From Thermal Recoveries to 15K Spray Acres – Drone Pilot Life | The DroneOn Show Ep 37

In Episode 37 of the DroneOn Show, host Mike catches up with Henry, a local Ohio-based thermal drone pilot who's also diving into agricultural spraying, fresh off flying 15,000 acres of fungicide on corn across Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana with Dennis's crew. Henry breaks down the surprisingly easy transition from enterprise drones to spray drones—taking just about 10 hours to get comfortable—highlighting how stable they are despite the extra weight and why manual plus mode is a quick learn for anyone with prior drone experience. They dive into a typical 14-16 hour spray day: starting at sunup for calm winds, pushing through weather challenges (mostly minor this season), and the grind of beating storms while keeping drones clean nightly. Henry shares wild deer recovery stories, like yelling at 2 a.m. after finding "impossible" deer on back-to-back calls (one a liver shot, another a shoulder hit), plus spotting over 800 deer and 25 bears on a massive 5,000-acre thermal survey—leading to DNR involvement for bear studies and potential future wildlife work with bobcats and dens. The convo hits on drone tech's future, from using the Matrice 4TD as repeaters for insane range to DJI docks enabling worldwide remote flights via Starlink, and Henry's $5,000 repair saga turning his crashed 30T into a near-new backup. If you're eyeing a spray drone business, thermal recoveries, or just love real field stories of risk, sacrifice, and success, this episode packs it in. Chapters (00:00:00) - Thermal Drone Pilot Transition to Spray Drone(00:01:34) - Deer Recovered in the Night(00:03:16) - Flying Drone in the Field(00:04:04) - How many acres did you cover with Dennis this year?(00:05:32) - How Much Did Weather Affect the Harvest?(00:06:20) - Don't Trust Just One Source For the Weather(00:09:09) - Drone Crash: Power Line Stabilization(00:10:59) - Drone Crash Saves a Drone From Eating Corn(00:12:38) - Ag Boundary Guys:(00:16:23) - A Drone With a Pickup Truck?(00:20:06) - Have You Got What it Takes to Own a 15,000-(00:20:59) - Drones on the Road(00:23:55) - Drones Full Time, No Family(00:26:19) - Drones to Deliver Deer Corn?(00:30:46) - Deer Hunting With a Drone(00:34:16) - Thermal Drone(00:35:26) - DJI 4 TD vs. 30T Drone(00:38:47) - A 4 TD Thermal Pilot(00:42:12) - Do You Need a Full-Time Pilot?(00:43:08) - Deer Searching During the Day(00:45:57) - Deer Found Dead in Spray Drone(00:47:31) - Deer Search and Recovery on Drone(00:51:01) - You Can't Help Hunting(00:52:44) - Deer Hunt in West Virginia(00:54:59) - Flying a drone to deliver corn(00:56:01) - Drone Rescue: Night Spring(00:57:39) - Drone Recovery in the Amish Country(00:59:35) - Do People Think a Drone Is Looking At Their Property?(01:02:31) - Black Bear Found in My Backyard(01:04:44) - Flying a thermal drone over the DNR property(01:08:39) - Deer Drone Crash(01:10:56) - Drones in the Air