About Us

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CADS's Owner and Chief Pilot always wanted to fly.  As a boy, 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. 

The year he completed college he was conscripted into Her Majesty's armed forces.  Six years later he resigned his officer's commission to marry his UK-born sweetheart. With his new wife's blessing, he began saving up for flight lessons--a life long dream.  Three years later, in the summer of 1989, he began 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 emigrated to Western Canada where he continued his flight training.  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 at Prairie Bible Institute, Three Hills, Alberta.  In 1996 he added a TCCA Ground School and Flight Instructor ratings to his commercial pilot ticket.  Between 1996 and 2000 he enjoyed teaching both disciplines at his Canadian Alma Mater until he was accepted as a commercial pilot with the world's most prestigious Christian Missions Aviation organization.  In his role as a recruiter and flight candidate evaluator for the mission organization.  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.

Then, seven years ago, one of his grandsons presented him with a palm-size toy drone as a birthday present.

CADS's Chief Pilot & Owner still owns that small quadcopter. Over the course of many hours he endured the crash-fly-repeat cycle of learning to fly that toy drone.  During the process of teaching himself to fly the palm-size quadcopter he was struck by the realization that if larger, commercial versions of that tiny machine were going to safely integrate into the General and Commercial Aviation airspace, such aircraft would necessarily required to be flown and operated by knowledgeable, professionally trained individuals.  In other words, pilots. 

Recognizing the business potential of drone technology, CADS's Chief Pilot 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 UAS pilot's license (Advanced Commercial Rating as of June 2020), 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.

The technical evolution of UAS/UAV/drones and their ancillary components, including Geographic Information Systems--GNSS sensing equipment, high quality aerial cameras, etc.--continues to progress at a rapid pace.  As the capabilities, quality, and safety of UAS aircraft improve, the potential uses for unmanned aerial vehicles in the general workplace grows accordingly.  Current estimates indicate that by 2024 the use of unmanned aerial vehicles will have doubled over 2020 figures, with exponential growth of the industry predicted to continue unabated thereafter.

Accordingly, multiple industries across many sectors of society are poised to benefit from UAS technologies.  CADS's owner and Chief Pilot is determined to keep astride of current developments in the industry to more efficiently assist his customers in achieving their personal and business goals. With respect to future prospects in the realm of commercial drones, the sky's the limit--literally. Welcome aboard!