CADS: For drone mapping, photography, videography, and aerial inspection solutions
About Us
YESTERDAY
CADS's Owner and Chief Pilot always wanted to fly. As a boy, when he wasn't donning a mask and snorkel to explore the inlets and reefs of Bermuda, his beloved island home, he'd fill his school notebooks with drawings of WWII Spitfires and Messerschmitt 109s. By the time he was twelve years old he was building and flying competition-level balsa wood control line model aircraft.
By the age of eighteen he had completed two years of college, at which point he was conscripted into Her Majesty's armed forces. Six years later he resigned his officer's commission to marry his UK-born sweetheart. Back on civvy street, he opened an Audio-Video business, and with his new wife's blessing immediately began saving up for flight lessons--a life long dream. Three years later, in the summer of 1989, he undertook an ab initio flight training course at Mazzei Flying Service in Fresno, California. Six weeks and 38 Pilot in Command flight hours later he was granted his FAA private pilot license (PPL), single engine land.
In the early 1990s, he and his family left Bermuda to take up residence in Alberta, Canada, where he continued his flight training at Prairie Aviation Training Centre (PATC - See: https://www.prairie.edu/aviation/), a division of Prairie College, Three Hills. Over the next three years he earned a Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA) commercial IFR pilot's license in conjunction with Associate of Arts in Mission Aviation degree. In 1996 he added TCCA Ground School and Flight Instructor ratings to his commercial pilot ticket. Between 1996 and 2000 he enjoyed teaching both disciplines at PATC until he was accepted as a commercial pilot with the world's most prestigious missions aviation organization: Mission Aviation Fellowship of Canada. In addition to flying and teaching flight instruction in Western Canada, he was privileged to work with the mission on the continent of Africa, eventually racking up flight hours in five sub-Sahara countries.
He delighted in his role as a flight instructor, teacher, and Christian Missions coordinator until, in the mid 2000s, a near-fatal motor vehicle accident ended his general aviation commercial pilot career.
While rehabilitating from a severe brain injury suffered in the automobile accident, he rebuilt his 'tool box' of skills by helping his son-in-law establish his fledgling landscaping company. Within a couple of years he'd earned an advanced skid steer operator's license, and re-upped his Audio-Video technician's ticket. He also got back in the cockpit of a Cessna 172--a one hour flight presented as a birthday gift from his family, in company with a palm-size drone gifted to him by his grandsons.
TODAY
CADS's Chief Pilot & Owner still owns that small quadcopter. Over the course of many hours enduring a cycle of crash-fly-repeat, he taught himself to fly the small drone. Intrigued by the technology, he began to research the niche industry. By 2018 there were several international companies producing larger unmanned aircraft systems ('drones', legally tagged as RPAS--Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) which were being used for aerial photography and surveying. Also, there were a number of 'Drone Pilot' training schools available to teach wannabe RPAS users to fly responsibly for hobby or for business purposes. In a light bulb moment, it occurred to him that the best RPAS pilots would be naturally be individuals who were already familiar with operating flying machines in commercial airspace. In other words, pilots.
Recognizing the positive potential of RPAS technology business-wise and otherwise, he revisited his aviation roots by enrolling in a TCCA-licensed Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) ground school course created and administered by one of Canada's original and premier drone pilots. After achieving his commercial sUAS/RPAS pilot's license in June 2019, he spent a year researching global UAS/UAV/RPAS/Drone trends in order to analyze the state of the industry. With current data in hand, he formulated a viable business plan. And Central Alberta Drone Services was born.
TOMORROW
The technical evolution of RPAS/sUAS/UAV/drones and their ancillary components, including Geographic Information Systems--GNSS sensing equipment, high quality aerial cameras, etc.--progresses at a rapid pace. As the capabilities, quality, and safety of RPAS/sUAS aircraft improves, the potential uses for unmanned aerial vehicles in the general workplace grows accordingly. Current estimates indicate that by the end of 2025 the use of unmanned aerial vehicles will have doubled over 2020 figures, with exponential growth of the industry predicted to continue unabated thereafter.
As a result, multiple industries across many sectors of society are poised to benefit from RPAS/sUAS technologies. CADS's owner and Chief Pilot is keeping astride of current developments in the industry to more efficiently assist his customers in achieving their personal and business goals. Having recently renewed his Advanced RPAS commercial pilot's license, which is valid until November 2027, he looks forward to continuing to provide professional RPAS services to central Albertans. Regarding future prospects in the realm of commercial drones, the sky's the limit--literally. Welcome aboard!
