A Q&A with FPV Drone Pilot Gabriel Kocher (Gab707)

It is not an exaggeration to say that without the skills and creativity of Gabriel Kocher, many of the jaw-dropping scenes in Awaken Canada and Believe Chicago would simply not be possible. Gabe is a theoretical physicist (he has the PhD to prove it) and a world-class drone racing pilot who has travelled the world capturing footage that would be ungetable without an FPV drone. We recently spoke to him about his work with Flyover, the challenges of flying a 25kg drone in a city, and what exactly an FPV drone even is.  


 

Could you give us some background on yourself — specifically around the drone filming and racing that you do? 

The two backgrounds I tap into are as a theoretical physicist and as a world-class level drone racing pilot.  Having raced at world championship level for seven years, and having been runner up world champion multiple times, I use my experience to design flight lines that push the envelope of what drones can do. As a physicist, I create, design and make drones to match that vision. The agility and power required to realize the creative vision are immense and a lot of engineering is thus required to bring our ideas to life!  

For those unfamiliar with the term, could you explain what FPV drone piloting is? 

FPV stands for 'first-person view'. It is a technology that allows the pilot to virtually fly the aircraft via a headset and consequently feel as if they are sitting in the cockpit. I often describe it as an out-of-body experience. My mind gets transported into the drone and I suddenly have the freedom to fly. 

How long have you been doing it and how has it changed and evolved since you started? 

I started flying about 10 years ago. A lot has changed on the tech side in the last decade. We used to fly through very blurry analog FPV feeds subject to interference and the drone parts were altogether unreliable. It still made for a super fun hobby, but the evolution of the gear towards professional-grade equipment and digital feeds has been amazing to witness. With the improved equipment, pilot skills have also drastically improved. 

What is a common misconception that people have about FPV drones? 

A lot of people associate FPV drones just with racing or view them just as these inconsequential fun little filming toys with a tiny camera. The work that we do takes the performance from a small racing drone but scales it up to 25kg monster with an $80.000 camera system. It is an incredibly powerful system with numerous safety measures and protocols necessary to operate safely, especially in a crowded city like Chicago.  

You've mentioned that you love filming in the mountains, why are you attracted to the mountains specifically? 

I've always been drawn to the verticality of the mountains. For as long as I can remember, I was always out hiking, snowboarding, mountain biking and rock climbing. These days, drones give me a different perspective on these mountains. FPV drones allow me to go soaring along ridgelines like a bird. It is a truly magical feeling. It is one of the core feelings we try to convey and bring to life in the various Flyover experiences. 

Can you tell us about the Flyover productions you've been involved in and the particular challenges that these shoots offered? 

I've had the chance to be involved with Believe Chicago and Awaken Canada. Each shoot day had its own set of challenges. Notably, our first shoot with the newly built drone system was for Awaken Canada. It had us flying in extremely cold, snowy weather, flying through a slot Canyon in Alberta before diving down Helmcken Falls in British Columbia. Those would be nerve-wracking conditions and objectives with a small drone, let alone our giant machine that barely fit through the canyon! We took our time to line things up and the shots came out absolutely perfectly. 

What are you proudest of when it comes to the work you've done with Flyover? 

Believe Chicago had some of the trickiest flying conditions I've ever had to work with. Downtown environments are notoriously bad for drones, with interference from buildings and all sorts of radio, TV, communications and Wi-Fi equipment. Transmitters make the deployment of any remote-controlled device a challenge, and we were trying to treat the city like an aerial skatepark. Meticulous planning, many tests, thorough research and development, and countless rehearsals went into every single scene that we shot for that project to ensure every variable was accounted for.  

To name just one memorable flight scene: After flying the city grid from high above, we dive down the Chicago Board of Trade building like batman, only to catch up with an intense film set car chase. At this point, we’re only a few feet off the ground, closely following swerving cars, before turning a city block and flying through a film set tent and ultimately exiting through a cloud of smoke to the next scene. The whole film was shot with seamless transitions, so everything was pre-planned from the get-go to create the sensation of continuous flight. A truly gargantuan undertaking that fully relied on these flight segments, my piloting skillset and engineering work to make the film work as a whole. Making that film a reality is definitely one of my proudest achievements. 

Apart from Flyover, what other exciting projects are you involved in at the moment? 

I really enjoy filming action sports. Snowboarding, skiing and mountain biking are some of my favorite things to capture. The FPV medium lends itself to being right in there with the action in ways that no other camera could do before. Through the years, I have designed a range of aircraft to capture these sports with my own twist and vision. I regularly do the live coverage of events such as the Red Bull Rampage and Natural Selection Tour. 
 

Is there a dream location that you still want to work in one day? Why does this stand out? 

I sometimes get the sense of having seen it all, from the amazing, jagged peaks of snowy Alaska to incredible primordial jungles in South America. The world is full of wonders though, and I hope that the images I bring back can inspire Flyover guests to love, cherish and respect their surroundings. I'm not really one for bucket list items, but the thought of places like Petra in Jordan, Angel Falls in Venezuela, the Himalayas in Tibet, Zhangjiajie National Forest in China or the Serengeti in Tanzania inspire me to keep travelling and creating.