You must be willing to change the line of sight that the majority of audiences have of the world. Drones allow us to see from a bird’s eye view. You can simply hover over venues to catch crowds or fly over well-known landscapes to trudge up different opinions. Marketers are often only limited by their creativity. Drones have the ability to expand this creative boundary. Cost of entering businesses is becoming less expensive each year. With advances in drone technology comes the ability for varieties of different people to afford them and use them to capture how they see or wish to view the world. It has been scientifically proven that people look at aerial shots longer than those shot from ground view. Most times, it is hard to guess what objects actually are until they take more than just a few moments to gaze at an aerial photo. Drones are opening up new adventures and inspiring people to view and capture the world like never before. Picture by picture, video by video, we are now capable of doing Mother Nature justice by changing how we capture the world from above. Drones are by no means a fad, and the technology of being able to fly cameras high into the sky is here to stay. Ultimately, you cannot put a price on perspective.