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Paul Milde introduced the guest speaker, Ken Taylor, who spoke about Drones.  Ken said that he will try not to make this an advertisement for his business. He talked about the rules that CASA has issued re Drones. Basic rule of Drones is that they have to stay away from people. He talked about the various types of Drones. Drone accidents are mostly caused by pilot error. Drones are very effective as surveying tools, checking crops,cattle mustering etc Fixed Wings, even battery operated can fly for longer times. Uses of Drones such as checking oil line pipes, watching for sharks , etc are becoming more viable. With some drones, you can use generators to charge up the batteries to get a longer flight. Ken passed out a brochure providing information on where to access more detailed rules of flying Drones. Non licensed people must keep their drone within line of sight. When flying a drone and it gets out of the line of sight … you have to have good telemetry to bring it back. Standards for Drones are difficult to achieve and Ken’s company is trying to comply with existing standards … everything is tested and they are trying to work with CASA to make a set of standards that other manufacturers will comply with. At the bottom of the market of Drone making, there is much resistance to standards. The future market for drones is unlimited. Police and fire already use drones. Coast guard are looking at unmanned capabilities for border patrol. Ken’s company has sold Drones to Brazil for their power company electrical lines. The company is Australian owed, based in Wagga and uses Australian materials as much as possible. Ken opened the discussion to questions from members. John Smith gave a vote of thanks and said it again went to prove that members give the best speeches. John gave his view of drones from a pilot’s point of view and stipulated that there are problems with the “off the shelf” drones …but not Ken’s drones. He said that in Sydney, at night, you could see drones all over the city on “drug drops”! |
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