sUAS News Podcast Series Hits 300,000 Listens
The podcast officially launched on May 9th of 2012 with a ‘Search and Rescue’ episode, featuring our as not yet selected co-host, Gene Robinson. Since then we have produced and recorded 90 episodes, with the latest installment, ‘2015 US National Drone Racing Championships’ being put in the can.
At the time, Gary felt it would be great to find other ways to bring content to the sUAS News community. We figured that a podcast could be that transportable platform where people hear and learn more about unmanned aircraft. The show’s format has always been a conversation between professional friends. We encourage our guests to come on and give their perspective and thoughts on unmanned aircraft. The spoken word affords the listener a more direct experience with the industry insiders who are making the news.
During the first two years, we ran with a forty-five-minute format, and at the beginning of 2014 we trimmed the program down to a flat thirty minutes. However, we have no problem with running long if the conversation is flowing! Even with the varying runtime, the 90 episodes represent sixty plus hours of empirically based drone conversations!
As we kicked off and came up to speed, I’d sometimes wonder if there could be a drone saturation point. Is it possible that this might be too much drone talk? But the numbers don’t lie, as folks were listening in pretty good numbers right off of the bat. Listeners and potential guests are still asking for more episodes on different topics. To be honest, the numbers are way higher than I ever imagined they would be across the board. And it’s a good feeling to go to drone related events and have people say, “Hey, I recognize that voice”, and mostly it is followed up with appreciation for the podcast. It’s a good feeling to know that folks listen and learn something from the program. I know I do. That’s why we do it.
Where else are you going to hear about drones and how hurricanes form, or what it is like to fly a drone through the gas plume of a volcano?! We’ve heard about different and interesting subject matter, and not always about drones. How about commercial space flight, a STE(A)M contest or even Lady Gaga’s flying dress?? We’ve had a little bit of everything. My personal favorite part of any program is when the guest hits their professional stride. I find their individual passion about what they do fascinating. I get to hear along with listeners what they study and how drones have allowed them to gather unprecedented data and learn and explore new things.
During the life of the program, we’ve met some interesting people and have been treated to some dissertations on uses and applications only recently on the pages of the major news outlets. Usually, those uses are heralded as complete new revelations of possibilities for drones. In most instances these applications have been going on for years, these guests had the foresight to see what this technology could mean to us in data collection. The UA offers a cheaper self-guided alternative to understand and make our world a better place. I already know many of these stories, and I feel privileged that I get to share them with the community. These are some of the stories and history that continue to fuel my passion for the potential and promise of this technology.
I asked Podcast co-host and contributor Gene Robinson to contribute to this article, and his reflections are as follows:
“The 300,000 listener mark makes me wonder how much further our little podcast has reached out into the industry. I would bet that some listener has picked up one of the nuggets of information that always comes out a broadcast and used it to enhance their role or something they do with unmanned aircraft. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been doing this as long as we have, and have covered as many topics that we have but it is just a reflection of the diversity this growing little airplane industry can encompass. I have enjoyed being the “sidekick” although my habit of joining in the call just minutes before the music starts has given our host Patrick a few moments of stress! I think it’s safe to say that this little podcast has served the industry well in providing a wide range of topics that are important to small unmanned aircraft – from the regulatory to the technological – we have covered them all with just a little enthusiasm and passion. Patrick and I both have shared that same fire about this industry from the very beginning and it’s likely to be that way for a long time too. Stay tuned, keep an ear out, you just never know what will come up in our discussions. And you just might learn something new in the process!”
The most popular program with 27,147 listens thus far is RPA Science with Geoff Bland and Mike Logan from NASA –
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/suasnews/2012/11/14/rpa-science
Some personal favorites where a live broadcast from White Sands Missile Range –
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/suasnews/2012/11/10/between-the-lines
While the audio is poor, how many times do you get a live report from such an exotic and historically significant location?
Best history lesson was my conversation with Tad McGeer –
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/suasnews/2014/11/05/unmanned-aircraft-with-tad-mcgeer
In this episode we heard all about the first transatlantic flight in the late 90’s and other first with the man behind Aerosonde, ScanEagle and Flexrotor.
Most fun episode by far was with guest Professor Tony Dyson, the man behind R2D2 and his new endeavor to build Super Drones –
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/suasnews/2015/01/27/super-drones
Keep and eye out as we look forward to producing a “best of show” in the near future.
