More than 300 drones will take center stage at this year's Thunder Over Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There are two main draws at Thunder Over Louisville, the impressive airshow and the breathtaking fireworks. But, one of the newest acts to dazzle spectators along the Ohio River sort of combines the two, drones.

"We're really looking forward to the shapes that we're going to do, and the story that we're going to tell," said Matt Quinn with Great Lakes Drone Company.

More than 300 drones flew last year. Even more will fly in Louisville this year. The manpower behind them though, is on a much different level.

"This show is only ran by like five people," explained Quinn.

thunder drones 1 — The Great Lakes Drone Company will fly more than 300 drones for the light show at Thunder Over Louisville, which airs on WDRB, WDRB.com and WDRB+ on April 20, 2024. (WDRB Image)

There's one pilot, and a small team who sets up, breaks down, and makes sure everything is ready to go.

"We also have a person up in the command center, which really ties everything all in together," he added.

That's the way Quinn and his staff roll at every one of their shows.

"We travel all over the U.S., all over the world," he explained.

That includes one show where drones hovered high above Ford Field, in a city that specializes in motors that are far bigger than ones that power the drones.

"That was us, with the Detroit Lion eating the San Francisco logo in the sky in Detroit," Quinn said.

The team is seasoned, but weather, winds, and where to have the drones take off can get complicated.

"A barge isn't going to work, because nobody can keep the barge still enough for us to come back and land," Quinn explained. "We can launch, but we're probably not going to be able to come back and land. I'll have a bunch of drones in the river. We've come up and worked with the Army Corps of Engineers to use the island."

Quinn meant the piece of land some people know as "Corn Island," not far from the Belvedere.

Conquering challenges is sort of a specialty for Quinn's group. They have four years of Thunder down, with plans of droning on and on.

"I can't picture a year in the future where we are not doing this," he said.

Quinn used to be a paramedic for a company that worked out of North Vernon, Indiana. He knew about Thunder Over Louisville long before his crew was a part of it.

Thunder Over Louisville is Saturday, April 20, 2024. The airshow and fireworks are part of the opening ceremony of the Kentucky Derby Festival. Thunder will be broadcast all day on WDRB, WDRB.com and the WDRB+ streaming app.

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