Drones in Paradise

Everyone has seen a fireworks display. But how about a drone light show? 

The “Drones in Paradise” aerial extravaganza put on Saturday evening at the Paradise Coast Sports Complex (PCSC) was a first for just about everyone attending – and that was a lot of folks. PCSC general manager Adrian Moses guesstimated the crowd at 8,000, and it’s hard to argue with his number, especially as no one was taking tickets at the free event, and spectators were widely dispersed. They brought lawn chairs and sat on the soccer field in the main stadium, populated the seating in the stands, sat on the embankments around the field, and many were in the “outfield” next to the stadium. 

The 300 remote-controlled aerial drones from contractor Sky Elements, sporting bright LED lights, showed an impressive level of computer-controlled design prowess, coupled with creativity and several nods to local culture. Rising from an adjacent field under the control of master “pilot” Mitchell Mulkey, the drones formed into a number of shapes and then moved in unison. 

Starting on this Fourth of July weekend with an American flag that seemed to ripple in the wind, the drones then morphed into a sequence of other tableaux, including a soccer player who “kicked” a three-dimensional ball, an homage to the venue and soon to be home of professional soccer when the newly christened FC Naples USL-1 team begins play next year. After the soccer player, the ball was batted back and forth by a pair of blue dolphins, succeeded by a manatee, the Collier County seal, and the Paradise Coast logo. 

All during the show, Americana-themed music played over the loudspeakers, featuring tunes such as “God Bless the USA,” “American Pie,” “Surfin’ USA,” “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” and “Born in the USA.” In between the musical cuts, you could hear why these unmanned aerial vehicles are called “drones,” as 300 of them nearly overhead made a sound like a swarm of angry bees. 

The drones were “nearly” overhead because, as Mulkey stressed, his company does not and will not fly their drones over people. But the spectators had a great view, and hundreds or thousands of cellphone cameras in the stadium added an earthbound addendum to the light show, as people captured the show on video. 

While the “fireworks” didn’t occur until after 9:00 PM, when the sky darkened, the event opened its gates at 6:00, with games, bounce houses, face painting, and a lot of kids creating their own entertainment The crowd, running the gamut of the local population but leaning heavily toward families with children, was given a cursory security check as they arrived, and prohibited from bringing in outside food or beverages. Those items, from food trucks and the venue’s concession stands and bars, were for sale, and PCSC did offer complimentary water. 

A showing of “Night at the Museum,” starring Ben Stiller, along with Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, and Rex the Dinosaur, played on the big screen before the light show, helping to keep the kids of all ages pacified. And video greetings from all five Collier County commissioners plus Sheriff Kevin Rambosk introduced the drone show. 

“It was a decent show,” allowed Mike “the Geek” Doerhoefer, who drove up from Marco Island with his wife Jackie and their friend Salome for the production. “I was waiting to see if they crashed,” but the miracle of GPS navigation and computerized flight technology held. It’s eerie to reflect that this same technology is being used on the battlefields of Ukraine, transforming World War I-era trench warfare into a cyber battle of opposing computer programmers.

But then fireworks have their antecedents in military technology as well, although they were supposedly created first as playthings by the Chinese thousands of years ago. 

One piece of technology or logistics that could use improvement was the process of getting the thousands of vehicles out of the area on Collier Blvd. just north of I-75, after the show. Sitting in traffic, it took half an hour to move 20 feet. Yes, the problem is baked in when 8,000 people all want to get onto the same two-lane exit road at once, but there was a lot of direction for drivers coming in and very little for drivers heading home. 

The drone light show is limited to the flight time provided by the drones’ batteries, which translated to about 15 minutes. But the crowd loved it and gave a rousing round of applause as the drone fleet returned to Earth. It’s a fair bet this form of mass entertainment will be back.