Have Airport, Need Drones

[DronesInTX]

Hi.

I have a small FAA registered 2500' grass stripped airfield in Central Texas, 1 hour outside (northeast) of Austin Texas.

I'm in the beginning stages of getting the previously unkept grass strip back up and running and I am interested to using this field for drone operations and development.

Can you guys please provide some insight on what you need to help with your hobby, interests, careers, projects or businesses?

What do you need? What would the idea DronePort have for you and your interests in drones and drone technology development?

 

[jaja6009]

Permanent NIST obstacle course built in including the advanced ones.
Wifi throughout
Places to charge batteries
Permanently marked control points for mapping practice
FPV courses
Bathrooms
Make it an FAA FRIA
Training props for learning workflows such as cell phone tower, flat roofs, power lines, solar panels
Public Safety training props vehicles, buildings for drone entry

 

[DronesInTX]

Permanent NIST obstacle course built in including the advanced ones.
Wifi throughout
Places to charge batteries
Permanently marked control points for mapping practice
FPV courses
Bathrooms
Make it an FAA FRIA
Training props for learning workflows such as cell phone tower, flat roofs, power lines, solar panels
Public Safety training props vehicles, buildings for drone entry

These are fantastic ideas. Thanks. About the battery charging, are there preferred charging systems versus other less ideal chargers? When searching this, it's a little confusing. What would I want to pay attention to when determining which specs are most ideal. Charging time seems obvious, but are there any other considerations to be taken into account?

Would there be any organizations that I may want to approach to help get this all set up in a way that would bring more professional drones to our airport?

Thanks for your input. It's very much appreciated.

 

[Airmapper]

These are fantastic ideas. Thanks. About the battery charging, are there preferred charging systems versus other less ideal chargers? When searching this, it's a little confusing. What would I want to pay attention to when determining which specs are most ideal. Charging time seems obvious, but are there any other considerations to be taken into account?

Would there be any organizations that I may want to approach to help get this all set up in a way that would bring more professional drones to our airport?

Thanks for your input. It's very much appreciated.

I'd think standard household current outlets would suffice. People will have chargers for their own equipment, or should. You don't need to provide chargers, just access to power.

Maybe separate the outlets on different circuits (to spread load if multiple people are charging, big drone batteries can pull some amps if you have multiples charging at once, daisy chaining power strips would be bad...) set up above a largish table so they can neatly arrange the chargers in a clean and ventilated area. Keep it simple.

A few buckets of sand by the table, and put it in an area a fire wouldn't be hard to get to. Concrete/block structure if indoors. LiPo fires are nasty. Rare, but nasty.

Honestly I'd never have considered going to an actual airstrip to fly a drone. Most manned aircraft pilots I know have a vitriolic hatred of drones and drone pilots.

 

[DronesInTX]

I'd think standard household current outlets would suffice. People will have chargers for their own equipment, or should. You don't need to provide chargers, just access to power.

Maybe separate the outlets on different circuits (to spread load if multiple people are charging, big drone batteries can pull some amps if you have multiples charging at once, daisy chaining power strips would be bad...) set up above a largish table so they can neatly arrange the chargers in a clean and ventilated area. Keep it simple.

A few buckets of sand by the table, and put it in an area a fire wouldn't be hard to get to. Concrete/block structure if indoors. LiPo fires are nasty. Rare, but nasty.

Honestly I'd never have considered going to an actual airstrip to fly a drone. Most manned aircraft pilots I know have a vitriolic hatred of drones and drone pilots.

>Most manned aircraft pilots I know have a vitriolic hatred of drones and drone pilots.

That's going to have to change. Currently, I'm sure most of the drone pilots you know also have smaller drones where a strip or drone port isn't all that necessary. That's going to change as well. As AI gets better, more reliance on drone technology will be a thing. I just want to be there to help with that transition. I see a great future in drone technology, and would like to get in on the ground level.

Thanks for the inputs. If you come up with more, I'm definitely interested.

 

[Zamboni]

Hi.

I have a small FAA registered 2500' grass stripped airfield in Central Texas, 1 hour outside (northeast) of Austin Texas.

I'm in the beginning stages of getting the previously unkept grass strip back up and running and I am interested to using this field for drone operations and development.

Can you guys please provide some insight on what you need to help with your hobby, interests, careers, projects or businesses?

What do you need? What would the idea DronePort have for you and your interests in drones and drone technology development?

Shade. Especially at the charging stations. Batts get warm when charging and flying, a hot battery must cool before recharge or reuse. Direct sun can end your day of flying real quick. Ideally an air conditioned building for batt storage and charging but that feels like a big ask.