Timothy Danley is a drone expert whose passion for aerial technology spans diverse fields. As a certified Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Drone Pilot, the California native serves as a member of Glenn County Search and Rescue and an Engineer with the Willows Volunteer Fire Department.
Among the other hats he wears, Timothy is also the owner of drone services company North Wind Aerial Imaging, a fourth-generation farmer, and a U.S. Air Force veteran.
In this interview with ViewPoints, the #DecadewithDJI contest finalist shares his journey from drone enthusiast to industry expert, discussing the critical role of drones in search and rescue operations, and his vision for drone advancements to revolutionize emergency response.
How did your journey with drones begin?
My interest in drones started when I saw someone using a DJI first-person view (FPV) drone as a spotter. Until that moment, I had no idea that FPV drones even existed outside of home-built devices, nor did I know you could fly them using goggles. In August 2022, I bought my own DJI FPV and realized how beneficial drones could be for farming and emergency use. By November, around the same time I obtained my Part 107 license, I had added a Mavic 3T to my collection, and started my YouTube channel dedicated to videos about drones. I now own multiple DJI drones, including the Avata, Matrice 30T, Mini 3 and 4 Pro, Agras T40, and most recently, the Mavic 3 Pro.
Tell us about your role in your local Search and Rescue team. Can you share a notable operation where drones played a crucial role?
I am the Drone Team Leader for my entire County's Search and Rescue (SAR), and have flown multiple missions over the past 2 years. One mission that stands out involved using the DJI M3T to locate a missing person late at night during a rodeo where my SAR organization was providing security.
We deployed the M3T and used the thermal camera to see in the dark. I screen-casted my live feed to our command trailer so my partner could assist in the search. After about 20 minutes of searching, my partner spotted a far-off heat signature on his TV and we located the missing person, who had passed out in a ditch. We radioed this to our ground teams, used the GPS pin drop feature to give an exact location, and activated a 3rd party spotlight attachment to further guide our teams in. Our ground teams successfully found the person and rendered aid before returning them to their campsite, likely saving their life due to the storm that came in shortly after.
What challenges made the use of a drone necessary during this operation?
The main challenges were the darkness and the weather conditions. We had over a hundred acres to search in pitch black visibility, and the window in which we were searching was right between heavy rainstorms. I was able to cover the entire search area several times in that 20-minute flight, and the thermal imager made every person and animal on the rodeo grounds glow like beacons.
I am glad I've since purchased the M30T so the next time something like this happens, I can continue flying even in the rain. This mission proved the worth of drones in SAR to my team as well as many of the other emergency personnel assisting with security and the search.
Which features of the drone were most valuable during the operation?
Both the thermal imager and live feed proved invaluable. The thermal view enabled me to see perfectly in the dark by detecting any sort of heat generated. I could even spot fresh tire tracks and recent footprints. It is the most important piece of kit I bring with me on any sort of SAR or firefighting mission.
Meanwhile, the live feed allowed my partner to see exactly what I was seeing on a large screen TV, without the stress of having to operate the drone, allowing us to work in tandem. I've since used the live feed on multiple different missions, including an urban SAR mission that required us to search different areas around our city.
I prefer to screen share/cast due to the lack of lag and signal interference, but when working remotely, I love DJI FlightHub 2 (FH2). On this urban mission, I sent a live feed back to our command team who were miles away using FH2, and they were able to spot items of interest I didn't and direct me specifically on where to go using the map features.
How do you hope drones will evolve to best support future SAR operations?
I've seen several new and different programs that scan videos for things like specific colors using machine learning, but they require external processing of the videos. I would love to see drones incorporate this technology directly. The capability to fly over a wooded area, pick out a glimpse of color which might be lost to the operator, and alert the pilot could be invaluable during SAR missions.
Another one would be the option to select whether to use the drones’ or the controller’s GPS when using third-party apps like CalTopo or SARTopo, which we use on every SAR mission. Currently, only the controller’s GPS is broadcasted, which requires me to manually write down coordinates when I want to drop a pin on something. Being able to see the drone on the map and drop pins directly would save time and allow our command and mapping teams to spot exactly where the drone is, as well as direct ground teams directly to it.
What advancements in drone technology are you most excited for, especially for use in SAR missions?
Fixed-wing drones, which offer longer battery life, longer flight times, and cover more area. I envision a Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) fixed-wing drone with a forward-facing FPV camera and an underslung gimbal—essentially a fixed-wing version of the M30T. For large search areas or extended overwatch, this would be perfect.
Another would be smaller cargo drones than the FlyCart 30, or official PSDK (Payload SDK) mounted cargo systems capable of delivering small cargo payloads of food, water, emergency medical supplies, radios, and the like, safely and efficiently.
Are there other stories or applications of drones you would like to share?
I’ve used drones for a multitude of applications, from using the Mini 3 Pro to check where an oil leak is on my Almond Shaker; mapping out our almond bloom and identifying dead and sick trees with the Mavic 3T; spotting breaks in buried irrigation lines in our corn fields with the M3T and M30T’s thermal cameras; providing overwatch on vegetation and structure fires for my fire department; to mapping out and identifying hotspots from past fires to ensure they don't reignite. And of course, using DJI drones to capture phenomenal photos and videos with which to educate, entertain, and tell stories.
To see more of Timothy Danley's stories, check out his Instagram page.
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Earlier this year, we invited the drone community to share their stories as part of our #DecadeWithDJI campaign. The ingenious, creative, and meaningful use cases we received have inspired us to launch a content series of the same name. This series celebrates the drone pioneers, communities, and organizations that have built careers, businesses, and demonstrated positive impact through our drones. Follow the series here. |
