The Great Plains region of the United States includes the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, plus portions of eastern Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. Including its Canadian extension (known as the Prairies), it's one of the largest flatland areas in the world. Lightly populated, it's home to the great wheat Breadbasket of the country and some of the largest concentrations of wind turbines. It's also home to stunning areas in the western Dakotas where the plains were disrupted by erosional patterns to form the Badlands and some of the USA's most unusual rock formations. Whether it's overhead videos of farm tractors working the wheatfields of Kansas or aerial shots of buffalo herds in Oklahoma, here is a collection of the best drone videos from the mighty Plains. Aerial photo: "Thunderstorm Over Woodward, Oklahoma" by AirVuz contributor and drone pilot chrisxgxc.
Golden wheat fields and lush green hills highlight the sweeping landscapes of Kansas farm country, on the Great Plains of the United States. This amazing drone video shows the beauty of the Kansas plains and the bounty of wheat harvest. Doug Armknecht describes how drones allow him to share stunning views of his family farm with the world. This video was a finalist in the 2017 New York City Drone Film Festival.
The Great Plains of the United States isn't flat everywhere. In many places, various geological processes have produced much more variable terrain. One of those places is the Gloss Mountains, an area of mesas and buttes in the northwestern part of Oklahoma. Award winning contributor and drone pilot chrisxgxc shot one of his epic creative videos on this amazing looking terrain in the heart of the Great Plains region near the Kansas border.
Contributor and drone pilot Riel Creative created this epic drone video of Tulsa, a city in the United States' Great Plains region. It's located in eastern Oklahoma, on the edge of the true plains area. The city was favorably situated relative to some of the USA's most productive oil fields in the early 20th century and was the unofficial "Oil Capital of the World" for decades until being usurped by Houston. The video has some great aerial shots amongst the city's skyscrapers.
As much as anything, the Great Plains of the United States is known for a long-vanished sight: massive herds of bison (American Buffalo), which at one point numbered over 25 million in population in North America. While the species was nearly extinguished as American settlement moved inexorably west there has been some (modest) recovery in the population. In this aerial video by Aerialphoto_brandon you'll see a few bison on the plains of northwestern Oklahoma.
Prepare to be blown away by this drone video from the Great Plains of the USA after an ice storm. Award winning contributor and drone pilot Chrisxgxc, who hails from the town of Woodward on the Panhandle of western Oklahoma. The ice storm coated uncountable trees and bushes with a crystal clear layer of ice. Flying a drone over this frozen wonderland yielded him an amazing 90 second video. This was discussed in his episode of the Drone Dish.
While Colorado is generally thought of us a mountainous state (and not without justification), the eastern portion of the state is 100% Great Plains territory. The effect of the mountains rising up from the plains is dramatic, but in this drone video by contributor Mikeyg733 you'll get a good look at the state from a spot where the transition is particularly dramatic; shot at sunset, it starts with a dronie facing west and finishes with an epic shot facing east, towards the Plains.
Contributor Ryan Jones created this drone video of the Wyoming landmark, Devil's Tower, which is a rock formation in the northeast region near the Bear Lodge Mountains. The mountains are part of the Black Hills range of South Dakota, and the entire area is part of the Great Plains system which covers much of the west-central United States. The unique butte was featured prominently in the 1977 blockbuster movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, including in its climactic final scene.
Kansas is a Midwestern USA state that lies close to the geographic center of the country. The western part of the state (by far the majority of its overall land area) is part of the Great Plains and is one of the principal wheat growing areas of the USA. Award winning contributor Doug A used a drone to create this spectacular reel about the landscape of the Sunflower State, whose vast rolling wheatfields are the Breadbasket of America.
In this highly creative short film, contributor Chrisxgxc teamed up with his five year old son and used his DJI Phantom 4 drone with some very clever editing to create the impression of chasing his son piloting a World War I era biplane. The video was the winner of the 2017 AirVuz Drone Video Awards in the Originality category and was also a winner at the Los Angeles Drone Film Festival. The backdrop is the Great Plains on the panhandle of Oklahoma.
Contrary to what many believe, the Mississippi is technically not the USA's longest river. That title belongs to the Missouri River, which runs over 3.7k km (over 2.3k mi.) before joining the Mississippi in St. Louis, Missouri. Over its course, towns and cities in ten different states owe their existence to the mighty waterway. In this drone video by North Sky Aerial Imaging, you'll get a bird's eye look at the river as it flows through one of these cities, the South Dakota state capital of Pierre.
In this video, contributor Projekte uses a drone to remind us that some of the world's largest plains aren't actually called "plains". This video was shot in Eastern Colorado in the USA, on the Great Plains. The video is entitled "Safari" to show how similar the terrain appears to the most famous plain in Africa - the great Serengeti, which runs across much of Tanzania and is considered the world's best safari destination. Watch the video and picture roaming zebras and lions!
In this video, contributor and drone pilot raphael.elijah gives us a bird's eye view of Oklahoma City, the capital and largest city of the Sooner State. It's located in the middle of the state, in the heart of the Great Plains region of the USA. This city was the site of one of the most infamous acts of terror in US history: on April 19, 1995, a truck bomb exploded in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people and causing widespread devestation in the central district of the city.
One of the things which makes the USA's Great Plains so spectacular in places are the rock formations and small mountains which seemingly come out of nowhere and dominate the flat surrounding landscape. One of the most famous of these formations (called inselbergs) is called Chimney Rock. It's in western Nebraska, in the heart of the Plains. Check out this drone video of Chimney Rock, the centerpiece of the Chimney Rock National Historic Site, compliments of contributor and drone pilot Balazs.
Shot on a DJI Phantom 4, chrisxgxc uses his skills and mighty imagination to bring us what a dronie would look like if the world was taken over by zombies. A master of visual effects, Chris says this is how he would break out of a horde of zombies - mapping his escape route with a drone! Chris was a winner at the first annual Drone Video Awards with his classic "Cardboard Cadet", and this video was our Winner in the Dronie category for the 2nd Annual Drone Video Awards.
The USA's Great Plains are known for many isolated rock formations which seemingly spring up out of nowhere. In western South Dakota, there's a large area where the rocks are the rule rather than the exception - it's known as the "Badlands", and they are generally considered the most scenic part of the entire Great Plains Region. In this first person view (FPV) video by contributor and FPV pilot Badlandr, you'll get to see the South Dakota Badlands from an entirely new perspective.
On this episode of The Drone Dish, host Tyler talks with Chris Castor (AirVūz Profile: chrisxgxc), a visual artist turned filmmaker from whose breakthrough video "Cardboard Cadet" won the 2017 Drone Video of the Year in the "Originality" category. Chris's videos (including his more recent video "The Last Dronie", which was nominated as a Finalist in the Dronie category for the second annual DVA's) are all shot against the backdrop of the Great Plains in his native Oklahoma.
On this episode of The Drone Dish, Tyler chats with Kansas-based pilot Doug Armknecht. Doug was a finalist in the news/documentary category at the 2017 New York City Drone Film Festival for his film "Beauty & Bounty." He talks with Tyler about that film, what it was like to be a finalist in the festival, and about his favorite parts of showcasing harvesting and other farm activities from a bird's eye perspective.