THE STORY
Why any of it is happening. The arc your audience is carried through.
Choosing a provider
How to Choose a Drone Show Company
Five things separate one drone show from another. Drone count is not the first of them.
This is a buyer’s guide, not a sales page. If you are weighing providers, these are the questions that change the show you end up with, and the answers that should give you pause. Ask them of everyone you are considering, including us. We answer every one of them further down this page.
The difference
The sky is the show, not the stage.
Almost everyone in this industry sells you the animation: how many drones, how many shapes, how many minutes. That is one element of four, and on its own it produces a display that people watch. We are after something else, which is an audience that forgets it is watching.
Anyone can put lights in the air. Very few people compose all four.
Read the Whole StoryTHE SKY
The animation. What everyone else sells as the entire product.
THE SCORE
Music, choreography, the beat the crowd gasps on.
THE SETTING
The ground, the sightlines, the sound field. The whole room.
What you are actually choosing between
Five decisions, in the order they matter.
Each one changes the show you receive. None of them is drone count.
Show design and custom content
Whether the sky tells your story or replays one built for somebody else. This is the biggest difference between two shows at the same drone count, and the easiest thing to check before you sign.
What to ask
Ask to see a full show made for a client whose occasion resembles yours, not a highlight reel. Then ask who designs the choreography, and when that design work actually starts.
What should give you pause
The same formations recurring across different clients, a reel cut so fast you never see one show end to end, or a design conversation that begins only after the deposit clears.
Fleet size, and what it actually buys
More drones is not a better show. Drone count sets how much detail a single formation can hold, and nothing else. A well designed show at a smaller count beats a generic one at triple the number.
What to ask
Ask what the count is doing for your specific venue and audience size, and what would change if it went up or down by a third.
What should give you pause
A quote led by a number instead of by your occasion, or an answer that treats the figure as the product rather than a means to it.
Waivers, authorization, and insurance
Whether the company is legally equipped to fly a show at all, and whether the paperwork exists before you pay or is promised afterward.
What to ask
Ask which FAA waivers they hold, by section number. Ask for the authorization path for your exact site, the insurance position, and the timeline, in writing, before contracts.
What should give you pause
A provider who answers "we are Part 107 certified" and stops there, or one that opens on creative and treats airspace as paperwork for later.
Who is actually flying
Whether the crew on site is the company you hired or a subcontractor you have never met. Both happen in this industry, and neither is disqualifying, but you should know which you are buying.
What to ask
Ask who the pilot in command will be, whether they are staff, and who holds the authority to cancel on show night.
What should give you pause
Anyone who cannot name the person with cancel authority, or who suggests that authority is negotiable when the weather turns.
Responsiveness and access
Whether you keep the same person from the first call to the last drone landing. It sounds like a small thing until the week of the show, when it is the only thing.
What to ask
Ask who your point of contact is on show day, and how quickly they answer in the seven days beforehand.
What should give you pause
A handoff to a coordinator you have never spoken to, arriving exactly when the weather call starts to matter.
The question almost nobody asks
“Part 107 certified” does not mean they can fly your show.
This is the single most useful thing on this page, and it costs you one question.
The certificate
Part 107
The basic remote pilot certificate. It permits one pilot to fly one aircraft. Every legitimate commercial drone operator holds it, which is exactly why it tells you almost nothing.
The waiver a show requires
§107.35
The waiver that permits a single pilot to operate multiple aircraft from one control station. Without it there is no drone show, only one drone. A company can be truthfully “Part 107 certified” and still not hold this.
Often needed too
§107.51
Operations above 400 feet AGL. Larger shows and bigger venues frequently need altitude the standard rules do not grant, and waiver holders file quarterly reporting to the FAA.
Newer companies are the ones most likely to be missing the waiver that matters, and it is not always deliberate. The fix is one question, asked by section number, early enough that the answer can still change your decision. Ask any provider which waivers they hold, and ask before you pay a deposit.
Before you commit
You cannot judge your show from someone else’s reel.
This is the genuinely hard part of buying a drone show. Every show is custom, so the footage a provider shows you was built for a different story, a different score, and a different site. A spectacular reel proves they made something good once. It does not tell you what yours will look like over your venue, which is the only question you actually care about.
So we remove the guessing. Before anything flies, we build a 3D rendering of your show, choreographed to your music, staged at your venue, from the vantage point your audience will actually stand in. You watch it, you change it, and you approve it. What flies on the night is what you signed off.
Ask For a Preview- Your musicThe show is cut to your track, not fitted to a stock one.
- Your venueRendered at the real site, with the real sightlines.
- Your vantage pointSeen from where the crowd stands, not from above.
- Your approvalChanges happen on screen, before a drone is in the air.
Fair to ask anyone
Seven questions worth asking every provider.
None are trick questions and all have straight answers. We answer every one of them ourselves in the next section.
Our answers
Since we are telling you to ask, here are ours.
Every question above, answered specifically. No deflections.
Where are the drones made, and who makes them?
We fly the WG Drone DR-001, built by WG Drones in Puebla, Mexico. We then run our own modifications on the owned fleet so it flies longer and holds up better in cold, wind, and wet conditions. Most operators fly the aircraft exactly as delivered, and that is the honest difference worth asking any provider about.
Which FAA waivers do you actually hold?
We operate under a 14 CFR §107.35 waiver, which is the one that permits a single pilot to fly multiple aircraft from one control station. That is the waiver a drone show legally requires, and a standard Part 107 certificate does not include it. Where a show calls for it we also operate above 400 feet AGL under §107.51, and we file the quarterly reporting the FAA requires of waiver holders.
What does the quote exclude?
Nothing that the show needs. Creative development, the 3D preview, music choreography and the show file, FAA authorization, aviation liability insurance, fire marshal coordination, crew, travel, and our own power on site are all built into the number. Much of this industry bills several of those separately, which is why a first proposal is not always a final invoice. Ours is.
What are your real weather limits?
We do not fly in sustained winds of 26 mph and up, or in more than moderate precipitation, and the pilot in command can scrub below those numbers if the site calls for it. Our own fleet modifications extend what we can fly through in cold and marginal conditions, which matters for winter and shoulder-season dates. The specific limits and what happens if a show scrubs go in your agreement in writing, not in a reassurance on a call.
Who can stop the show, and on what grounds?
Our pilot in command, on safety grounds, and it is never questioned on financial grounds. Clients sign a contract acknowledging that authority before we fly. On any show using partner aircraft, a single Immersion pilot in command commands the entire operation or we do not sign the job.
Will I see my show before it flies?
Yes. You approve a 3D rendering of your actual show, at your actual venue, before a single drone leaves the ground. Not a sample, not a similar show from last year, yours. It is the only honest way to buy something that does not exist yet.
What happens to the show file afterward?
Your show is yours, and we will not fly it for another client. Any logo, mark, or brand imagery in it belongs to you, and we use it only for your show. Individual formations can draw on a shared craft vocabulary the way any production house reuses technique, but the show itself, its story, its order, and its score, is built for one client and flown for one. No two shows we make are ever the same.
Where we are different
Six things we would want to know, if we were buying.
We compose four elements, not one
Most of this industry sells the animation. We build the story, the sky, the score, and the setting together, which is why our shows land as an experience rather than a display.
You see it before it flies
A 3D rendering of your show, at your venue, approved by you before anything leaves the ground. No guessing from somebody else’s reel.
We modify our own fleet
We improve the aircraft we fly so they last longer and hold up better in cold, wind, and wet. Most operators fly them as delivered.
The quote is the number
All inclusive, with authorization, insurance, travel, crew, and power built in. Nothing arrives as a surprise line later.
Two decades of combined flight experience
Between our pilots and our engineering, spanning drone photography, competitive racing, and designing and manufacturing small unmanned aircraft.
One person, start to finish
The same contact from the first call through the last landing, including the week when the forecast starts to matter.
Curious what drives the number on a quote? See what a drone show costs, or explore show sizes to see how scale reads to an audience.
Common questions
Choosing a provider, answered.
What FAA waiver does a drone light show require?
A drone show needs a 14 CFR §107.35 waiver, which permits one pilot to operate multiple aircraft from a single control station. A standard Part 107 remote pilot certificate does not include it, and a company can be genuinely "Part 107 certified" without being legally equipped to fly a show. Shows that fly above 400 feet AGL also operate under §107.51. Ask any provider which of these they hold, by section number.
How do I compare drone show companies fairly?
Compare the things that change the show you get: who designs the choreography and when, what the drone count is doing for your venue, which waivers they actually hold, who is flying, and what the quote excludes. Drone count alone is the least useful comparison available, because it describes capacity rather than the show.
Is a bigger fleet always a better drone show?
No. Drone count sets how much detail one formation can hold. Beyond what your audience size and venue call for, more drones adds cost without adding anything the crowd can perceive. A show designed around your story at a sensible count will out perform a generic show at a much larger one.
Can I see what my drone show will look like before I book?
You should insist on it. We build a 3D rendering of your show at your venue and you approve it before anything flies. Judging a custom show from another client’s highlight reel tells you very little, because no two shows share a story, a score, or a site.
How far ahead should I book a drone light show?
A few weeks can work, two months is comfortable, and 90 days is the smart plan for most sites once airspace coordination is in the picture. For the Fourth of July, New Year’s Eve, and the December stretch, three to six months, because crews and fleets nationwide compete for those nights.
Start a conversation
Ask us the seven questions.
Tell us the occasion and the date. We will give you the honest scope, the real lead time, and a straight answer on anything above.