Michaela Gaffke / Winonan

A long with birds soaring above campus this spring semester, there will be an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) drone taking to the sky, piloted by mass communication students.

At 13 inches in size diagonally, this small but well-equipped DJI Phantom 4 Pro UAV drone will allow students to take high quality aerial footage. The camera is designed to capture in high resolution while up in the air so students can create high quality videos and photographs.

Weighing in at a little more than three pounds, the drone is lightweight and easy to fly, according to Tom Grier, the mass communication professor who asked the university to purchase drones for student use.

“The controller works like a video game, like a first-person shooter,” Grier said. “The controller is fitted with an iPad so the user can see what footage the drone is capturing. Two joysticks allow the user to fly the drone any direction using its four propellers.”

The drone has made capturing campus easier and safer. Four years ago, Grier would either have to go on top of Sheehan Hall and pay a pilot to fly him over campus in a plane, costing $400-500 each trip, or go up in a helicopter where he would hang out of the door connected by a harness.

“I would have to fly over campus in a plane while shooting out of a hole or sticking the camera out the window, and it was difficult capturing good photos at those speeds,” Grier said.

Grier asked Winona State to buy a drone to capture better images of the campus and so students would be able to use it and add it to their resumes. The university did not want to buy a drone, but John Weis, former public relations professor, wanted drones on campus also, so he deposited $25,000 into the Winona State University Foundation. Now, the mass communication department has three drones.

To get a feel of what it is like flying a drone, droneSim Pro is an online drone simulator with a free demo version to try out. To get the real experience, mass communication students can enroll in a few classes that use the drones such as the topics classes aerial visual communication and living history.

Michaela Gaffke / Winonan