My name’s Michael Schuh and I run Jamestown Aerial Photography.

A little bit about me

I have lived in Jamestown, ND since early 2018 when started my first career job as a design engineer at Collins Aerospace. Prior to that I attended college at NDSU, where a team and I built a small drone to compete in a national competition. Ever since then I’ve been intrigued by drones and their proliferation into the mainstream market.

My drone experience

A few years back I received my first drone, DJI Phantom 3, as a wedding gift. I flew that thing non-stop for a month or so but then quickly became deterred by its size during transport, which really prevented taking the drone on any major trips.

Fast forward to 2021 where I bought the DJI Mini 2. This drone has effectively the same capabilities as the Phantom 3 but in a foldable and lightweight package that can almost fit in your pocket. After flying this drone for a few months I decided to get my Remote Pilot Certificate to more easily request FAA Authorizations to fly in the Class E2 airspace which spans over almost all of the Jamestown.

Recently the FAA rolled out the LAANC program which allows for users to submit flight plans up to certain altitudes depending on an ATC-defined airspace grid. This allows for almost instant authorizations for most use-cases, however, when the mission requires a higher altitude one must fly under Part 107 to request authorization to fly above the predefined limits. Having a Remote Pilot Certificate allows me to fly almost anywhere within the Jamestown area up to 400ft with prior approval.