Resource Hub Image: VAI/Mark Bennett VAI Webinar, Oct. 10: Integrating UAS Aircraft into a Helicopter Operation By Jen Boyer Drones are working with helicopters on utility inspections. Can they help your operations, too? With advancing technology, impending beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) regulations, and the potential for considerable cost savings, unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) are becoming more common in a variety of sectors dominated by traditional helicopters—including utility inspection. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) was the first California utility to receive FAA approval for UAS BVLOS operations. Its substation-based remotely operated drones perform inspections with onboard cameras, giving line people real-time information about potential issues at the worksite. Similarly, Southern California Edison (SCE) operates its drones to inspect poles, transformers, lines, and dams, this year adding AI and machine learning to more quickly identify and flag issues. SCE’s drones now perform 75% of the utility’s aerial inspections, with traditional helicopters completing the remaining 25%. At our next webinar, Oct. 10 at 4 pm eastern (UTC-4), two UAS program managers from PG&E and SCE will share how their companies are integrating UASs into their inspection operations. The two presenters will offer insights about how their utilities’ work is divided between helicopters and UASs, the changing face of UAS technology and regulations, and the benefits of UASs. Join us for this insightful, 60-minute webinar to learn how drones are joining forces with traditional helicopters in public utilities to save money, boost reliability, and detect potential fire hazards before a flame can spark. Our presenters: – Kellen Kirk, UAS and Fixed-Wing Operations Manager, PG&E – Craig Stenberg, UAS/Remote Sensing Program Manager, SCE. In this webinar, you’ll learn: – What drones do in utility inspections – How BVLOS regulations will change utility inspection – Ways helicopters and drones work together – What new advances in UAS technology are on the horizon – And more! Register today for this free, one-hour webinar, Thursday, Oct. 10, at 4 pm eastern (UTC-4), to learn how UASs are joining forces with helicopters in the utility inspection sector. If you have a question that you would like answered at the event, please email it in advance to DanS@verticalavi.org. Jen Boyer is the principal of her own firm, Flying Penguin Communications. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and holds commercial, instrument, flight instructor, and instrument instructor ratings in helicopters and a private rating in airplanes. She has worked as a professional journalist and marketing communicator in the aviation industry since the early 1990s.
