Orford —
It turns out that hobby is flying drones.
Smith, who became interested in drones for aerial photography three years ago, soon found himself enjoying the act of flying them as well.
Fast-forward to two months ago, Smith started inviting others to either fly their own drones or learn how to fly his. Smith cites the desire to share his hobby as the motivation behind his demonstrations.
Before he teaches anyone, Smith follows strict rules — which he has printed out for spectators or participants to read while they wait their turn. One of the most important rules: Wear eye protection.
As the Saturday morning fog cleared and sunny skies came out with a slight breeze, Smith’s demonstration attracted a small group of people whose drone experience fell across the spectrum — from remote control car and plane users to those just curious about the activity.
Stacy Piacentini, of Piermont, who saw a flier Smith had posted for his demonstration, said her 5-year-old grandson, Hunter, has been enamored with drones ever since they witnessed one land near their campground at a fair.
“He went over and looked at it and he was like, ‘I want a drone! I want a drone!’ ” Piacentini said.
As Smith controlled the throttle, Hunter flew the smallest drone — which had a range of 30 feet — for a few moments before it took a nosedive near Smith’s house. That didn’t deter Hunter. In fact, he enjoyed the crash landing so much he asked to fly the gizmo again.
Katie Durgin-Bruce, who was visiting her father-in-law with her husband, Patrick, and their daughter Evie and son Jasper, said their interest comes from watching others fly bigger drones on the beach in Brooklyn where they live.
Bob Sletten, of West Lebanon, owns a small drone himself and came to the demonstration to learn more about them. After Smith explained that his drones are from a Chinese company, Sletten asked why he decided to purchase them from companies overseas.
“Regulations were basically ‘you can’t fly them.’ So it was really difficult for businesses to develop them so a lot of other countries got a head start on us,” Smith said.
Sletten said he was impressed with both Smith’s teaching demonstrations and his knowledge of the drones. He said he’ll be back for another demonstration. “I think so — with my own drone next time,” Sletten said.
“I’m certainly going to step up my search for something between affordable and fun.”
Smith’s drones, roughly the size of a drink coaster, can climb to about 350 feet. For demonstration purposes, Smith keeps them at 100 feet or below. No matter how high he flies, though, Smith uses common courtesy when it comes to privacy.
“That’s one of my points — respect privacy,” Smith said. “Respect property. Don’t fly over someone else’s land unless you have their permission.”
Smith says drones aren’t the problem when it comes to regulations. Rather, it’s the vastly different kinds of drones and their applications.
“A drone is just a camera. Instead of being mounted on a tripod, it’s mounted on a helicopter. It’s not any different than a plane flying,” Smith said. “It’s difficult to make up one type of general set of rules for everything.”