Children can learn to fly drones at summer camp
Drone Camp in Fishers teaches kids the different parts of the drone and lets them fly.
Ten-year-old Jade Bacon probably knows more about drones than most people do. She knows what stabilizers and a gimbal do and can point them out. She can tell you to what altitude someone can legally fly a drone (500 feet, if you didn’t know), and where you can’t fly drones (stay away from prisons and airports).
Most of her knowledge about drones came from attending a two-day drone camp in Fishers that taught kids about drones, then let them fly. According to its founders, Ball State students Matt King and Daniel Majestic, it’s one of the first of its kind in the country.
On a Tuesday morning, Jade was one of the five kids, ages 9-12, standing in the Life Church parking lot staring up at a drone in the sky. As the drone gradually dropped toward the ground, Jade reached above her head and caught the drone by its landing gear, something all of the children at the camp learned how to do.
She had heard about drones before, and even had her own — an old one her dad gave to her this summer. Her grandfather decided to do something special for her and take her to the camp.
While a drone camp may be slightly more high-tech than what people think of when they hear “camp,” one 11-year-old camp attendee said drones are common Christmas presents that most children know about.
Earlier this year, King helped start Droning About, a company that helps people connect with commercial drone pilots. He had two drones before this camp, Majestic bought a third, and they pitched in on a fourth.
When they first came up with the idea, King said, people weren’t as optimistic about the outcome.
“People told us we were crazy,” he said. “No. 1, people said, ‘Matt, no one’s going to sign up for this.’ I said, ‘Kids will sign up for this. People love technology.’ ”
And people have signed up. They estimate that, between their Fishers and Cincinnati locations, they’ve taught about 50 kids how to fly. The camp started as a two-day outing for $185 in June but will be offered as a one-day event for $99 in July.
With the high-quality drones they have, Majestic said, flying is easy. Within an hour of the start of camp, kids are putting drones in the sky. They've yet to have any crashes. Which is good, because each drone the two purchased cost about $800 to $900.
“Once you get more expensive models, it’s easier to fly,” Majestic said. “Day one we teach them all about the drones, and they’re probably up flying about an hour after that.”
Mason Halton, 10, had never flown before and ended up setting the camp record for getting his drone to 100 feet the quickest — in nine seconds.
Others just wanted to get better at flying.
“I had a drone, (but) I thought I was really bad at flying it,” said Bradyn Donahoe, 11, who received a drone for Christmas. “So I thought I could learn at least a little bit.”
The kids mostly agreed that the best parts of the camp were the missions and games. Besides learning how to fly, they completed missions in which they had to find hidden objects on the property using the drone cameras.
They also got the chance to take and edit video, using the high-definition drone cameras. Majestic and King send all the footage and pictures taken during the camp to the parents afterward.
At the end of the session, the kids are quizzed on what they learned. If they pass the quiz and a flying test, which all of them did, they receive a certificate and are mailed their junior drone pilot wings.
One of King’s favorite parts of the camp is how surprised parents are when they notice how much their kids have learned about flying.
“We’re teaching the kids how to fly, they fly very well, they know the parts of the drone, they know the safety, and they’re very good at flying,” King said. “If you’re a mom, it’s perfect. It’s basically a video game in the sky.”
Call IndyStar reporter Kaitlin Lange at (317) 444-6487. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.
Drone camp
For a camp schedule or to sign up, go to dronecamp.org.