With the flick of a lever, pilot Steve White sends the six rotors on his Cinestar Hexacopter spinning, then calmly lets the unarmed aircraft rise to about 20 feet.

The pilot is looking upward at the commercial drone. The Hexacopter is looking down at White. The craft’s Blackmagic Cinema Pocket video camera is poised to record movie-quality footage from a platform so stable not even the eastern April breeze shakes the frame.

This isn’t just White’s movie, it’s his dream several years in the making. His three unmanned aircraft range in price from $2,000 to $5,000. His photo equipment is top notch.

“It’s been a goal of mine,” White said, as he worked his radio controls and scanned an iPad mini screen for his drone’s bird’s eye view. “I want to do aerial photography. I’ve done it for myself for a long time and now I want to do it professionally.”

White is awaiting approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to pursue aerial photography commercially. And given how few commercial endeavors the federal government has so far permitted, White’s exemption from rules otherwise banning commercial uses of unmanned aircraft would be kind of a golden ticket for White, whose day job is Gallatin County commissioner.

Roughly a half-dozen Montanans have applied or received federal exemptions to fly unmanned aerial vehicles commercially. The authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration has the entrepreneurs sharing rarefied air with the likes of Amazon, which was green-lighted earlier this month to test package delivery. There have only been 224 such exemptions issued in the U.S.

Those granted exemptions by the FAA are ecstatic. It takes months to receive approval under FAA Section 333. Those who get the OK are only allowed to fly unmanned aircraft lighter than 55 pounds at altitudes no higher than 400 feet and within eyesight of the pilot. The FAA scrutinizes everything from the technical specs of an applicant’s unmanned aircraft system to his flight manual and his plans for recovery should things go wrong.

 MORE>>>Billings Gazette

SuzAnne Miller is the owner of Dunrovin Ranch. A fourth-generation Montanan, SuzAnne grew up roaming the mountains and fishing the streams of western Montana. Her love of nature, animals, science, and education prompted her to create the world’s first cyber ranch where live web cameras bring Dunrovin’s wildlife and ranch life to internet users across the globe

Our beautiful Harriet osprey arrived back at her nest on April 1st. She took several days to regain her strength from her long migration home, then set about to restore the nest after the fierce winter winds. Her many fans were filled with a multitude of emotions; delighted to see her looking so fit, worried about her finding a new mate, and sad to know that Ozzie would never return. We waited impatiently,  while she went about her business,  seemed to trust in life to bring the right new mate her way, and was completely indifferent to our fretting.

And, indeed, a handsome and young male osprey made his grand entrance on April 20, 2015. They swooped together through the skies, flew back and forth to the nest, and settled in to mate. What joy! Dunrovin has named Harriet’s new mate Heiko – in honor of Heiko Langer (and with his permission!) who was the University of Montana scientist who worked with Dunrovin to establish the nest web camera. Heiko Langer has since left the University of Montana to do research and teach at a university in Saudi Arabia. Heiko Langer left a big legacy behind in Montana and is greatly missed. Our Heiko osprey carries a BIG name and has very BIG talons to fill in the hearts and minds of Harriet’s many followers.

Heiko and Harriet make a lovely couple. Both of their names are derived from the German word for “family leader” which is most appropriate for an osprey couple in which each is so vital to success. However, it would seem that Heiko has considerable to learn about being a good mate and father – that’s the bad news. And the good news is that has an excellent teacher in Harriet!

The new couple has had been little time for a quiet honeymoon. They have experienced multiple intrusions from other male ospreys seeking Harriet’s favors; and a mystery egg was laid on April 21st – we say mystery because no mating was observed at the nest prior to Heiko’s arrival, and yet it seems too early to be a result of mating with him. Harriet, herself, seems mystified by the egg and has behaved very differently than in the past. At times she has left her egg completely unguarded for the sparrows to investigate; and she frequently leaves the egg uncovered.

Heiko’s youth and inexperience show up in many ways. At first he clearly did not understand that it is his job to fetch Harriet food and his first attempts at incubating were truly comical. At one point, he pecked with curiosity at the egg. Yet, Harriet’s trust in him seems to be well founded. Heiko is proving to be a very fast learner and may well come up to the mark. He is now bringing more fish. He more quickly settles down to incubate the egg; and he is fending off rival ospreys.

We viewers should at least have as much faith in Heiko as Harriet does. She is showing him the ropes and showing us that patience pays off. We all welcome Heiko to Harriet’s nest!

Life at the nest is quickly becoming more familiar – with Harriet eating a big fish on the perch while her mate incubates an egg. Ozzie’s memories will always haunt the Dunrovin nest and he would certainly chase off Heiko were he still among us. But those of us with hearts and minds invested in this wonderful little world of the Dunrovin ospreys’ nest are grateful that Harriet found Heiko.

VISIT DUNROVIN RANCH AND THE LIVECAM:  DAYS AT DUNROVIN

Lacey Middlestead is a Montana native and freelance writer currently living in Helena, Mont. She loves meeting new people and helping share their stories. When she’s not busy writing articles for newspapers like the Independent Record and Helena Vigilante, she can usually be found indulging in her second greatest passion–playing in the Montana wilderness. She loves skiing and snowmobiling in the winter and four wheeling, hiking, boating, and riding dirt bikes in the summer.

Two weeks ago I hit my final puck of the hockey season with the thwack of a hopeful stick. Unfortunately, the goalie was the victor on that Sunday. But when the final buzzer sounded, I knew it wasn’t just marking the end of hockey season but also the beginning of dirtbike season!

While I have already rode my bike twice this year, last night was the first time I made it out with both my dad and fiancé…..and we’re pretty much the Three Musketeers when it comes to riding. With my oil freshly changed and my handlebars swapped out for taller ones to make riding easier, I couldn’t wait to hit the mountain trails. Thanks Dad!

We pulled up to our usual parking spot at Sheep Mountain out in Clancy and starting getting changed. All of us struggled a little with remembering the systematic order of putting on motocross gear instead of hockey gear. Any my only thought every year is why the heck do you seem to wear so much less gear to ride high speed bikes than when you play hockey? In hockey you’re padded up like a rhino is going to hit you. I always say I’m going to switch the gear sets so I feel more protected on my bike. My dad always laughs at that but admits that I do bring up a valid point.

After dressing, we unloaded the bikes, ran their engines for a few minutes to get them warm and we were ready to go! Andy took the lead, followed by me in the middle and my dad picking up the end. We didn’t have to ride down the trail much for me to notice how much better my handlebars felt. I could more fully extend my legs when standing and not feel like I was hunched over steering with T-rex arms.

The trail system on Sheep Mountain is awesome, but you’ll get lost in hurry with all the intermingling loops. Andy has most of the loops programmed to memory by now. My dad and I, on the other hand, usually don’t have a clue in hell where we are or how to get back to the truck. Thus we tail after Andy hoping he won’t lead us astray.

When we came to the first steep downhill section, I groaned inside my helmet. I recognized the spot and remembered it being especially steep and windy down between the trees. I dropped my bike into first gear, took a deep breath and began inching down the trail. I’m pretty sure I held my breath most of the way to the bottom, but I made it!

We came to another downhill section later on that I’ve practiced going down at higher speeds, but I’m still always a bit wary. When we got to the bottom of that hill, we paused for few minutes. “I want to see you doing this going downhill,” my dad said making flipping gestures with his finger. I knew instantly that he meant he wanted to see me clicking up gears and going faster downhill. It is a long-standing joke between us that I hate going downhill on pretty much anything—bicycles, snowmobiles, dirtbikes, etc. “I’m trying, I’m trying,” I said laughing.

For about an hour and a half we sped around on different loops, occasionally doing part of a loop in reverse on the second go-around. Andy was the only one who had a minor wreck after taking a corner too tight. He may have laid the bike over on top of his leg, but at least he missed hitting a nearby tree. He took the fall in good stride though…..only really complaining about bending his brake lever and getting his new riding gear dirty. My dad just reminded him jokingly, “If you aren’t crashing, you aren’t riding fast enough.” Of course this is easy for him to say since he’s raced motocross since he was a kid.

Overall, it was a successful night of riding. When we finally made it back to the truck and started changing, Andy made fun of me for my dirt mustache. Oh the joys of following someone on dusty trails! But I just figure, if I have that much dirt on my face it must be because I was able to keep pretty good pace with him……..something I’m just starting to be able to do. And with our first race of the season coming up in June, I’m all for picking up a little speed.