Introducing Mavic the Maverick from Drone Pilot Academy:
Company Name– Drone Pilot Academy Ltd
Location– Based in the North of England in good old Barnsley but UK-wide.
That said we have run courses abroad to European Military Units and even market our survey training services in Saudi Arabia and have run numerous courses to their Government here in the UK.
Why is it important for your company to help Get Kids into Survey? Our main client base is from the Survey, Construction and Engineering Industries. We see clients from these industries, week in week out, on our courses and it is evident there is a workforce shortage in these areas.
To tackle the problem you need to get to the root of the issue and I believe that is promoting the industry at an early stage.
What do you do? We are a one-stop-shop for all things drones. We carry out practical and theoretical training on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and issue professional qualifications. We also conduct bespoke drone survey training so we can get you from ‘zero to hero’ in no time at all.
We also sell / hire drones and all the equipment that comes with them including software. So we can do it all in one place.
How long have you been in the survey industry? The MD started out in 2014 after finishing a 17 year career in the Royal Air Force flying Puma Helicopters and other aircraft and DPA are one of the longest-standing accredited training academies in the UK
How did you end up getting into the geospatial industry? I was on a resettlement course with the military, where they teach you to be a civilian in 2 days! A couple of Soldiers were discussing how they were using drones at weekends for wedding photography. I looked into the use of drones in the next break and realised how much utility they could have. I then bought my first drone online in the following break! And the rest is history as they say!
State a funny fact about you… Despite flying aircraft for over 2 decades, I am actually not a big fan of heights!
Favourite piece of kit and why? At the moment it is the Multinnov Stereo 2 Cage Drone used for Internal confined space inspections such as tunnels and Silos. I suppose it’s my favourite as it is novel and groundbreaking in what it can offer survey companies. It is super fun to fly too!
Favourite Survey technique and why? Obviously for me it is the ability to carry out topographical surveys using drones rather than on foot. The amount of time saved compared to walking the area and measuring using traditional methods is unreal!
Your website
How did you choose the character and what does he/she/it represent? Mean to you? What’s his/her name? I suppose at the time I had just been lucky enough to get a Spitfire flight for my 50th Birthday -The pilot looked very similar to my character. I wanted the character to portray the aviation aspect of the survey business so I wanted to make the reference between aviation and surveying obvious and interesting.
‘Mavic the Maverick’