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Flight Crew Notes: Anatomy of a Pop-Up Drone Show

Posted Date: 01/12/26 (02:21 PM)
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Title: Flight Crew Notes: Stories of design, students, and show nights. with an image of a student placing drones on a field in the background.
PSD Performance Drone Team | Drones@psd401.net | www.psd401.net/drone-shows
Welcome to this month’s update from the Peninsula School District Performance Drone Team! Our student pilots continue to push the boundaries of creativity, engineering, and teamwork as they design, program, and perform with precision drones. From honing flight maneuvers to collaborating on synchronized routines, the team exemplifies innovation in action.

This month, we’re highlighting recent achievements, upcoming events, and ways our students are learning leadership and STEM skills that extend far beyond the flight field.
 

Stories From the Team

Anatomy of a Pop-Up Drone Show

PSD Drone Team to begin hosting Pop-Up shows throughout the next few months.
When you think of a drone show, you likely picture the finished product: a perfect, synchronized ballet of lights illuminating the night sky, advertised weeks in advance and sponsored by local pillars of our community.

But for our student pilots and engineers, the real magic and the real work happens in the margins.

Enter the Pop-Up Show.

These events are distinct from our standard performances. If our sponsored shows are "Opening Night," our Pop-Up shows are the open dress rehearsals. They are the engine of our educational program, designed to give students the flight hours they need to master complex aviation technology.

To understand why these events are special and why they happen on such short notice, we have to look at the anatomy of our logistics.

1. The Variable: The Weather Window
Our "Intern Training Space" is the atmosphere, and it is unpredictable. We operate under strict safety parameters: we require clear visibility, low wind, and zero precipitation. Because we also need to coordinate student schedules and secure safe launch zones at various district schools, the stars usually align on short notice.
  • The Result: We announce Pop-Up shows with a 6 to 24-hour lead time.
  • The Notification: Because of this tight window, we do not send flyers or press releases. We post the "Go" signal and location immediately to our social media pages.
2. The Mechanism: Research & Development
Pop-Ups are our testing ground. We aren't just hitting "play" on a finished file; our students are actively engineering the performance.
  • Student Growth: You might be watching a show where a Intern (Remote Pilot) is in command of a swarm for the very first time, or an experienced student mentoring a new pilot.
  • Fleet Flexibility: Depending on the team growth plan for the night, we may fly a focused training group of 50 drones or a massive swarm of 300.
  • The Content: You often see the "rough draft" of new animations. This allows our design team to test spacing, light intensity, and transitions in the real world before they are finalized for community events.

3. The Troubleshooting: Real-Time Engineering
This is the most authentic part of the experience. Because we are training students and testing new network capabilities ("The Hive Mind"), the show creates real-world problem-solving scenarios.
  • "Running Corners": You may see what seems like a short/few drone show, before the main fleet launches, this is what we call Corners. We always launch 4–10 test drones to the edges of the flight envelope. This validates that our design files are mapped correctly to the physical space.
  • The Reset: You may witness late takeoffs or pauses in the action. If a drone reports an error, our students don't ignore it—they fix it. This might mean resetting the network or swapping a battery pack while the audience watches.

Witness the Innovation
A Pop-Up show is always free to attend. While safety regulations require us to keep the flight zone clear of non-personnel, we invite the community to watch from the designated viewing locations announced in our social posts.

These viewing areas offer a front-row seat to education in action. It is a chance to look up and watch our student interns turn code and technical precision into light.

Want to catch the next one? Since these are announced day-of, make sure you are following our social media channels to get the alert and the viewing map the moment we clear the flight deck.
A drone light show illuminates the night sky, forming a mountain shape with colorful lights.
A snowy mountain flown over PHS as seen from the Purdy Spit.
A drone light show illuminates the night sky with colorful, winter skiers.
Winter Skiing and a celebration of winter sports was highlighted in our last show.

Upcoming Events

All shows are weather dependent

Keep an Eye out for More Pop-Up Shows

We will be hosting more shows in the coming weeks. If the weather is looking nice, be sure to check out socials to see if we are flying.

Interested in Booking our Team?

As the we head into spring and summer, we are currently in talks about several upcoming shows to be announced soon. However, we’re always welcome inquiries from organizations, community events, and potential sponsors. All shows are weather dependent, and we work closely with hosts to ensure every performance is safe, precise, and unforgettable. If you’d like to bring the excitement of a drone show to your audience, let’s make it happen!
 

Important Links

Drone Performance Team Website
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Interested? Email Us
Graphic with PSD logo that says "#EveryChildEveryDay"
 
The Peninsula School District does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. If you have questions or complaints regarding alleged discrimination, please call the Peninsula School District Educational Service Center at (253) 530-1000 or visit our office located at 14015 62nd Ave NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98332, and ask for one of the following coordinators: Civil Rights Compliance Coordinator, compliance@psd401.net; Title IX Compliance Coordinator, titleix@psd401.net; 504 Compliance Coordinator, 504@psd401.net; ADA Compliance Coordinator, ada@psd401.net.