Drone camp at CSU Spur supports lofty career ambitions

William Flowers, deputy director of the Colorado Air and Space Port, accompanieddrone camp participants and CSU Drone Center staff during a tour on Wednesday, June 26. Photo: CSU Drone Center

Nearly 50 high school students completed one of three camp sessions offered in Denver this summer. They started the program with differing interests, plans and experience levels with drones.

During introductions at the first session of drone camp, June 24-28, students provided their name, school and a favorite airplane or movie. Isejah Joseph, a 16-year-old who will soon start his junior year at Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, earned a surprised laugh from Smith when he stated his fondness for an experimental, propeller-driven plane developed in the '50s, the XF-84H "Thunderscreech."

"I've never heard someone say that before," Smith said. "Wasn't that the loudest plane ever made?"

According to many sources, it was. Later, during a break, Joseph talked about his long interest in aviation, laughing as he attributed his awareness of what was built to be the world's fastest propeller plane to "being a big nerd."

Grandfather's service

It also relates to his experiences. His grandfather was a gunner in World War II. A family friend who works at Lockheed Martin helped expand his awareness of career possibilities in aeronautical engineering and related fields, and Joseph recognizes that passing the Part 107 exam can be a starting point for getting into aviation.

"And," he added, "I think aerial photography is really cool."

Many students opted instead to name a favorite movie. Ajah Kamalagasan, about to turn 17, an incoming senior at Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver, mentioned Skyscraper, a 2018 action-adventure film starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Like Joseph, Kamalagasan is interested in aviation. Specifically, she's interested in flying.

"I'm going to be a pilot," she said. It's an ambition that has held steady since grade school, morphing slightly from an earlier goal of becoming an astronaut. Kamalagasan, who was born in Sri Lanka, has completed other aviation programs, including a career academy offered by the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, or OBAP.

Drone camp added another layer of experience while introducing her to new friends from Denver area high schools who share her interest. "It showed me how aviation looks," she said. Next year, she plans to start the process of earning her private pilot license while also beginning college.

Various roles

Most days of drone camp were divided between classroom instruction and flight time outside in the CSU Spur Backyard, where students rotated between roles flying different drones, acting as observers looking for obstacles and low-flying aircraft, and providing ground support. On the morning of day two, Diane Grube, a teacher at York International School, one of three educators to complete the program this summer, watched as a student of hers took a turn as pilot.

York International, a Title I school located in Thornton about seven miles north of CSU Spur, started an engineering program in 2023, part of a renewed focus on career and technical education. This past year, Grube and her engineering students started experimenting with small indoor drones, using basic coding to control their flight. When she learned about the Drone Center's free summer program, she encouraged 15 top drone pilots to apply; six did and were accepted to join their teacher for a week at drone camp.

With the expertise gained this summer, Grube said, the program could go different directions, including possibly designing and building a drone. "We're trying to figure out, what are the careers?" she said.

Nearby, Destiny Shippley, a 15-year-old about to start her sophomore year at York International, landed a drone and handed the controller to another student. She wore a hint of a smile. Later in the week, she particularly enjoyed wearing virtual-reality goggles while flying a first-person view, or FPV, drone, and she's open to finding ways to earn money flying drones. Career-wise, though, she's thinking about sports medicine, or more likely diesel mechanics. That's what her dad does, and she's been helping him at his shop. "It's just in the family."

Adam Smith, assistant director of the CSU Drone Center, coaches Abdiel Calderon, a student at York International School, on how to fly a first-person view, or FPV, drone. Photo: Kevin Samuelson/CSU System.

One major focus of drone camp is teaching students to read aeronautical charts and tease out information that will allow them to fly safely, follow the rules, and pass the Part 107 exam. Though CSU Spur is in the heart of an urban area, surrounded by large, medium and small airports, flying a drone there is relatively straightforward. Don't fly over roads or people. Obey the basic rules, including the limit of going no more than 400 feet above the ground or a structure below. And watch out for helicopters and other aircraft that always have the right of way.

Traveling east from CSU Spur, the chart portrays increasing airspace complexity in the bold blue concentric circles surrounding Denver International Airport, the dotted lines around smaller airfields, and an assortment of other codes and symbols warning of air traffic and potential obstacles. DIA is the sixth busiest airport in the world, and the chart shows the position of its six runways. Just a few miles to the southeast are two smaller runways of a neighboring airport, which appear next to a large maroon symbol of what appears to be a rocket.

That marks Colorado Air and Space Port, one of 15 FAA-licensed spaceports in the United States, and the only such facility in Colorado. On Wednesday afternoon, drone camp participants loaded into two CSU vans for the 30-minute ride to what used to be known as Front Range Airport, located in Adams County.

Chris Robertson, director of the Drone Center, and some of the center's student employees joined the group for the field trip. During the ride, the conversation turned to a not-so-distant future in which drones deliver packages or serve as taxis. On Interstate 70, the van passed a crew of workers in orange vests positioning a theodolite and other equipment traditionally used in land surveys. Robertson notes that survey work is also likely to change. A drone equipped with LIDAR could do the same work in a fraction of the time.

'Magical moment'

Robertson's pathway to working with drones mirrors Smith's. Both worked for the CSU Police Department and gained experience using drones in law enforcement and search and rescue. As director of the Drone Center since 2018, he leads the center's efforts to provide drone training and support with research, mapping and other projects. He also co-founded the Larimer County UAS Team to make drone services available for fire, police and search and rescue operations. He conveys a giddy excitement talking about the future of drones and his own journey flying airplanes. He earned his private pilot license in 2021 and is now working toward the advanced rating needed to fly with instruments alone.

"There's a magical moment around 55-60 knots when the aircraft feels light and everything falls away," Robertson said. "There's no better feeling in the world."

That sense of excited energy carried over into the tour. William Flowers, the airport's deputy director, met with the group in a conference room, discussing careers in airport operations, flying or even designing and building satellites and spacecraft. The facility received its spaceport license in 2018 and is authorized to support horizontally launched spacecraft as the technology matures. In addition to potential convenience for aerospace companies and research facilities dotting the Front Range, the airport proudly claims an elevation advantage for space travel in a slogan that greets visitors on arrival: "The first mile is free."

Outside, the group inspected different airplanes. Alex Olsen-Mikitowicz, the Drone Center's lead technician and a co-instructor at drone camp, pointed to flaps, ailerons and other airplane features discussed in class. The students looked inside hangars at a restored World War II-era propeller plane as well as a modern, twin-engine turboprop. Then they took turns riding up the elevator of the airport's tower, where they talked to air traffic controllers and took in the view toward DIA as gathering afternoon clouds obscured the foothills rising less than 40 miles to the west.

Alex Olsen-Mikitowicz, lead technician for the CSU Drone Center, provides flying tips to Destiny Shippley, one of six students from York International School who participatedin the summer's first session of drone camp at CSU Spur. Photo:Kevin Samuelson / CSU System.

Drone camp ended on a Friday afternoon with a full-length practice test and the expectation of what comes next. The program covered the $175 fee for each of the participants to take the Part 107 exam. To qualify for an FAA remote-pilot certificate, students would need a score of at least 70% on the 60-question multiple choice exam, which must be taken at an FAA-approved testing center. Though younger students can take the exam, some would also have to wait months for their 16thbirthday before claiming the certificate.

Reviews of the Part 107 exam were mixed. Kamalagasan thought the exam questions were actually easier than those she was quizzed on at drone camp. Joseph said he felt well prepared. Both students passed. Shippley, who turns 16 in October, decided to wait until the fall to take the exam.

After drone camp ended, Grube held study sessions with the other five York International students. Three of them passed the exam on the first try, as did Grube, and the other two are preparing to take it again.

"They all had a great experience," Grube said, though they were "shocked" by how much they had to learn about charts, navigation, general aviation, and weather. "They had no idea what they were getting into."

There are already hints of new pathways that might open as a result of the program. One student has purchased his own drone. Another has lined up a gig providing drone footage for the school's football team.

The learning is set to continue, including how to make use of a new drone that was donated to the school by the CSU Drone Center. Students might explore drone cinematography and other skills. To engage more students in technical and human aspects of working with drones, the school is looking at fielding a team in drone soccer, an emerging sport that uses drone technology to give a Quidditch-like flair to the earthbound game.

One certainty, Grube said, is that she will be encouraging more students to participate next summer.

"The general knowledge, alone, was amazing," Grube said. "I loved every minute."