South African drone services company UAV Aerial Works has expanded its portfolio to include remote pilot licence training.

Which makes sense; because having in been the drone game for nearly seven years now, they may have noticed a gap in the current training methods on offer and decided to fill it.

After all; Aerial Works does run Drone Guards, one of the top drone-based security companies in the country; whose pilots oftentimes require more than just specialist training for the kind of operations and flight missions they have to carry out.

It is not that they realised that, with the commercial drone industry growing as it is, there will be need for more pilots, and more pilots mean more training schools.

After all; you can never have enough training schools, amirite?

Sadly, one of the frustrations of the commercial drone industry in South Africa has been that the countless pilots (they were way over 3,200 at the last count) being churned out of the countless drone training schools have been ill prepared for the market they aspire to make a contribution to.

In some cases, all the pilots know is how to control a drone and fly it from one point to another, without necessarily understanding the raison d’etre of drone technology in industrial operations – data collection.

In the specific case of Aerial Works, pilots have to have a deeper understanding of surveillance, reconnaissance, and what areas to target when flying a drone on security missions.

For successful execution of a security drone operation from mission planning to completion, drone pilots would need skills in flight control and manouevreability, risk assessment, management and monitoring, communication and coordination, navigation and mapping; as well as decision making and problem solving.

And that is before one even factors in the calmness needed during emergencies, working at all hours of the day, in all kinds of whether, in all kinds of locations.

You do not get these skills in pilot training school; and that is something Aerial Works are keen to change, at least for the pilots they will be training.

“We believe in creating drone pilots who will not be a hazard to other airspace users,” says Aerial Works.

“We will make sure graduates will be the best placed to take on the drone world with professionalism, with flying hours in their logbooks and simulated actual operations.

“Our courses and exams have been designed by an educational technologist and aviator; and all our instructors are holders of a minimum of a private pilot’s licence, who will transfer actual aviation and drone operation experience to the students.”

For the theoretical side of the course; the training school will delve into aspects of aviation that include regulations (so the students understand civil aviation regulations and the safety risks when sharing airspace with drones and manned aircraft), aerodynamics, drone systems, components, parts and batteries, meteorology, navigation; and human factors

Prospective pilots will also learn radio language and how to fly a drone without the help of the GPS system.

Out in the field, practical lessons will include understanding the remote controls and various drone manoeuvres and emergency flight exercises.

The school will also help pilots get their medical certification, which is a requirement for flying drones in South Africa.

Kim James, a director at Aerial Works, has been instrumental in finding placements for drone pilot interns with drone service providers over the years; with her company also hiring young interns and preparing them for the drone world.

Aside from security and the new training school, Aerial Works also offers drone services that include technical services and aviation consulting.