Competitive boost for eBee pilots

KOREC announces that the Drone Pilot Academy, training partners in the provision of flight training and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) accredited pilot training courses, have successfully launched their Operational Safety Case consultancy service to assist KOREC senseFly eBee users attain EVLOS (Extended Visual Line of Sight) approval. A UK eBee user has already successfully attained this approval through the new Drone Pilot Academy service.

It will now be possible for the users of eBee X, eBee Plus and eBee Classic models in the UK and Northern Ireland to get approval to fly up to 1500m away from the remote pilot (compared to usual 500m) giving a potential operating range of 3km. This will bring a significant competitive advantage to KOREC customers, particularly those surveying quarries, coastal areas and large-scale projects by cutting extensively the need for multiple take-off and landing points.

eBee drone pilots applying for approval will need to submit an Operational Safety Case to the CAA and demonstrate a history of safe flying and an additional person to act as a spotter on site is required.

senseFly’s Christopher Thomson (Regional Manger EMEAI) said, “Seeing the eBee X being able to fulfil its true potential is hugely exciting. The UK is always on the forefront of pushing the advancements in UAV technology and the EVLOS permission across all of our platforms attests to this. This will now enable over 200 senseFly users to push the boundaries of their mapping capabilities”

Drone Pilot Academy’s Jim Ixer (Managing Director) said, “With the number of large scale mapping projects our clients are routinely involved with at the moment, and the number in the pipeline we wanted to offer a service that allows eBee operators to maximise the impressive flight endurance with the latest battery advancements. With a standard CAA permission, the limiting factor is the regulations, not the drone, so we sought to safely resolve that issue. Now we can offer a consultancy service that includes bespoke training to assist senseFly drone operators to attain the EVLOS accreditation from the CAA”

KOREC’s Richard Gauchwin (Business Area Manager – Mapping & GIS) said, “This really is a game changer for the UAV market in the UK. Being able to fly larger sites and now only requiring one take-off and landing point has huge benefits in terms of efficiencies the system can bring to businesses. The eBee X, with its flight time of up to 90 minutes, has always been capable of undertaking these larger surveys, but has been limited by the legislation governing maximum flight distance from the pilot; now it can realise its full potential.”