Cross Church in Rogers, Arkansas needed its crosses cleaned, a job complicated by three things at once: height, a location surrounded by water, and controlled airspace that required flight approval before anyone could get started. Before turning to a drone, the church had fielded bids ranging from someone offering to climb the crosses by hand, to a crane operation, to rope access, every option either dangerous, expensive, or both.

The crew coordinated airspace approval ahead of time and built the job around keeping chemical runoff out of the surrounding water. Equipment stayed parked on concrete rather than grass to avoid rutting the property or spilling chemicals into the ground. The job runs two systems: an 8-gallon-per-minute, 3,500 PSI pressure washer, and a Comet P40 softwash pump. The softwash pump sends a mix of sodium hypochlorite and other additives, including a dye so the pilot can see where the solution is actually landing, up through a hose to the drone for the height work. The crew then switches to the pressure washer for higher-flow agitation to knock loose dirt, algae, and bug matter.

Three roles run the job at once: a ground man at the trailer mixing chemical batches, monitoring liquid levels, and switching hoses between the two systems; a ground man at the base of the crosses keeping the hose clear of the water; and a pilot flying the drone while also acting as visual observer, watching angles and keeping safe distance between crosses. Everyone stays in contact by radio.

On a clear day, no wind, no rain, no fog, the whole job runs in a matter of hours instead of the weeks or months traditional access methods would need. No one leaves the ground. There's not even a ladder on the truck.