Meet Pilot René Holmberg, Birmingham IA

Photo by René Holmberg, First Aerial

René is the owner of First Aerial in Birmingham, IA. His dedication to visit multiple sites brought great comfort to a hospice patient and their family who spent their lives as an integral part of their small community. As we expand our service in Iowa, we look forward to working with Rene again!
René started as most drone enthusiasts do: 4 years ago he started flying and enjoyed capturing footage as a hobby, but eventually that wasn't good enough. "My 'day job' was keeping me from being able to go get footage when I wanted to," he said. "I became an independent contractor giving me the freedom to schedule other work around my hobby. Eventually I was able to get a remote pilot certificate and also make some profit from the drone work. I mostly do short commercial promotional and real estate videos."

We asked René to answer some questions so we could learn more about him and why he loves being a drone pilot:
Do you have a favorite story about flying your drone?
"Being able to capture an unexpected event or surprise is where I get some of my favorite footage. My first experience with a surprise was a reshoot of a low flight over a field. I was flying down from above a pond with trees into a field of prairie grass when I discovered a young buck standing there watching me. When the drone was eye level about 25 feet from the buck I started to move side ways in a circle around. The buck's attention followed my drone about half way around the circle and then took off in high jumps. I was able to take chase as I also increased altitude until I lost the fleeing buck in trees. The scene became the back drop for a story told by a native Ioway about how the humans came to live in harmony with animals and plants."
Why do you like to fly drones?
I have always been inspired by and enjoyed flying and photography. Drones provide a unique opportunity to combine two activities that love to do.
Why did you agree to volunteer for Flight To Remember?
I think your concept of providing a unique prospective of a location to an individual who would otherwise not have access is a great service and I was grateful that you contacted me to help."

To contact René or to get more information about First Aerial, please visit https://www.firstaerial.net/
To learn more about volunteering with Flight To Remember or to sign up as a volunteer, you can visit www.flighttoremember.org/pilots

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