Every time you find yourself on the horizon trying to kiss the edge of the sky, it is none other than “Wallen,” the drone pilot amidst the team doing unusual things.
He has a distinguished eagle eye with the ability to shoot images over 500m below the surface. Wallen means that small machine that looks like a play station pad on one end and a Boeing CH-47 Chinook, military transport aircraft on the other end.
The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American Rotorcraft Company Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol, but we are not here to talk about war aircraft but camera drones.
Drones are often thought of as flying cameras, and recently, it is the best thing to think about before executing your project on every budget.
Allan Mutebe commonly known as Wallen is the drone Guy, a very stylish and quiet young man with big ambitions for helping the community, he says calls himself a drone pilot and a visual storyteller.
According to Wallen, his passion for drones was much driven by his fascination for movies by the way how stories were crafted into visuals.
“Growing up as a young boy I used to watch a lot of movies from cinema halls around the village and I was always attentive. The more I watched the more I developed a love for film making but I never thought I will do it as a job…,” he said
Wallen’s journey to the sky started in 2017 when he met a one Kamanda he says is one of the prominent drone pilots in east Africa through a friend and he got inspired.
“I was inspired, I had never seen a drone and I never thought I will operate one (because the price of a drone and the risk of operating it was high and still it is very high) I chatted with Kamanda and after some days I asked him if he can teach me how to operate,” he explains.
Wallen says that it is because he loved the way how drone videos showcased the beauty of the community from a bird’s eye angle.
Later Kamanda accept to teach him however, it took him some time to learn how to operate and fly at the same time.
“By the time I learned how to operate, it took me time to fly the drone because of fear and the risks encountered, and besides I never had money to buy one,” he remembered.
Wallen did his first gig with a drone in 2018 around March at an introduction ceremony in Kampala and since then he has never stepped back.
“Slowly slowly I start getting gigs and building more skills I never stop learning..” he explains
Experts say that Camera drones are inverting the way we see the world. But it could be they are also changing the way we feel about the world since they have a unique way they link our physical view and our emotional perspective.
He has been able to use his skill to traverse the country with one aim of transforming the community as a drone pilot and a cinematographer. He has been able to help the community by passing on the skills to young people
“It is the only way I can help at the moment) and have been able to teach a few close friends I also inspired many young people and am very grateful for the Bravo Shoes Community Support Organisation for the trust they have in me”