Best practices and drone industry news

Anne Hinkle

Director of Finance at Skyward

As an accounting and finance person, I love numbers, spreadsheets, and financial forecasts—things that leave most people yawning at their desks or running for the hills. But if you’re standing up a drone program at work, you need to know a few things about budgeting and how to work with your finance department.

If you work at a Fortune 500 company or other major enterprise, knowing how much a drone program will cost, and how those costs are accounted for, is essential. Even if you have a realistic number in mind—say $70,000—you’ll need to be able to show your finance department the breakdown of those costs. Most importantly, you’ll need to provide a rationale for your budget request. Continue reading →

Isaac Bruns

Marketing Intern at Skyward

If you’ve looked into implementing drones as a newsgathering tool, you’ve probably seen some of the innovative ways that drones can support broadcast operations. If you haven’t heard about the great results they can bring, start with these five stories from The New York Times—major journalistic features that used drones to tell spectacular stories in remote, sensitive, or inaccessible areas.

But what sets drones apart as a unique journalistic tool? After all, many aerial shots could be obtained with a helicopter, though with a much higher price tag. What stories can drones tell that are dangerous or impossible for either ground crews or helicopters to capture? Continue reading →

Connor O'Brien

Manager of UAS Ops Consulting at Skyward

In the media and news industry, the decision whether to use drones is often couched in economic and logistical terms. Yes, drones save money compared to helicopters when it comes to aerial photography, and they are more easily deployed in the field.

What these conversations often overlook are the ways in which drones can actually augment and expand the possibilities for journalists to gather data and tell stories. Adding more functionality to a newsroom is a benefit that should be weighed along with the financial concerns. Continue reading →

Trevor Wichmann

Senior Director of UAS Ops Consulting at Skyward

As drones become a mainstay at job sites across the United States, engineering and construction firms are having conversations about the risks and rewards of the new technology. Those who are leading the charge to incorporate unmanned aviation into their workflows face the challenge of convincing legal teams and risk-management experts that drones will not expose the company to undue risk and liability. We’ve talked about how to go about adding drones to your enterprise before, and as the technology gains widespread acceptance, we’re starting to see the early fruits of what drones can really offer. But to legal experts, drones – at least on the surface – seem to add several risk factors to the equation. Continue reading →

Eric Ringer

Senior Product Manager, Co-founder at Skyward

The media and news industry is in the business of gathering footage and information about rapidly unfolding events. In the past, when a story called for aerial imaging, a news station’s only option was to fly a helicopter over a site. Between the costs of the aircraft, the pilot’s time, hangar space, camera equipment, and safety training, operating a helicopter represents a significant financial outlay. Now that drones are becoming widespread, and regulations governing their use are better defined, many media organizations are seeing the opportunity to reduce the costs of gathering footage from the air and increase the overall efficiency of their operations. Continue reading →

Connor O'Brien

Manager of UAS Ops Consulting at Skyward

As drones continue their rapid transition to the workplace, the industry continues to establish norms surrounding the use of the technology. Part 107 has helped with that process, but we still have a long way to go when it comes to efficient processes and best practices. Commercial operators and aerial services managers still have a lot of leeway in structuring their systems of accountability, their safeguards against liability, and the overall culture of safety that surrounds their drone programs.

The idea of record keeping doesn’t fill most of us with excitement, but there are many excellent reasons to make it an integral part of your drone operations. In this article, I’ll cover some of the ways in which documentation can help maintain and improve the safety and efficiency of a commercial drone program. Continue reading →

Trevor Wichmann

Senior Director of UAS Ops Consulting at Skyward

Drones are becoming common on construction sites at every phase of a project, from design to inspection. When an increasing number of drones performing an increasing number of tasks, logistical concerns become amplified.  What can be a minor inconvenience when you’re using just a few drones can become a major bottleneck as you begin to scale.  

A few weeks ago, members of the Skyward team met with a dozen major construction companies at the Verizon Innovation Center in San Francisco. When we compared notes afterward, we realized that we had all heard the same question over and over: How should we be managing our batteries?

Continue reading →

Eric Ringer

Senior Product Manager, Co-founder at Skyward

If you work at a news or media organization, chances are you’re beginning to see the advantages and efficiencies that drones can add to your operations. In the past months, I’ve spoken to representatives from dozens of traditional and digital news agencies who are eager to incorporate the technology into their toolkits.

Besides the regulatory issues, which we’ve covered in previous articles, one challenge that you may face is figuring out how to fit drones into a well-established content workflow. Let’s take a look at some of these hurdles and how to navigate the early phases of a drone program so that you can enjoy the advantages of being an early adopter, with fewer of the headaches. Continue reading →

Gavin McMinn

Skyward Drone Ops Consultant

In an earlier article, my co-worker and Skyward’s chief pilot, Tariq Rashid, wrote about how businesses should approach Part 107 regulations in order to achieve the most efficient drone operations possible. To me, it’s the most helpful article we’ve ever had on the Skyward blog—I’ve probably sent the link to over a hundred companies at this point. (If you’re new to drones, Part 107 refers to the U.S. regulations governing commercial drone use.)    Continue reading →

Jessica Moody, Webinar Coordinator

Follow Skyward on Twitter at @SkywardIO

If you’re in San Francisco at the end of May (perhaps attending ENR FutureTech), I hope you’ll consider joining us at the Verizon Innovation Center for an evening of drones, best practices, snacks, and drinks. This is the latest in our ongoing 2017 roadshow events, so if you won’t be in San Francisco, check this list—we may be coming your way soon. Continue reading →