DroneCast introduces advertising by octocopter

Raj Singh is taking advertising to new heights.

The 19-year-old founder of DroneCast, a Philadelphia-based startup company, drew crowds on the Las Vegas Strip Wednesday, flying an octocopter with a 3-by-12-foot banner promoting his company on the first day of a national media and promotional tour.

There’s only one problem.

Federal government officials say what Singh and DroneCast are doing is illegal. In the case of Wednesday’s flights in front of The Mirage volcano, the unmanned aerial vehicle, an 11-pound, $25,000 craft, was being used commercially and not by a hobbyist.

Officials working with Nevada’s fledgling unmanned aerial systems industry say that makes the flight illegal because it’s in FAA-administered airspace.

Singh disagrees.

“I’ve been advised by my legal counsel that there are no laws restricting this use,” he said. “Those are FAA policies and not enforceable law.”

The FAA also recently issued regulations restricting drone flights within 5 miles of an airport. Singh said he believes where he flew Wednesday was just outside 5 miles from McCarran International Airport.

Curious onlookers watched a series of Strip flights for about an hour, many of them asking Singh questions and photographing one of those only-in-Vegas novelties.

Singh cleared people out of the way for the takeoff, the eight twin-bladed rotors hummed like a swarm of bees and the craft hovered about 25 feet off the ground.

Singh sees enormous potential for the business because the use of unmanned aircraft is still a public curiosity.

“I agree that there needs to be some level or regulation,” Singh said.

He said he wants DroneCast to become the gold standard in commercial unmanned flying, using the technology wisely and responsibly.

“It’s a real head-turner,” Singh said. “When do you ever see a flying billboard?”

Singh’s flying billboards have been airborne since April 29 and he said he’s flown them over crowds at four concerts. His engineers have added technology to the aircraft enabling them to release coupons as giveaways as well as display signs.

The company also has added hardware to the vehicle to fly a preprogrammed flight path, a custom-built logic board and a small parachute that would deploy in a flight emergency. The craft is easy to fly with two joysticks to control vertical and horizontal movement and rotation.

The octocopter flies 35 to 40 feet high and always remains in sight of the pilot.

Singh said he’s never crashed one of his aircraft and his team has perfected its flight skills in open fields.

The company’s prices are negotiable, depending on the mission, but he generally takes in $50,000 on an average appearance. Singh said the company, which has 15 full-time employees, is on track to generate $1.5 million in revenue this year.

Singh expects to fly along the Strip Thursday and Friday and possibly Saturday morning before heading to Venice Beach, Calif., and Hollywood on Sunday. He also plans a stops at Florida’s Miami Beach and South Beach before his official grand opening in Philadelphia.

Wednesday’s event wasn’t a complete success. Singh also brought a 3-pound Phantom quadcopter that he couldn’t get to fly.

Wednesday wasn’t the first time companies have flown drones on the Strip.

In May, Aerial Technology International and 360Hero flew an S800 drone above Las Vegas Boulevard at 3:30 a.m. A wide-angle camera was flown and shot video during the 2014 International VR Panoramic Photography Conference.

The Cosmopolitan also experimented with bottle delivery by drone at its pool, but regulators asked hotel management to shut down the service.

Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow him on Twitter @RickVelotta.