Met and talked to the manager and engineers at eBlimp.com. They make small “advertising” blimps that can stay in the air for an hour until the engine batteries need changing.

These clever folks find a market where the winds are, ideally at 5 mph, and up to 15mph with gusts of 20mph put an eBlimp up and it does things.

It can simply be an ad, can project music, drop light fluttering things rose pedals, e.g.)

Both a drawback and an advantage is slow speed.

But station (tether) it over something with eyes in the sky, look for problems requiring speed AND function, and the conditions for a drone and platform are perfect. Lower the drone 20 feet, spin up the motors to allow a controlled descent and then disengage from the eBlimp. The drone responds to the matter at hand at 40mph, does its functions, and either goes home or reattached to the eBlimp and remains at the ready. Add a Y plug and the drone could recharge itself at a power supply on the eBlimp.

Check those guys out. Very clever. They could do the eBlimp part and Farnsworth Drone Platforms the drone-functions part.