It will happening with or without you

It is all about the money

With advent of the 333 exemption the Drone/UAS industry is getting a little traction, just a little. I have a database of over 200 Drone/UAS pilots who are in business, making money but only five of them that I can count has a pilot’s license. Now there are two flight training schools that I am going to promote Sky Warrior Inc. George Sigler the proprietor of the school has been training Navy pilots and NFOs their basic flight training since Vietnam and he is one of the first people I even talked to about the drone industry three and a half years ago. Now he has a light sport that is limited for certification but it is good enough to get the 333 exemption. Then there is Learn2Fly4Less in Carrollton a suburb of Dallas. Kevin O’Conner is the proprietor there. He has unique system that utilizes a simulator that you can practice on for significantly less than it would cost for an instructor to go up in the air with you or rent the plane to practice in. The average cost for an instructor is between $30 and $40 per hour, a plane will cost around $80 per hour. You need 20 hours, 10 with an instructor and 10 solo. Then there is the check ride with an FAA evaluator which is $450 and then exam which is $150, not including the course online which is around which you can find between $100 and $300. So going for a range, you are looking at between $2,600 and $3,000.

Now, once you acquire your license and 333 exemption which there is no fee for, there are jobs out there paying between $500 per day and $65,000 for the job but that includes the CAD work and processing. The average CAD profession will want $25 per hour or more and they are in high demand from surveyors, civil engineers and Drone/UAS pilots who need someone to do this for them.

Investment                                                                               

This industry is taking off like a rocket even though investors and geospatial professionals are slow to embrace it. I have had several people point out to me the valuation of DJI but if they are looking at DJI, they are looking backwards. Companies like DJI and 3D Robotics just to name a few are keeping the market honest and seeding the market with low cost systems that can do some basic cinematography.  The big problem is keeping up with the demand. When your shipment is allocated before it is even hit the port, which is a quality problem. DJI is currently seeking a $10 billion valuation to raise capital. With X-Fold's cinematography platforms with a greater payload and duration of flight capability, with a base price under $7,000 for the basic platform, which they can’t keep in stocked either. Cinematographers are gobbling them up. They know what they need and what their quality is because of their history in the industry already. B&H bought out their first shipment as soon as they received it. The developer of X-Fold took DJI as far as they could go, until they had to develop a more robust system. All of those DJI fliers are the market for X-Fold, if they want to do real work with the real cinematography cameras or any other technology.

Geospatial

The demand in the cinematography industry is impressive but once the surveyors and geospatial professionals figure out that the film and movie industry is way out in front of them, they aren’t going to waste a lot of time and money investing in developing Drones/UAS but focusing on the integration of these already developed systems that are stable, robust and easily integrated, they are going to move their product. I have four entities who are either looking at integration of LiDAR for everything from high tension power-line inspections to DOT applications or measuring the sediment flow in major rivers. With the stable system to start off with using the X-Fold System as a jumping off point, the growth in the cinematography industry will be eclipsed. There are a lot more surveyors out there who would be able to be trained to fly a Drone/UAS than there are Drone/UAS pilots who could or would learn surveying.

The Yuma, Hollywood connection

Sharing the knowledge

There was so much to learn when I first started in the UAS/Drone business. Well there has been a lot of water under the bridge and I have learned a lot, now I am seeing the benefit of what I have learned. Now industry is starting to consider where to start using UAS/Drone because of the recent 333 exemptions and the reduction in the requirements for a “Private Pilot’s license” to a “Light Sport License”. That means 20 hours vs 30 hours and no physical. The cost is only around $1,800.00 if you show around, the country. Now that industry professionals can see how to legally use this new technology, no it’s time to figure out what tools are the right ones for the jobs.

Fixed wing vs VTOL

I was asked by John Minor the Provost of The Unmanned Vehicle University (UVU) to locate training areas for the fixed wing UAS training program. The UVU wishes to conduct their fixed wing UAS training nationwide. I found several of my former Navy SEAL buddies who have range training areas who have from 100 to 300 acres who are interested in hosting this type of training but there are a couple of areas that have come online aside from the six FAA designated test sites. That makes eight so total.

Why fixed wing? There was a Crop Science/Ag Consulting firm that put a ton of money into a single rotor, mini-helicopter system capable of heavy lifting. The problem was that the longer rotors created a harmonic vibration that could not be masked. They couldn’t baffle it with rubber washers or software, this caused them to miss all of last year’s growing season. Fixed wing platforms do not have nearly as great problems with harmonic vibrations. The challenge is the payload capacity.

There is the AeroMapper by 3D Robotics, the Maverick by Peoria, the Precision Hawk not to mention the Aerovironment and Insitu systems for the military. The problem is the payload capacity, five to seven pounds max. Then there is the price between: $196,000 to $385,000.

Cinematography expertise and experience

T.J. Diaz the proprietor of XFly Systems and primary trainer for UVU helped design the X-Fold systems for cinematography. He designed the rotors to be coaxial which not only stabilizes the platform but gives it great lift. The Dragon system by X-Fold can carry 100 kilos for 21 minutes and the price point starting under $8,000. The cinematography UAV pilots understand the benefit of these systems with the heavy lifting, the stabilization of the coaxial rotors, the long duration of fight and the price points.

Yuma

UVU has centralized their VTOL training to Phoenix, AZ and they specifically asked me to locate a training area for the fixed wing systems in Arizona, I contacted the Yuma EDC and they sent me right to the  Yuma County Airport Authority which manages Rolle Field near San Luis, Arizona. This facility is set up specifically for UAS research and development. What makes it so appealing is its close proximity to Hollywood and the motion picture industry. They work with the weapons Naval Weapons testing range, they have major connection with the Arizona Department of Agriculture but the proximity of the UAS/cinema photography professionals in Hollywood is what is really exciting. Their expertise with the cameras coincides directly with photogrammetry, LiDAR, Multi-spectral and Hyper-spectral aplications.     

The time for drones is now!

Disruptive technologies

The best training I ever had in marketing disruptive technologies was insurance and financial planning, trying to get someone to give up their money to be used at a later date. You can show people the track record, the historical return and the tax benefits but what really needs to happen is the trust has to be established. Sometimes you have to come in like a bull in a china shop and get in their dish a little “So Mr. So And So, when do you plan on retiring? When do you plan on starting your savings plan to get there? Do you think the taxes on your savings plan, once you do start saving will hurt you or help you? What is Mrs. So And So going to do if, God forbid, you get hit by a bread truck stepping off the curb? Mrs. So And So, how do think you are going to remember you husband if something like that were to happen and he didn’t have any insurance protection? What will you have to do to replace his income and maintain your life style? Will you have to eat a different cut of meat, will you have to drive a different car, live in a different house, do you children have good enough grades to get the financial aid and scholarships to pay for their college? Would you move in with your parents or his? Will your parents or your in-laws let your adult children move in them too?” When I talk to surveyors it can be like that.

All it takes is one

I participated in last month’s meeting of the San Diego branch of The California Land Surveyors Association, following Dave Wooley a well know surveyor and author from Orange county California. Right off the bat he went into how many jobs we lost last time new technology was introduced. I was not feeling the love. Then he went into the other problems in the survey industry that are hurting it, not related to the new technology, he transitioned to the industry being proactive, keeping up with their continuing education and advances in the technology and become the masters of it. I still didn’t feel that much enthusiasm when I got to get up and talk but at the end of the meeting, eight surveyors gave me their business cards so I could get them a trial Pix4D 10 day license. So far, nobody has activated their license.

No more excuses

I followed up and actually had a chance to talk to one of these surveyors and he told me “We have a guy with a Phantom but the problem is, it is still not legal!” I was expecting that kind of response and I put on my financial planner, closing hat and told him “When I tell you how it is legal, will you listen?” Then after he agreed to listen I explained to him how the FAA has relaxed the requirements to qualify for a 333 exemption to only a “Light Sport” pilot’s license and how there is a light sport plane at Palomar Airport, there are facilities all over Texas and Kansas as well as Sky Warrior Inc. out of Pensacola, Florida just bought a light sport plane specifically for UAS/Drone pilots to qualify for their 333 exemptions. Then he very enthusiastically responded “We are interested, we will come to Texas or Florida, where ever we have to so we can use the drones legally. We really like the Pix4D software, we know it works!” Then I told him that “I am going to quote you!”

More exemptions granted

My mother called me today to tell me “Oh you probably already know but the FAA just granted three more exemptions” Well I didn’t know so I had to look them up. The FAA is partnering with CNN for a Drone testing program for news outlets to see what the benefit is. Then the American Red Cross is doing a study for the benefit of UAS for disaster relief and a production company in Tampa is the first to get a 333 exemption in Tampa. I stumbled on another article about Corporate America putting pressure on the FAA to speed up the process of getting the approved restrictions approved. Companies that were named were Amazon, L3, Chevron and BNSF Railway. Then I looked up exemptions for surveying just because it is what is what’s on my mind right now. I didn’t find anything specific to surveying but I found a press release published May 6^th, yesterday about the US Department of Transportation initiative through the FAA with industry mostly pertaining to line of sight and beyond line of sight operations. All I had to read was “Department of Transportation” and as far as I’m concerned, that means surveyors. I will post more information as I become aware of it.