This was one of those lessons.

It Seemed Like a Great Idea at the Time

We were at the park, and I had a shot in mind that I really wanted to try.

The plan was to fly the Avata 2 from inside our Jeep while Kim drove the trail. Instead of trying to chase the Jeep from behind, I could use the moving Jeep as my base and fly ahead, behind, and around it as we traveled.

It sounded great in theory.

Because part of the flight would take us into Chattanooga International Airport’s controlled airspace, the first order of business wasn’t flying—it was getting the proper LAANC authorization.

Approval received. Drone ready. Jeep ready. Kim behind the wheel.

I put the Avata 2 on top of the Jeep, climbed inside, put on the Goggles 3, and took off.

For the first few minutes, everything was fine. Then I felt it.

Oh No. I Know This Feeling.

I spent the beginning of my Coast Guard career on patrol boats, and I was extremely prone to motion sickness. If you’ve experienced real motion sickness before, you don’t forget how it starts. There’s that first little uneasy feeling. Nothing terrible. Just your body quietly suggesting that perhaps something isn’t quite right.

I hadn’t felt it in years, but I recognized it immediately. Oh no.

My eyes were looking through the goggles and telling my brain that I was flying through the air. My body was sitting inside a Jeep that was bouncing and moving down a trail. And my inner ear apparently decided it wanted absolutely no part of either story.

The uneasy feeling became an unhappy stomach. The unhappy stomach became a cold sweat. Then my head started swimming. At that point, FPV cinematography was no longer my primary concern. Survival was.

“Kim, Find Somewhere to Pull Over.”

There’s something uniquely unpleasant about knowing exactly what’s happening to you while also knowing exactly what’s coming next. I knew the progression. I’d been here before, and I was rapidly approaching the point of no return.

So now I’m sitting in the Jeep, goggles strapped to my face, still piloting an aircraft, sweating, nauseated, and asking Kim to please find somewhere to pull over.

There was only one small problem. There was nowhere to pull over. Of course there wasn’t. Because apparently if you’re going to rediscover motion sickness after all these years, you might as well do it properly.

So I kept flying.

Ten minutes doesn’t sound like a particularly long flight. Ten minutes while fighting the overwhelming urge to vomit into a pair of FPV goggles is approximately three and a half hours.

I fought it. Barely. But I fought it.

Eventually the Avata was back on the ground, the goggles came off, breakfast remained where breakfast belonged, and I lived to fly another day.

Lesson Learned

The funny part is that I’ve spent plenty of time flying FPV. I’ve flown low. I’ve flown fast. I’ve practiced in Manual mode. I’ve flown through and around obstacles. I’ve crashed. I’ve recovered, and I’ve spent plenty of time inside those goggles without a problem.

What I hadn’t done was combine FPV with sitting inside a vehicle that was moving independently beneath me.

That changed everything. It was a good reminder that cinematic FPV isn’t just about learning how to control a drone. Every new environment introduces another variable.

Sometimes it’s wind. Sometimes it’s an obstacle. Sometimes it’s a moving subject. And sometimes it’s discovering that the sea legs you never really had in the Coast Guard apparently haven’t improved with age.

Would I Try It Again?

Absolutely. But not like that. That’s part of learning the craft.

You try something. Sometimes it works beautifully. Sometimes it doesn’t. And occasionally you discover a limitation you hadn’t even considered while your wife drives down a trail, and you desperately try not to throw up in her Jeep.

The shot I had envisioned didn’t happen yesterday, but that’s okay. We’ll figure out another way to get it.

Because the goal hasn’t changed. I want Stone & Sky to create FPV footage that doesn’t simply show someone an adventure—I want to create footage that makes them feel like they’re part of it.

Yesterday, I may have gotten a little too immersed.

Perspective Changes Everything.

Apparently, it can also make you motion sick.

Read more at Stone & Sky Adventure Media

Traditional drones provide excellent aerial overviews, but First Person View (FPV) drones take project documentation to an entirely new level.

FPV drones allow pilots to fly dynamic routes through and around structures, creating immersive video experiences that feel more like a guided tour than a standard aerial flyover.

Showcase Progress in a More Engaging Way

FPV drones can smoothly navigate through active construction sites, fly inside partially completed buildings, and move between spaces in a single continuous shot.

This creates engaging content that helps viewers understand:

• Building layouts
• Project scale
• Construction progress
• Site logistics
• Design features

Owners, clients, and future occupants can experience the project in a way that static photos cannot provide.

Capture Areas Traditional Drones Can’t Reach

Because FPV drones are smaller and more agile, they can safely navigate tighter spaces and complex environments when conditions allow.

This capability enables teams to capture footage from:

• Interior construction spaces
• Industrial facilities
• Manufacturing environments
• Complex infrastructure projects
• Large commercial developments

The result is a unique perspective that provides greater context and detail for project teams and stakeholders.

Create Powerful Marketing Content

FPV videos have become increasingly popular because they create cinematic, high-energy content that captures attention.

For construction firms, FPV footage can be used to:

• Highlight project milestones
• Showcase completed facilities
• Support recruiting efforts
• Promote company capabilities
• Tell compelling project stories

These videos often generate higher engagement because viewers feel immersed in the project experience.

The Bottom Line

Hiring a licensed drone pilot brings far more value than simply capturing aerial photos. From improving safety and compliance to enhancing project tracking, stakeholder communication, and marketing efforts, professional drone services can support nearly every phase of a construction project.

When combined with FPV drone technology, construction teams gain access to immersive, high-impact visuals that provide deeper insight into project progress and help tell a more compelling story. As the industry continues to embrace innovation, licensed drone operators are becoming an essential partner in delivering safer, smarter, and more successful construction projects.

Read more at Stone & Sky Adventure Media

While it may be tempting to assign drone operations to a hobbyist or someone on staff with a drone, working with a licensed drone pilot provides significant advantages that can save time, reduce risk, and deliver better results throughout the life of a project.

Safety and Regulatory Compliance

One of the most important benefits of hiring a licensed drone pilot is compliance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. Licensed pilots have demonstrated their understanding of airspace restrictions, weather considerations, flight safety procedures, and operational requirements.

Construction sites often contain hazards such as cranes, heavy equipment, active roadways, power lines, and nearby occupied buildings. A licensed pilot understands how to safely navigate these environments while minimizing risks to workers, visitors, and surrounding properties.

By using a certified professional, project teams can have confidence that drone operations are conducted safely and legally.

Improved Project Documentation

Drones provide a level of visibility that traditional photography simply cannot match.

Regular aerial flights allow teams to:

• Track project progress over time
• Document construction milestones
• Verify site conditions
• Monitor earthwork and grading activities
• Capture high-resolution imagery for reports and presentations

This aerial perspective creates a visual record of the project from groundbreaking through completion. Teams can quickly compare progress from week to week, helping identify potential issues before they become costly delays.

Better Communication with Stakeholders

Construction projects involve numerous stakeholders, including clients, owners, contractors, design teams, consultants, and community partners.

Drone imagery and video make it easier to communicate project status by providing an accurate visual representation of work completed and work still underway. Instead of reviewing pages of reports, stakeholders can quickly understand project progress through aerial photos, videos, and time-lapse documentation.

This visual storytelling helps build confidence and transparency throughout the project lifecycle.

Enhanced Marketing and Business Development

Drone content isn’t just useful during construction. It can also become a powerful marketing asset after project completion.

Professional aerial imagery can be used for:

• Project profiles
• Award submissions
• Website content
• Social media campaigns
• Proposal materials
• Client presentations

Showcasing projects from above highlights scale, complexity, and craftsmanship in ways that ground-level photography often cannot.

More Efficient Site Inspections

Drone technology allows teams to inspect areas that may be difficult, expensive, or potentially hazardous to access.

Rather than requiring personnel to climb structures or enter restricted areas, drones can capture detailed imagery of:

• Roof systems
• Bridges
• Elevated structures
• Facades
• Utility corridors
• Large-scale infrastructure projects

This reduces time spent on inspections while improving worker safety and providing high-quality visual data for analysis.

Read more at Stone & Sky Adventure Media

It certainly wasn’t part of some carefully laid-out business plan.

It actually started with a trade.

I had a laser engraver that I wasn’t using much anymore, and I ended up trading it for a drone. At the time, I wasn’t thinking about starting a business. I wasn’t thinking about commercial work, cinematic FPV, or where any of this might eventually lead.

I just thought having a drone would be pretty cool.

Turns out, that trade changed a lot more than I expected.

Seeing Things Differently

From the first time I started flying, there was something about it that grabbed me.

Part of it was simply learning to control the aircraft. I’ve always enjoyed learning how things work and getting better at something that requires a little skill. But what really hooked me was what I could see through the camera.

Places I had driven past a hundred times suddenly looked completely different from a few hundred feet in the air.

Landscapes changed. Buildings changed. Familiar places became interesting again.

I started realizing that a drone wasn’t just a flying camera. It was a way of showing people something they couldn’t normally see.

And without knowing it at the time, I had stumbled onto the idea that would eventually become the foundation of Stone & Sky:

Perspective changes everything.

Somewhere Along the Way, It Got Serious

Like most hobbies I get interested in, I wanted to learn more.

I started learning about photography and video. I started paying attention to composition, camera movement, light, editing, and how different shots worked together.

Eventually, simply flying around and getting cool footage wasn’t enough.

I wanted the footage to tell a story.

That also meant deciding whether this was going to remain a hobby or become something more. If I was going to do commercial work, I wanted to do it correctly. So I studied for and earned my FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate.

That was one of the first moments when this started feeling real.

I wasn’t just a guy who owned a drone anymore.

I was becoming a drone pilot.

Stone & Sky

From there, Stone & Sky Adventure Media began taking shape.

The idea wasn’t to become another company that simply showed up, put a drone in the air, took a few pictures, and went home.

I wanted to create something more cinematic.

Something that could make you feel like you were there.

Something that could help a business, an organization, or even a person tell their story from a perspective they couldn’t get from the ground.

As Stone & Sky developed, so did I.

I kept flying. I kept learning. I started taking editing more seriously. I learned more about filmmaking and storytelling. And somewhere during that process, I discovered something that completely changed the direction I wanted to go.

FPV.

Then I Put on the Goggles

Traditional camera drones let you put a camera almost anywhere in the sky.

FPV lets you fly the camera.

That’s a very different experience.

Instead of watching the drone from the ground while looking at a screen, you’re wearing goggles and seeing what the drone sees. You can fly through a doorway, down a hallway, around an object, over a ridge, through a building, or follow something in motion in one continuous flight.

And then I started learning to fly in full manual mode.

That’s when everything clicked.

Manual FPV is difficult. I’ve crashed more while learning it than I probably did during all my previous drone flying combined. I’ve spent hours in the simulator flying through gates, practicing turns, learning throttle control, and trying to make movements smoother and more deliberate.

And I’ve loved every minute of it.

There was a point during all that practice when I realized:

I found my lane.

This was the kind of flying I wanted to become really good at.

Not because FPV looks cool—although it absolutely does—but because of what it makes possible as a storytelling tool.

An FPV drone can take someone on a journey instead of simply showing them a location.

That’s what excites me.

Why I Became a Drone Pilot

Looking back, I don’t think there was one moment when I decided, I’m going to become a drone pilot.

It happened one step at a time.

I traded something I wasn’t using for something I thought would be fun.

Fun became curiosity.

Curiosity became learning.

Learning became a certification.

And somewhere along the way, flying drones became something I genuinely cared about.

Eventually, it became Stone & Sky Adventure Media.

I’m still learning. I’m still improving. I’m still building the business. And every time I put the goggles on or launch a drone, there is something else I want to get better at.

But now I know where I’m heading.

My goal is to build Stone & Sky into a name people recognize for cinematic aerial storytelling and immersive FPV work—first here in East Tennessee, and eventually far beyond it.

That’s a pretty big goal for something that started with an old laser engraver and a trade.

But then again, sometimes all it takes is seeing things from a different perspective.

Perspective Changes Everything.

Read more at Stone & Sky Adventure Media