What’sintheAir? flying cameras

By jon gerlach

Smithsonian Institute . His office, interestingly enough, was located in Renwick's Smithsonian Castle

Langley's unmanned flight in 1896 was a milestone in the history of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) It would be another seven years before the Wright Brothers achieved the world's first sustained gas-powered airplane flight with a human on board. Today, the Langley Flight Foundation is devoted to building a life-sized, working replica of Langley's remarkable invention. You can learn more about this cool venture at www langfound org

There are two types of UAVs (aka drones ): fixed-wing and rotor-wing aircraft. Both are piloted remotely and rely on Global Positioning Satellites (GPS). Within the past ten years or so, remarkable advances in technology have brought miniature, camera-equipped rotor-wing drones to the consumer market. Millions are in use by hobbyists, and commercial pilots fly drones in a wide array of industries, including law enforcement, agriculture, mining, construction, search and rescue, and real estate sales. What many folks might not realize is that drones are also important for historic preservation photography and video). history - the world's first successful flight by an unmanned, engine-ddriven, heavierthan-aair flying machine The 90-second flight happened in Stafford County.

As an avid amateur photographer and FAA certified UAV pilot, I like to call drones by a different name: "flying cameras". That's what they really are, and it's what makes them so useful in historic preservation. A flying camera can give unprecedented visual access to difficult-ttoreach areas of a building. This makes data collection far safer, more convenient and cost-effective than other approaches. For example, the photos of Renwick Courthouse shown here were taken by a flying camera over a period of some 20 minutes, while the pilot (me) was squarely planted on the ground.

This brings our story full circle in a uniquely Renwick sort of way. From Langley's pioneering aviation work at Renwick's Smithsonian Castle 127 years ago, to current efforts to preserve and adaptively reuse Renwick's Courthouse in downtown Fredericksburg, drones are a common "Renwick link" between past and future. For more on the Renwick Courthouse, check out Danae Pecker's article in last month's issue of Front Porch magazine.

Langley designed his invention while he worked as the Secretary of the

When it comes to studying a historic building, drones are cost-effective, flexible tools. They can be used to survey and map a site; document the current condition of a structure, both on the exterior and interior of the building; monitor a building's exterior to assess any damage and potential risks, such as missing boards and windows, moisture problems, structural weaknesses and abnormal temperature changes; and drones can provide easy public access to inaccessible parts of a building through published visual content (aerial

So … what's in the air? Here, flying cameras offer unique perspectives on historic sites.

An attorney and retired archaeologist, Jon Gerlach serves on Fredericksburg's City Council, Ward Two.

Photos by Jon Gerlach