When most people think of drones, they probably think of complicated machines that are hard to fly.

That is not the case for Southwestern Michigan College freshman Zach Davis.

Davis is enrolled in a course called Special Topics in IT, and for the final project he is required to film an event in the community.

Davis chose to film Open Header Cruise, Thursday in Dowagiac.

Davis spoke with Curt Rohdy, who is in charge of the cruise, and told him what he would like to do. After he is done editing the video, Davis plans on donating the footage to the family of Ed Kazlauskas. The car show was hosted in honor of the late owner of Jim D’s Body Shop.

The course Davis is enrolled in not only teaches the students about drones, but how to fly them as well. While pretty handy with a drone, Davis did not know much about them before he began taking the class.

“I’d seen different videos, like drone footage videos, before the course,” Davis said. “I like flying them and I could also see that there is a soon to be large market with a lot of jobs. I thought it would be a good area to get into.”

Davis offered up some tips on how to fly a drone while filming.

“You have to make sure all the propellers are free and not obstructed and then pretty much it’s the same as controlling an RC car or something similar,” Davis said.

He has a controller with the drone that he can also hook up to his phone. At that point, he just pushes a button and the drone lifts off. From there, as Davis explains, it is very easy to control.

Davis said he is very interested in the class and has decided to continue his education in this area.