UAS News Podcast — 2013-07-31
Transcript
Music Welcome to the next installment of the UAS News Podcast Series where we interview newsmakers and discuss the news and applications relevant to the global unmanned technologies community. This is episode 56. It's the Business Expo Review. I'm your program host, Patrick Egan.
Let's say hello and welcome to our co-host, Mr. Gene Robinson. Hello, Patrick, and I think I am just about over the culture shock of staying in the Tenderloin District, which is the old district of San Francisco. Let me tell you what, this Texas boy had a hard time navigating the sidewalks around there.
That was pretty interesting. Oh, there's a movie that's coming to mind here. Yeah, I should have warned you on that. I guess it was a little, it's a real, the hotel or motel thing in San Francisco could be a real crapshoot, and I guess I should have been more on top of that.
But I was a little busy, I was, you know, with the whole thing, so I couldn't stay on top of it all. But at least, you know, you probably got a better appreciation for Texas. A little bit, yeah, just a little. Oh, my God, the tenderloin.
All right, well. Yeah, next time you'll know better. Next year. Indeed.
Anyway, you know, there were a couple of good news stories from last week. We had, and I forgot to mention this, the Expo, but was the shit spoofing. You know, that was our little Texas, University of Texas professor is at his crazy antics again. You know, he was the first one to spoof a quadcopter there in the University of Texas stadium, and that's kind of what really got Congress cranking on looking at the law and the funding bill again.
And then he goes out and he does it on a cruise ship. How exciting is that?
Well, you know, I've publicly called for the docking of all ships until they get that worked out. Absolutely. You know, I can't have any ships running amok out here, you know. Anyway, that one was good.
And then the also during the Expo, we announced that, you know, they gave out the FAA gave out two commercial type certificates, one for the AeroVirament Puma and one for the ScanEagle, Institute ScanEagle. And, you know, I've also said out there publicly that I guess it kind of makes the shell game up there on the shelf legit, because that's actually been going on for a while, that commercial activity. And, you know, one of the things that I've repeatedly groused about to the FAA are the, you know, what is that?
Some are more equal than others, and I'm just looking for these opportunities that other people got, like that, the example up there on the shelf. And also the there's another one going on where there's training going on in the NASA Glastier space, which is a little unfair because, I mean, you know, a guy like you would probably want to open up a training facility and be extremely hard for you to get a COA to do commercial activity. Especially since the COA specifically prohibits commercial activity.
Interesting. Well, that's what you hear, but, you know, some folks are more equal than others. But, you know, that's a show for another time. This show, we want to talk about the expo, which, you know, I was more than pleasantly surprised.
It was, you know, it was great. And that's kind of the subject of today's podcast. And we have some of the speakers from the show. We have Doug Hunsaker, we have Gus Calderon and Douglas McQueen, who are all speakers at the show.
And so what we're going to do today is we're going to do a little roundtable and discuss some impressions and review the show. And I'd like to start out, just for the people that weren't at the show or didn't read the bios, which I should post those too. And I should say that all the videos from all the presentations we streamed that live, those are on the SUS News Google Plus. And all of the PowerPoint presentations are going to be uploaded to the Internet.
So you'll be able to look at those, watch the video, and kind of get a real flavor for the historic show. So first what I'm going to do is I'd like to have Doug Hunsaker, please introduce yourself to the audience with a little bio and how you got involved with the unmanned aircraft systems. Yeah. So like I said, my name is Doug Hunsaker.
And I actually got involved with UAS in college. That was the first time I saw one fly. And it was a really exhilarating experience. I ended up designing a couple of airplanes that the autopilot guys there at a college tested out their autopilots on.
And then I got to go to AeroVironment and do an internship there. I worked on an earlier version of Puma. And now I'm actually at Scale Composites. I'm a aerodynamic design engineer on the Paul Ellens straddle launch program.
But I like to stay involved with the UAS community as much as possible. Well, we're happy to have you. And we were happy to have you at the speak of the show. It was a great presentation.
Next we have Gus Calderon. Gus, could you give us a little bio?
Sure. I'm the owner of ISIS Copter. We're a small startup company located near San Diego. And we're designing and building custom multi-rotor platforms for aerial photography and aerial cinematography.
Basically began building remote controlled vehicles, airplanes, et cetera, when I was a kid in the 1970s. And then as a commercial pilot, I was doing some aerial photography and began to realize the need for more affordable types of platforms for aerial photography. So I started to look back to what I was doing when I was younger. And I started building first fixed wing platforms and then multi-rotors.
So that's kind of how I got re-involved in UAS recently. Excellent. And we also enjoyed your presentation. Oh, well, thank you very much.
It was really an honor to be there. I really, really had a great time, learned so much from being there. So I appreciate that. Excellent.
Excellent. And finally, we have Douglas McQueen who flew in all the way from beautiful vacation spot Newark, New Jersey. I only say that because I was born next door in Jersey City, which is even more of a garden spot in the Garden State. It certainly is.
It certainly is. And I say that completely truthfully, Patrick. As far as the bio, Patrick, for those who weren't at the show, I'm an aviation attorney with the firm of LeClaire Ryan in Newark, New Jersey. I've been involved with commercial and general aviation for over 20 years.
And I just got involved with the UAV industry by began monitoring the UAV industry on behalf of some of our insurance clients a couple of years ago and saw the potential that the market had and wanted to get involved as one of the first legal councils out there that took a specialization in the UAS industry. So that's what I've been doing. Yeah. And your presentation, I think, was a real eye-opener for a lot of people.
And I have to say, I really like the way that you kind of approached the questions from the audience. It was your quintessential, I have a friend who does this and he's wondering if. And kind of how you dissected the questions but actually just kind of put the question back out there and let people answer their own questions. And really the way that you handled that to me really made it, kind of broke it down and made it very simple for people to understand some of the, let's say, absurd notions that are out there.
Sure. I guess that's kind of fair to say. It was a good dialogue. We had a good group there.
So it made that question and answer session very productive. It did. And again, we have a, there's kind of a black hole there on the legal side of things. And I think that people have made, let's say, legal assumptions and we all know what happens when you assume things.
Things can get a little sideways. So I think that was very important. Even thinking about that there's kind of the age old question about I'm a farmer around and I've got my own UAV and I'm out here flying it and going nuts and basically taking one step back and going, well, are you a hobby farmer?
Or are you a business farmer? Most farmers I know are trying to make money. But you never know. I don't know.
So that was really interesting. All right. Well, so let's, you know, let's, like I said, we're going to do kind of a round robin thing. So I just want to launch into this and we'll start with Doug Hunsaker.
And Doug, you know, kind of give us your first impression of the Expo. Yes. So I think my first impression was amazement for the turnout and the interest in the topic. You know, there's a lot of people there from, you know, a lot of different companies were representative and a lot of those were startup companies trying to get a foot in the door in the UAV industry.
And anyway, so I was just amazed at the turnout and, you know, the interest, the questions that people asked at the end of each of the presentations were very pointed, very applicable. And I just felt like there was a lot of really good progress made, you know, in that discussion. I would agree with that. I definitely, you know, the whole, well, let me let's go through this first question with the guest first.
Gus, would you like to add to that? Yeah, I basically was, he just read what I have written down here. I'd like to echo exactly what he said. You had the large attendance and the caliber of the speakers and the guests to really, really struck a note with me, too.
I was very, very impressed with the professionalism of a lot of the people that I met there. I mean, that was that was really, really for a first time event. You really drew some some outstanding people. Yeah, I agree with that one.
Mr. McQueen. Well, same first impression as both Doug and Gus, Patrick. I was really impressed by both the depth and the breadth of the people there that were in attendance at the show.
I mean, we had hardware and software developers. You had a great turnout from the agricultural industry. We had people that want to be involved in U.A.S. education, law, public safety, aerial photography.
It was just a great spectrum of people. That's what impressed me right away. And your speaker list demonstrated that, too. Yeah, that was it was pretty impressive.
Let me get let me let Gene jump in here. And not that you're one of the guests, but I want to hear from you, too, Gene. Well, well, first off, what I'd like to say, Patrick, is kudos go to you. And I joke about you planning next year's already.
But, you know, when you start in March and pull something off like this and in six months, talk about a rabbit out of the hat. Kudos to you, dude, because that was a real coup as far as I'm concerned. And the next thing that I wanted to say about the expo was is that we had a lot of smart people there. I mean, these were very intelligent people thinking about what they could do, how they could do it.
And, you know, in deference to the counselor on the line, you know, how they could circumvent some of the rules and regulations that were in place so they could start making some money. You know, these people were very in the business. But it is a podcast. It is a podcast.
I said in deference to. Yeah, I definitely think people are looking to make some money and looking at ways to make some money. And I appreciate the thanks. It was it was a monumental task.
But I will say that, you know, most of the people that were speakers were people, friends of mine and people that I've known for a long time in this industry and who've kind of shared the same notions that we espouse on the podcast and at the SUAS news. You know, there's a bunch of people out there. And I think one of them, I think Ted McGeer did a great job and really was kind of an eye opening presentation. You know, here's a guy who wanted to get into this business.
And unfortunately, anytime he gets press at home, like in Oregon, Washington area, people beat him up for being an arms dealer. And he kind of talked about that. He's like, you know, I didn't I wanted to, you know, find fish and stuff, you know, but I have no legal market besides the defense industry. And so they kind of pushed me to be a arms dealer, which he doesn't want to do.
But I think, you know, I don't think one thing that was interesting about the crowd that was there is a lot of those people didn't realize I don't think they had any idea about the ITAR thing. And because I kept hearing feedback from people going, wow, you know, I didn't realize that this was a controlled technology. I mean, you think you're out there doing something, you know, with a little aircraft, but technically it's kind of classified as cruise missile technology. So I thought that was kind of interesting.
And again, thanks for the thanks. You know, it's going to be hard to outdo that one. The venue, you know, I mean, that venue with the America's Cups, they'll both have the word no. And it's crazy.
So, you know, it's going to be hard to top that one next year. But, you know, I'm on it. I am on it. All right.
Well, let's go back around and Doug Hunsaker, what was your first impression there? Oh, wait, I already asked you. Okay. I know.
Well, you know, I'm still winding back up from the expo. Still a little tired on that one. So did you learn something new and what it was?
What is it? Yes, absolutely. Actually, I went to a UAV conference earlier this year, also in California, and I actually came away from it a little bit depressed. You know, there was a lot of talk about the FAA and the regulations.
And I came away feeling like we all just kind of had to sit here until the FAA made some decisions. And it didn't look like they were going to be making any real decisions for quite some time. So anyway, but this conference had a very different tone about it. You know, you had a lot of – I was glad that it was focused on small business owners because you had a lot of people there who were serious about working with the FAA and figuring out how to get the legislation changed to make this legal, you know, so they can start to grow their businesses.
And I really appreciated the talk. I can't remember who it was that gave it, but she gave the analogy of the automobile industry when the first automobile came out. Chad Partridge. Okay, yeah.
And that just really resonated with me. You know, we always think that Henry Ford invented the automobile, and suddenly it was adopted worldwide, you know. And that was an uphill battle for them to get those cleared to use on public streets and things, you know, as a new concept. And I think we're facing something similar.
Anyway, so that analogy just gave me a lot of hope that there's a way forward, you know. So I think the biggest thing that I learned was that we can work through this, that there is a way forward, and there are things that we can be doing now, you know, to move this process along. That's positive. I like that.
Guess? Yeah, you know, I feel the same way. I honestly feel like my LiPo batteries were kind of recharged with that event. I mean, I'm spending so much time out in the field and doing R&D, and sometimes I wonder, you know, is this all going to be, you know, in vain, or are we ever going to be able to do this?
But being around so many other people and just getting that energy was just really, really phenomenal for me. So to learn that that is out there, that there's so much other energy, was something that I would definitely say I learned. On a technical side, that LIDAR unit, that small one from Velodyne, I was not familiar with that. I'm really glad that I got to be able to speak with those guys about what they're doing.
And I've had client inquiries for LIDAR, but I didn't know that they were down to just a couple of pounds now. That opens up a whole new world that's perfectly within the payload capacity of the multirotors that I'm building. And I think they're just going to be getting smaller and smaller because the demand is there for it. And that opens up so many new opportunities, I can't even get my mind around it yet.
It's going to take a while, and I need to learn more about it. But that was, for me, just phenomenal to learn about that. Yeah, that was good. I had asked about being a beta tester on one of those units, but they just kind of laughed at me.
It was funny, but man, that was cool. They did the live demonstration, but the video from when they did the stadium down there in San Diego, man, that just blew me away. I was just smoked. And Mr.
McQueen, what did you learn? One thing I learned, particularly from Tad McGeer's presentation, was that FAA regulations notwithstanding, it seems like the economics in some of the areas, some of the UAV markets are still going to be a challenge for a little while. It's actually great that we have Gus on the line today. I liked what he did there.
But it makes me think that at least for the time being, aerial photography and filming is certainly one area that's really ready to blossom. And I think he's got a good product and is in a great position. That's really going to bring a new perspective. The perspective that aerial filming can bring to the market, I think, is unique and is ready to go.
So the thing I learned is that some of the markets are really going to need some work to find economic viability, and others are right there on the edge and ready to go. I would agree with that. Gene?
You know what blew me away? I had one of the presenters there that came up with the thin film photo book sales. I've kind of discounted it. I've been in the tier one small UA thing for a long time now, and we've researched solar cells, and they were heavy and 20% efficient, maybe 18% if you got a bad one, and they just weren't viable.
And I just kind of had given up on it for a while and kind of put it in the back of my mind. And when they made those presentations, and they're talking 31%, and it's the thickness of mylar, and I can actually glass bag this into my wings and potentially keep an aircraft in the air all day, I was blown away. I said, hello, I'm going to start talking to these guys again, even at $10 a watt. I mean, that's not when you get that.
I can remember when it was $100 a watt. So that is the single one thing that attracted my attention, and I wouldn't have gotten it had I not been there to attend. I wouldn't have even thought about it. Yeah, that was Alter Devices, and they were also a sponsor.
But yeah, that's amazing. That's another thing that I mean, personally what I learned, besides how many places one guy can be in at one time, is there's a lot. I mean, that's one thing about being the president of the Silicon Valley chapter of AEBSI. I am meeting some kids out there that are just, I mean, these guys are smart, man.
And the way they're kind of operating in a vacuum, and I want to change that. I want to try and bring them in to the fold, let's say, and try and mentor some of these people, because it seems like they're operating in a vacuum there. They've got these great ideas, and they could use a little mentoring and maybe advice. So I'm going to try and do that.
But some of what these people are working on is just blowing me away. One, the other thing that I learned in my presentation when I was talking about the lobbying dollars coming out of the computer and Internet industry is people think that this industry is centered around DOD, and it has been historically. But I'm going to say that there's actually, in the room there, there were people that got tens of millions of dollars of venture capital who were pushing forward.
I mean, that's one thing I think people were thinking, oh, the business show, it's going to be guys, you know, real estate, aerial photography, peanut whistle thing.
Tens of millions of dollars was in that room. And these people are horsing around, and they've got venture capitalists. That was another thing. The room was full of venture capitalists.
I don't know if you guys talked to any or met any, but I had some of these people coming to me and asking me for copies of people's presentations for some high-level meetings that they were going to have with investors that want to get into this industry. So I'm going to say that the one thing that I learned is the money being talked about and put into this industry now is on par. I mean, it's not on par with Global Hawk, but I don't know too many people who can afford $225 million for an airplane.
But, you know, $5 million, $10 million, even 3D robotics. Chris Anderson was supposed to speak on Friday. The whole team shifted their thing to Thursday because they had a big VC meeting on Friday. So the sector's hot.
There's a ton of money out here. The VC people are a little cautious, which they should be about where they put their money, but I think this thing's ready to explode. So that was what I learned about this. I think, you know, we'll have to see what kind of comes out of this in the future.
We're still getting a lot of feedback and trying to put all the information on the Internet, but we'll see. All right, and so, you know, that launches us into the next question, and it's what we'll be – we'll start again with Doug Huntsaker. Is highlight for you, Doug?
Yeah, I guess I'd have to say two things. First of all, the connections, the people, you know, just meeting some fantastic people, connections that I want to keep in touch with and talk to more. And then the second thing really highlight for me was the opportunity to share some of my thoughts with people who care. You know, I talk to friends and family about ideas in the UAB world, and they probably get sick of hearing me talk about it,
you know, but to be in a room full of people that really care about this industry and think along the same lines, you know, that just that opportunity was a real highlight for me.
That's a astute observation. Yeah, I, you know, and you guys, a lot of you guys probably got a chance to meet my wife and son. I do the same thing, and I drone on for about two minutes, and I start getting some weird looks. I don't know if that happens to anyone else, but they're like, yeah, OK, I think we heard this 15 times.
Yeah, but it's cool. Anyway, Gus, highlight for you. Sure. I think for me personally, during after my presentation during the Q&A session, there was some really interesting dialogue and then had McGeer got involved and gave me some suggestions after, you know, listening to my presentation.
And for me, that was just incredible. I mean, it just honestly gives me goosebumps thinking about it. But it was to be able to, you know, have a discussion with him and listen to his advice, as all of this experience was really beyond words for me to describe what that was like. So I really I'm still amazed by that.
I'm probably going to heat his advice. He was recommending that I pursue an experimental type certificate with one of my more mature platforms. And I'm probably going to be looking into that further. But that was just an amazing highlight of the event for me personally.
Yeah, that was I definitely think the sidebars were high quality. I mean, talking to people there, that wasn't it wasn't Pat. I mean, there was there was some real discussions there. And that's, you know, that was definitely something interesting.
I remember you talking about that. The other thing that I liked with your presentation too, as you were talking about, I mean, you're a pilot and you've been kind of logging all these flights and everything and guys like you that have that kind of data. You know, I think that's going to be good eventually. Whatever, you know, the FAA says, oh, we need data, whatever, they can't really get it together, whatever.
Someday they're going to need it and some people have it to share. And I think that's going to be a good thing. Yeah, I'm glad we opened up the dialogue in the room. Sorry, that's just to other guys.
So we're all going to be logging our data more carefully and precisely so that we will have it available. And we're going to network on that level. Just to add that. I think it's going to be good.
And, you know, you don't have to go bananas. You know, I think that's the other thing. People don't really know what kind of stuff they should be logging. But, you know, hey, I flew, I flew this long.
This is where I was at. This is with the weather, yada, yada, yada. And, you know, basically keep a log of how much time you've got on the aircraft. Kind of a long, you know, what you would do in a pilot's logbook.
It's not, you know, it's not like writing a report. Not too difficult. So that was a good thing that you brought up. And finally, Mr.
McQueen, highlight for you. Well, as Doug and Gus said, the networking was key. But in addition to that, one of the highlights during the show was getting the news about the aero environment and in situ restricted type certificates for commercial ops. That was uncanny timing to have happen during the show.
It added kind of an element of excitement or buzz. But really what it drove home was the fact that, look, the floodgates are starting to open. The water is starting to trickle through and things are starting to happen. So I think it's positive news.
And it just shows that in very short order, what seems like a long time, but in very short order, the market will open up and these things are going to become very exciting. I'd agree with that. I'd agree with that. And it is kind of uncanny that we were able to announce that news during the first Small Unmanned Systems Business Exposition, two small systems.
It definitely was timely. And I will say, you know, some people think that we're all doom and gloom with the FAA, but actually Jim Williams, who is the head of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Office at the FAA, got a rousing applause from everyone in the room. So, you know, we did give credit where credit was due. It's not all dart boards and, you know, doom and gloom.
There is, you know, there is some positive stuff, and that definitely represents light at the end of the tunnel. So, you know, it was good. Gene, what was your highlight, sir?
All right. I have to concur second and third with the dialogue. You know, of course, I don't have a basso profundo voice to begin with, and by the time it was time for me to go up and make a presentation on search and rescue, search and recovery, I was about talked out. My voice was just barely there, but as we had been talking for two days straight, and it was a really, really friendly room.
That's what I got from it is that, you know, we were all kind of kindred spirits. We're moving forward in this commercialization of the industry, and we're all pushing for it. And to me, that kind of showed me that, yes, small business can be the force, and we need to keep that cohesion, and we need to keep moving forward because one of these days will prevail. I think we will, and there's going to be a lot of folks ready for it.
I would concur with that. I'd like to add, you know, that's what I, as the emcee of the show and also, you know, the host of this podcast and the SUAS News, and I think people pick up on that is we are trying to, you know, as I always say, you know, starting this show, it's a professional discussion amongst friends, and that's what I tried to, let's say, infuse into the business expo, and I really think that people kind of picked up on that, and everybody was approachable. There were no attitudes.
No one was hoity-toity. You know, you could approach people and talk to them. And even, you know, and I thought this was kind of, you know, for Chris Anderson was like, oh my God, you know, I learned, you know, X, Y, Z, and I can't believe, you know, the quality of the speakers, and, you know, I mean, so even, and not just Chris, but also, you know, Ted was, Wairszbanowski was like, wow, you know, this is pretty impressive.
So let's say the seasoned veterans of the industry were like, wow, you know, I came here, I learned something, I talked to some people that just, you know, I hadn't even thought about this.
They totally blew me away. You know, I'm going to do something with this information. So I think those two things were real positives and highlights for me, and I hope that just people seeing, you know, that this crowd that's out here is not, we're more inclusive. You know, and that was something that I really enjoyed about it.
You know, Patrick, there's one comment that I got from an exhibitor there that I thought was really, really good. I mean, we're all kind of veterans of these shows, and we've been to a lot of them, and we know which ones are, you know, the big players and which ones are not, but Clarence Boyce there of IPS that had his command unit out there in front, he is very much a road warrior when it comes to the shows,
and he's been to a ton of them. And one of the things he said was, this was the best thing for the buck out of many of the shows that I go to, and I thought that was a very high compliment considering the number of shows that he goes to and a 365-day period.
Yeah, he had expressed something likewise to me, and I was like, wow, you know, and it was unsolicited. He just, you know, I got to tell you. You know, now I heard that too from the guy with the GoPro cases. You know, he was kind of a, he just was going to come and attend the show, and then when he saw the buzz there, he's like, you know what, can I get a table?
I got to display my stuff here. And then he comes up to me later on in the afternoon, and he says, you know, I've been doing this for 20 years, and I have not been to another show where the people were this real, asked real questions. They weren't just tire kickers, you know, going, oh, you know, that's nice or whatever. He just, you know, people knew what they were talking about, knew what they wanted, and he was blown away too.
So, you know, I'm assuming, I mean, both of those were unsolicited. I'm assuming that, you know, I hit the mark with what I was doing there. But Clarence, interesting guy, older gentleman, and, you know, he was putting that command vehicle together, which is, you know, it's a pretty nice vehicle. But he, you know, it's kind of surprising.
He didn't want any help. He's kind of the lone ranger. Yes, he is. So I was like, okay, Jack, my son actually was helping him out.
He let him help him out for a while. So that was good. Okay, well, so, you know, let's, you know, we're moving along here where we got less than 10 minutes. It still kind of surprises me.
We're like, what, 56 episodes? And I'm like, wow, are we going to be able to fill 45 minutes?
And we seem to do it every week. So let me march into the next question, and we'll start again with Doug Huntsaker. The takeaway. Yeah, so.
What's the takeaway? Okay, so for me, the takeaway was a focus on farming. And I know earlier here we talked about aerial photography, you know, being an industry that's ready to open up. And I appreciated the comments, I guess, that talked about if we can carve out some legislation that allows farmers to use drones, you know, it's on their personal property, they're not taking pictures of anybody else,
you know, and this is for the agricultural business, something that benefits everybody in society, then if we can just carve out that niche and get that commonplace, then the word drone will take on a different connotation, and that can be the foot in the door to then open it up to other opportunities.
And, you know, we keep talking, we keep saying that farming is going to be 80% of the industry that kind of opens up, you know, so it's a good niche to carve out right now, but it's also a non-intrusive niche, I think, that, you know, if we can get it legalized for that, then it will open up a lot of doors. So I guess that was kind of the biggest takeaway for me to focus on farming. Yeah, I would concur with that. There are several good things.
One thing, yes, it only really has a bearing on people that eat food. And also I still haven't heard any corn whinging about privacy. Yeah, but I don't get out much, but I would agree with that. Gus, takeaway.
Oh, I absolutely was just blown away by the groundswell of interest in development that's been going on in the agricultural sector. I've mostly been, you know, obviously more focused in what's been going on in the filming area and aerial photography, so I haven't, you know, there's just so much going on. I haven't been able to really see what's going on. But for me, it was great to really get all that information condensed in one spot and realize, wow, that market is absolutely enormous.
I overheard some conversations about several guys echoing just what Doug was saying, that really is the future. That's what they're going to be focusing on, don't have the privacy issues. The only concern I want to just voice right now in case we run out of time is when there was a discussion, I believe a presentation, about precision ag, there was some talk about using drones that are becoming very affordable now, using them as one-way drones. And that kind of, unless I misunderstood what I heard, that was a little concerning for me just from a safety point of view.
I mean, obviously drones can be used in monitoring a volcano if something happens. It's not really an issue. But, you know, agriculture, we're still going to be done on U.S. soil.
Really need to be concerned about the safety. Personally, I like to have all my flights round trip and not one way. That's just me. But I really, there's so many young and impressionable people out there who are just getting into this.
Patrick, you were mentioning about mentoring. I think it's a better approach, you know, to have let's focus. These are miniature aircraft. Let's just keep that in mind.
I know they may be inexpensive, but still they are carrying some type of fuel source, either lipo batteries or fuel or whatever. So I just think they need to be whoever's, it would be nice if the leaders in the industry would really kind of always have some kind of reference to safety when operating these. That would be my takeaway. And I'm going to add to that.
I agree with you. I think some people kind of discount that. But really, you know, safety is paramount. And, you know, we could do a whole show on that.
And one other thing I wanted to say about the agricultural thing is, is you notice how most people were talking about wine grapes. I don't know why they're starting there, but, you know, okay. Well, you know, it's a place to come. Mr.
McQueen, takeaway for you. I agree with what Gus just said that as a general aviation and commercial pilot that having an equal number of takeoffs and landing is a really admirable goal. But my overall takeaway was just what I said before, that the industry is starting as a small trickle, but it's going to grow. Doug Hunsiker hit the nail on the head by saying that, you know, if we can identify some carve outs that can get this going sooner and use them as a proving basis for how the industry can start and get its feet on the ground, then we're all set.
But the one takeaway I took from the show, the overriding thought that I had, and I think I don't know what Bruce Parks from Agri-Flight meant to coin this phrase, but he said, I feel like right now that I'm in Steve Jobs' garage. And I think that really was a fantastic statement that with the group of people you had in the room and the focus on some great ideas that it really did have a buzz about it at the Expo that it was like being in Steve Jobs' garage. Something good was going to happen. Yeah, I think he did kind of hit the nail on the head there.
Bruce did help me out with the show, too. I've got to throw a little shout out. I wouldn't, you know, he came in there and did some of the heavy lifting, helped me out with that, which was good. And I did think that that was kind of a good analogy.
I really do feel, too, that the mood there did foster these conversations. But Gene, what was your takeaway?
I think the takeaway that everyone got out of the show at the end of the day there was education. I think everybody discovered that they all had something to learn, and they learned it by being there at the Expo. I think that everyone believes that it's up to us as a community to educate the public and to change the perception of what unmanned aircraft or drones, as the media has called them, really is and has become and the benefits of it. And not just the technology, the practical applications and, quite frankly, the legalities of their use.
I think all of those things need to be addressed in a very thoughtful and forthright way so that the public has their perception changed. And I believe that everybody in that room got it at the end of the day. I would concur with that. I do feel that way.
I think that, you know, most of the people there were all on the same page. A lot of the comments that were made during today's show I think were mirrored around the room. People felt hope. People were like, oh, you know, I'm not crazy thinking that this is going to be an industry.
There's everybody else here. Hey, I've thought about doing this. Oh, this is going to be great. And I do believe that everyone left with, let's say, recharged and kind of, you know, with a positive attitude and left the venue thinking, hey, man, maybe I am on the right track here.
The other thing that I thought was people, too, and maybe it's a little horn-tooting, but, you know, EFF, the Electronic Freedom Foundation and ACLU were invited. Free tickets were provided for them and they did not show. Ted Wierspianowski said, hey, who'd you pay off not to have protesters?
We had done multiple press releases in the Bay Area saying that we were going to do this show. It's basically with the preface that it's what the rest of us want to do with it, you know, and help the world, no protesters. So I think what that kind of proves to me is when you move away from the military and law enforcement use of this, and I'm not going to say first responder because I think nobody, you know, people love the fire department when they come out and they're putting the fire out at your house.
I don't hear anyone ever complain about the fire department or let's cut their funding or whatever else. So I think that that was that was extremely telling. You know, people don't have a problem with the uses that we're talking about. There was another point that I had to make on that, but I forgot.
Anyway, we actually had wireless Internet that was sponsored by Nexutech, which I thought was interesting. You know, we have this new technology show. We finally have Internet. We're not in the mushroom cave.
We had we streamed all of this. There's all of these presentations were streamed and it's at our Google Plus site. The PowerPoint presentations are going to be uploaded to the Internet and you will be able to see all of the information and see the presentations for yourself. We basically the idea with that is we want we want to try and instill change and change the narrative.
That was the whole idea with this show was to change the narrative that it's not DOD. And I mean, I got to tell you, for me, the main thing that even is stepping back and just even a couple of days later as is, I think it was so far removed from the normal conversation that people can't even are having a hard time understanding it because I don't believe that people thought that this show was going to sell out like it did, you know, between us on the show here. If there were more than 150 people in the room, I was supposed to buy out the building.
And I will say that we hit one forty nine plus. I think we had a couple of extras to. Yeah, I think so. So it was sold out.
But, you know, the official tally, there is no official tally, but it was sold out. And the other thing that that says to me is you can't ignore us anymore. The business community came, filled the room, supported itself, is here, had some real conversations and we're talking about some real money. We're a little bit over time, but I want I want to give everybody a closing, you know, closing 60 seconds to say, you know, anything that they have to say.
Mr. Hunsaker. Yeah, well, I guess I just mainly really appreciated the opportunity to be at the show to get to know some new people. I felt like the dialogue was incredible.
And I also appreciate the chance to be here on this show and to kind of discuss the success of the show. You know, I think what you're doing here, Patrick, is really key. And like you're saying, changing the dialogue about, you know, the importance of UAS here in America, that it really does have a place and there's a lot of interest, obviously, in making sure that that happens. So anyway, I just appreciate the chance to be here and also what you're doing.
So thank you. Thank you, sir. Yes. Again, I want to thank you, Patrick, for all the work you've not only done for this show, but everything you've done for the small and man, sterile systems business in general.
Really, you're developing a community, kind of a central place or a hub for a lot of us to go to for information. I think that's absolutely critical. And I just want to echo what Gene mentioned about changing the public's perception. I think it's really up to us to set the example, to be professional, get the word out there, mentor.
There are a lot of young and very smart people getting involved. They need some direction. And I think they can come to your site, to your community, and hopefully to other professionals and get that kind of information and be led in the right direction. Well, thank you for that, sir.
I appreciate it. Mr. McQueen. The same here, Patrick.
Thanks again for you and the team of people that helped you out for all the hard work you did to put together that show. It was a great resource and like people said, it was a great value, a great bang for the buck. That was good. That encouraged participation, too.
It was fantastic. I look forward to bigger and better, and it certainly will be. Next year, you know, we're already on target for May 7th and 8th of next year. So, you know, stay tuned for that one.
Gene. Patrick, I've got to say, I was so surprised when people walked up to me and said, hey, I finally get to meet the guys on the podcast. Guys, I listen to them every week. You're great.
So I was kind of surprised about that, too. It was great. I loved it. Yeah, that was nice to hear some good feedback.
And it is always nice to put that other face-to-face dimension to, you know, the listeners and the community. And again, you know, I want everyone to realize, I think it shows, you know, we want this to be inclusive, and we want everyone to participate in the conversation, the dialogue. Everyone, that's one other last thing I'd like to say. Everybody there had something to give, you know, a perspective, an idea, a technology, advice.
I mean, it just, I just wish I had one. Not just for myself, but for the rest of us. But I want to thank everyone, all you guys, for speaking at the show. It was excellent.
I want to thank all the sponsors. Those people really jumped in. They knew, you know, usually you have to kind of cajole sponsors. When I told them what we were doing, people were like, okay, I'm in.
So the list of that will be, of those sponsors will be up too. Gentlemen, thank you for being on today. And listeners, we will see you next week. Thank you, Patrick.
Have a good one. Thanks, Patrick.