Best practices and drone industry news


Southern Company Selects Skyward for Drone Program Expansion

ATLANTA, Ga. and PORTLAND, Ore. Oct. 03, 2018 – Southern Company, a leading producer of clean and affordable energy, announced that it will be expanding its drone program through a partnership with Skyward, a Verizon company advancing drone fleet management solutions and research and development. Southern Company and its affiliates were among the first energy companies to use drones across its business to aid in remote inspection, wire transport and damage recovery assessments, among other tasks.

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October 3, 2018

LAANC Is Live in Central North States (and All 50 States!)

Steven Perez
Manager of Client Strategy at Skyward

With the rollout of the FAA LAANC program in the Midwest, instant flight approvals for commercial drones are now available nationwide! This is a huge accomplishment for the FAA and the commercial drone industry. 

Pilots across the U.S. can now get the okay to fly in seconds via Skyward. Continue reading →

September 13, 2018

LAANC Comes to Eastern North States

Steven Perez
Manager of Client Strategy at Skyward

Getting instant approval to fly commercial drones in the East Coast corridor and surrounding areas is now a reality, with the expansion of the FAA’s LAANC (Low Altitude Airspace Notification Capability), which allows pilots to get flight plans approved in seconds.

Today, August 16, LAANC went live in the Eastern North region, home to many of the nation’s busiest airports. No more manual permitting that can take months: Part 107 drone pilots with access to digital flight management tools like Skyward—one of the few platforms with LAANC capability—can get authorized to launch in controlled airspace instantly. You can download the complete rollout schedule here. Continue reading →

August 16, 2018

LAANC Launches in Eastern South States

Ryan Wall
Manager of Client Strategy at Skyward

Flying commercial drones in busy southeastern U.S. airspace just got easier. July 19 marks the go-live date for the FAA’s LAANC (Low Altitude Airspace Notification Capability) program in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Part 107 drone pilots can now gain authorization to fly in controlled airspace instantly instead of relying on the manual permitting process, which can take months.

UAS operators who use Skyward’s platform can leverage this capability. The LAANC expansion includes airspace in Atlanta (home to the world’s busiest airport), Jacksonville, Orlando, Columbia, Nashville, Montgomery, Jackson, San Jose (PR), Little Rock, and over 50 smaller air markets. Continue reading →

July 19, 2018

Tips for Using Drones for Energy and Utilities

Isaac Bruns
Freelance Contributor for Skyward

Editor’s Note: We are so pleased to publish this article by freelance journalist (and former Skyward intern!) Isaac Bruns. Skyward is not affiliated in any way with Wolf UAS, but we agree with the advice and best practices given here.

Energy and utilities companies that have implemented drone programs are already seeing great results and reaping the benefits. For example, an engineering firm used drones for transmission line construction planning, and a leading solar utility used drones to evaluate potential sites for new solar farms. If you need more proof, here are 25 more ways drones are improving efficiency and minimizing risk for energy and utilities companies.

But if your company is just beginning to experiment with drones, you may be wondering what makes or breaks a drone initiative. How can you move from experimentation to successful integration into daily operations? Continue reading →

June 28, 2018

LAANC Launches in California & Hawaii

Steven Perez
Manager of Client Strategy at Skyward

Commercial drone operators who fly in California and Hawaii, as well as a few spots in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, now have a much faster way to get authorized to fly in controlled airspace. With Skyward, pilots can now access the FAA’s LAANC (Low Altitude Airspace Notification Capability) across the five states. This means that pilots with a Part 107 license can get permission to fly in regulated airspace in seconds, a huge advance over manual authorizations, which take months. Continue reading →

June 22, 2018

Flying for Enterprises? Drone Insurance & Risk Analysis for Contractors

Ilan Yusim
Marketing Director at SkyWatch.AI

This is a guest post from SkyWatch.AI. SkyWatch.AI provides risk analysis and on-demand hourly insurance for professional drone service providers.

Many freelance pilots and small businesses are looking to provide drone flight services to major corporations and government agencies. In order to secure these types of contracts, you’ll need to take a few extra steps to meet their expectations and prove that you’re going above and beyond to mitigate risks—however small—associated with flying a UAV. Continue reading →

June 19, 2018

FAA Update: Part 107 Recurrent Testing & the Reauthorization Bill

Matt Fanelli
Director of Strategy at Skyward

Earlier this month, the FAA confirmed what we have long suspected: Commercial drone pilots in the U.S. with a Part 107 remote pilot certificate will need to retest when their current certificates expire. It’s been nearly two years since the first batch of drone pilots took the test and received their certifications. At the time, the FAA said the certificates would expire in 24 months—so while retaking the test may be something of an inconvenience, it’s definitely not a surprise. Continue reading →

June 12, 2018

LAANC Launches in Western North States

Scott Duffin
Director of Strategic Planning and Business Development at Skyward

Getting authorized to fly drones in regulated airspace in the western U.S. just got a lot easier. With the right software platform, pilots can now access the FAA’s LAANC (Low Altitude Airspace Notification Capability) in the Western North region. The new program allows Part 107 drone pilots to obtain permissions to fly in controlled airspace in seconds, a huge advance over manual authorizations, which often take months.

Unmanned aircraft operators who use Skyward’s platform are among the few who can take advantage of this digital timesaver. We’re especially pumped about this phase of LAANC expansion, since it includes airspace near Skyward HQ in Portland, along with Denver, Seattle, Salt Lake City, and nearly 100 smaller air markets. And we’re excited to see how UAV pilots from Nome, Alaska to Bryce Canyon, Utah will help businesses, utilities, and agencies improve operations through LAANC capability. Continue reading →

May 31, 2018

LAANC Arrives in Texas & Region Monday!

Steven Perez
Manager of Client Strategy at Skyward

Monday, April 30 is an exciting day for the drone industry in the U.S. That’s when the FAA begins the first wave of the nationwide rollout of its LAANC (Low Altitude Airspace Notification Capability). With LAANC, Part 107 drone pilots can use Skyward to obtain permission to fly in controlled airspace in seconds, rather than the months it has taken to receive manual authorizations.

I’m confident that the expansion of LAANC to the South Central U.S. will further fuel the growth of drone use in public and private industries throughout the region, especially in big cities such as St. Louis, Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, San Antonio, and Austin. Continue reading →

April 27, 2018

Drone Access to Controlled Airspace in Phoenix

Mike Danielak
Director of Client Strategy and Business Development at Skyward

With the FAA’s LAANC (Low Altitude Airspace Notification Capability), requests for authorization to fly UAVs in controlled airspace can now be handled in seconds instead of taking weeks or months through the FAA waiver system.

The expansion of this program to new regions in the Southwest is expected to further fuel the growth of drone use in public and private industries in Arizona. Accessing LAANC airspace via Skyward is quick and easy, and it’s enabling companies in Phoenix to get into the air fast. Here are the five main things to know about the rollout of real-time access to PHX controlled airspace, and examples of commercial use of UAS in the region. Continue reading →

April 11, 2018

Scaling Drone Operations Across the Enterprise

Alyce Bofferding
Manager of Client Success at Skyward

You’ve run a successful drone pilot program and your enterprise sees potential for speeding up projects, improving safety, or getting better data at less cost. You’ve gotten the go-ahead to build capacity.

What should you know about scaling drone operations from one or two pilots to potentially dozens of pilots and hundreds of flights?

As Skyward’s customer success manager, I’ve helped dozens of companies scale up their drone operations over the last couple of years, and I’m happy to share what I’ve learned. Continue reading →

March 13, 2018

Is Your Company Getting the Full Value of Drones?

Scott Duffin
Director of Strategic Planning and Business Development at Skyward

In my discussions with big companies about their drone operations, a few things always come up: faster turnaround time, far lower aircraft expenses, and reductions in manpower costs. These are the most obvious examples of the value UAS brings to businesses, for example:

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March 9, 2018

When Is LAANC Going Live in My Area?

Jonathan Gowins
Senior Product Manager at Skyward

Skyward first began providing fast, automated access to controlled airspace through the FAA’s LAANC initiative last fall. For the prototype phase of the program, the FAA made LAANC available in just over 40 locations, including Reno, Miami, Phoenix, San Jose, Anchorage, Lincoln, Cincinnati, and several dozen airports covered by the Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center. Continue reading →

March 7, 2018
drone footage of a busy street in a major metro area

Pitfalls to Avoid When Launching a Drone Program

Mike Danielak
Director of Client Strategy and Business Development at Skyward

What could possibly go wrong? Because we’re in the aviation industry, UAS pros spend a lot of time understanding this question—and operating in ways that prevent high-profile errors.

In working with big companies to implement drone programs, I’ve seen that skepticism about ROI is often not the biggest objection drone proponents face when exploring a new program for their companies. It’s the legal, risk, and operational questions that raise the strongest concerns, for good reason: Airspace is one of the most regulated spaces accessible to humans.

If you’re just beginning to launch or scale a drone operation at your company, here’s a list of potential pitfalls to avoid, along with a standardized process for getting your program off the ground. Continue reading →

February 28, 2018

DroneDeploy Syncing & LAANC Further Coordination

Susannah Axelrod
Vice President of Product at Skyward

2017 is coming to a close, and it’s been a huge year at Skyward. We were acquired by Verizon, we expanded our team, and we collaborated with the FAA on the new Low Altitude Airspace Notification Capability (LAANC). But we’re not kicking back just yet. Our engineers have been hard at work to deliver two big new features before the holidays, and they’re now live in Skyward. Expect to see lots of new features and functionality in 2018—and maybe even a new mobile app.   Continue reading →

December 18, 2017

How Many Holiday Lights Do I Need? Use a Drone!

Jonathan 'Natty' Natiuk
Product Designer at Skyward

Last winter, I tossed my household’s collection of worn-out holiday lights and forgot about them — until last weekend when I went to hang them up for this season. I found myself facing that age-old question: how many strands of Christmas lights to buy.

It turns out that this is a great task for a drone.

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December 3, 2017

Using Drones for a New Perspective on the News: Raycom Media

Isaac Bruns
Freelance Contributor for Skyward

In February 2016, a local news station in Birmingham, Ala., WBRC FOX6 News, debuted a new way of reporting the news: the “WBRC Sky Tracker.” The station first integrated the Sky Tracker—really a Yuneec Typhoon H drone—into weather and traffic reports, advertising, and news-gathering. A year and a half later, the station continues to fly just about every weekday, finding more and more use cases for their drone program as they go.

WBRC’s parent company, Raycom Media, Inc., is an employee-owned broadcast company with more than 50 television stations throughout the southern, eastern, and midwestern United States. Headquartered in Montgomery, Ala., Raycom provides services for stations covering more than 16% of U.S. television households. With such a broad audience, aerial coverage is a must, and with drones increasing in popularity in the media, Raycom wanted to be at the forefront of media innovation. Continue reading →

November 3, 2017

How to Access LAANC in Skyward

Jonathan Gowins
Senior Product Manager at Skyward

On Friday, Skyward’s hardworking team of engineers was proud to release LAANC airspace access to our cloud solution. Now, all Skyward users, including our free Pilot Accounts, can get FAA authorization to fly in controlled airspace in near real time.

A quick recap: The FAA’s Low Altitude Airspace Notification Capability (LAANC) allows approved partners such as Skyward to give safe, fast access to certain volumes of controlled airspace. For now, the program is in beta at 45 airports: Cincinnati International Airport (CVG), Reno (RNO), San Jose (SJC), Lincoln (LNK), 37 airports in the Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center, and just this morning, the FAA released Phoenix as well.  Continue reading →

October 31, 2017

The Drone Integration Pilot Program Is an Opportunity for All of Us

Jonathan Evans, Co-President
You can follow Jonathan on Twitter at @jwce21

Yesterday, the White House and the Department of Transportation announced a new initiative called the Drone Integration Pilot Program.

According to the press release, the program will involve a select number of cities or towns that will work with the private sector to solve some of the longstanding barriers and challenges that we in the drone industry have been facing, such as BVLOS flights and package delivery. Continue reading →

October 26, 2017

Today, LAANC; Tomorrow, UTM

Jonathan Evans, Co-President
You can follow Jonathan on Twitter at @jwce21

Last week, the FAA approved Skyward to provide our users with automated access to controlled airspace via the new Low Altitude Authorization Notification Capability (LAANC). And today, the FAA officially turned on LAANC in beta, allowing commercial drone pilots to safely and quickly access controlled airspace at Cincinnati International Airport (CVG), Reno (RNO), San Jose (SJC), and Lincoln (LNK). Continue reading →

October 23, 2017