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Do You Have the Right Venue for a Stunning Drone Show?

By Antonio Liska • August 22, 2024

When planning a drone show, especially with 100 drones, it’s essential to ensure your venue meets the necessary requirements for a safe and spectacular display. For a show of this scale, the drones typically operate within a relatively small footprint. Imagine a grid of 20x20 meters—converted to feet, that’s about 65x65 feet. This compact area is manageable, but it does require some specific conditions to be ideal.

First and foremost, the surface where the drones will take off and land, if grassy, should be no taller than 3 inches. This helps ensure the drones operate without interference from the terrain.

Audience placement is another critical factor. To maintain safety, the audience must be at least as far away from the drones as the drones are flying high. For every vertical foot the drones reach, the audience should be at least 1 foot away. This rule, set by the FAA, is a standard practice among drone show operators and is crucial for ensuring the safety of all attendees. Additionally, there should be no moving vehicles near the drone operation area to avoid accidents or interference with the show.

Airspace considerations are equally important. If your venue is not within Class G airspace, we need to seek FAA approval, which can take at least two weeks. It’s important to plan ahead and reach out early to ensure everything is in place for the show.

A drone show is best viewed from a distance of 600 to 1,000 feet. The lights are visible from about three miles away, but that is the range where a 100-drone show’s animations read the way they looked in the 3D preview. When you walk the venue, pick the primary viewing direction first and give the audience that much clear ground toward the show; the FAA standoff above sets the front row, and spectators can stand right up to its edge. Formations are choreographed for that primary direction, so if your audience wraps around the site or watches from two sides, tell us early and the storyboard will account for it. For the full breakdown by show size, viewing angle, and lighting conditions, see how far away you can see a drone show.

To determine if your venue is suitable for a drone show, don’t hesitate to reach out. With the right planning, we can ensure that your event is both safe and visually stunning.