Monday, January 29, 2018

Professional charter jet pilots bring experience to startup drone business

4C Drone Solutions LLC co-owner C.J. Carlock


SARASOTA — Two Sarasota men have jumped into the world of commercial drones, knowing that federal regulations still stand between them and many job opportunities.

But Chad Cox and C.J. Carlock, the co-founders of 4C Drone Solutions LLC, aren’t your typical hobbyists with dreams of making a living with the radio-controlled helicopters.

They both have a lot of flight experience as professional pilots of luxury private jets carrying celebrities, professional athletes and wealthy business people around the world. Cox and Carlock fly out of Sarasota for NetJets, a Columbus, Ohio-based company owned by famed investor Warren Buffet that offers factional ownership of the aircraft.

Cox was introduced to drones after he gave one for Christmas to his son, Riley, 19, in 2015 and watched him fly the unmanned aircraft outside their home in Lakewood Ranch. He began to research the possibility of a drone business with longtime friend Carlock.

They discussed becoming partners in a business using drones to do surveying, 3D imaging and inspections of agricultural fields and other properties and structures. The possibilities include far more than pretty aerial video and still photography for real estate brochures and websites.

Cox, a former flight instructor and American Eagle airline pilot, said it took him about 15 hours to become proficient flying drones. Carlock said he was more meticulous and it took him 10 times longer. They were both helped by Riley Cox, who they said had become an expert.


4C Drone Solutions LLC co-owner Chad Cox.


4C Drone Solutions was licensed in September 2016, Cox said.

Although commercial drone pilots do not have to have licenses to fly actual aircraft — something considered in early proposed regulations — the experience helps their work with drones, the men say.

The way safety is ingrained in their work, their intimate knowledge of weather and their experience navigating restricted airspace are all benefits of their pilot experience, Carlock said.

The company uses a fleet of drones made by the Chinese company DJI: a Spark, Phantom 3, Phantom 4, Phantom 4 Pro, and an Inspire 2. They range in cost from $400 to $8,000, depending on optional features.

They can be equipped with a 5.2K cinema-quality video-recording devices down to smaller, TV-quality 1080p cameras. Their high-resolution cameras that sense standard and near-infrared light provide precise data that can be exported and manipulated by a variety of mapping and analytical software, Carlock said.

Cox said the men still find plenty of skeptics. The question they are asked most often is, “What’s a drone going to do for me?” Carlock said.

“A lot of guys are old school — get on the ladder, look at the roof, walk on the roof. We want to show them you don’t necessarily have to do that anymore,” Cox said.

“I can fly over a house, scan it, and it’ll tell me what the useful life is remaining on the roof. It’ll give me exact dimensions on the size of the roof, and if someone wants a quote on how much it’s going to cost me to get the roof fixed or roof replaced, the roofing contractor has more accurate data to base that off of.”




After Irma caused widespread damage to vegetation throughout Sarasota-Manatee, a large stockpile of yard debris was dumped near Lakewood Ranch High School in Manatee County. 4C Drone Solutions used the pile of rubbish to prove its worth, providing the county a free estimate of the amount of material.

Cox talked to a Manatee County official about the idea of flying a drone over the debris pile. The man appeared hesitant.

“He said, ‘What are you going to find out?‘” Cox recalled. “I went and flew over it and it took an hour to process the map. I went to him and said ‘You’ve got 2,212 cubic yards of material there.’ He just looked at me like ‘How do you know that?’”

The county usually takes days to determine how much debris is in a pile like that by counting truckloads, Cox said. The county employee told Cox those efforts “can’t even get close” to being accurate.

The drone startup has been called on primarily for mapping and agricultural assessments. They can fly over fields and determine whether fungus, pests or improper amounts of water are damaging crops.

“The mapping and land developing jobs are a little bit of a reliable niche for us to be in right now,” Carlock said. “I think the word is slowly getting out there about us. It’s been a challenge.”

Drone mapping jobs pay $250 to $400, depending on the size of the job, Cox said.

4C Drone Solutions also has been involved in a short suspense film and a country music video for a rising Nashville singer, Cox said. They are Zillow-certified photographers, so a Realtor using their business receives increased visibility in search results over a Realtor who took video themselves.

Other common jobs performed by drones are exploration, search and rescue, and disaster recovery. They also can carry equipment to paint structures that otherwise would be difficult to reach and can carry Wi-Fi signals into areas that otherwise would not have a wireless data connection.

Although Cox and Carlock began their drone business in the early days of the industry, they are not alone. There five or so other drone companies in the Sarasota area.

And some FAA regulations and the length of time it takes to get permission to do some kinds of flights are an obstacle, too.

The larger Phantom 4 and Inspire drones can reach the 400-foot drone flight ceiling and fly in 25 mph winds. Their maximum flight time is about 28 minutes, according to DJI’s website.

Amazon and Google are both investigating the possibility of using drones to deliver packages.

Cox and Carlock said even though their knowledge of airspace restrictions helps, it’s still and time consuming, even with the help of an intermediary, to receive exemptions from the FAA to fly in otherwise prohibited airspace.

The process of applying for exemptions, which can take 90 days, has cost 4C Drone Solutions jobs. Each job requires a separate exemption.

“They are erring on the side of caution at this point,” Carlock said of the FAA.

But the men aren’t in a hurry.

Cox and Carlock work about 20 days a month flying for Netjets. They said they will take time to grow 4C Drone Solutions, which is a part-time endeavor for now.

The two friends are continuously finding applications for mapping software that can create digital surface and terrain models.

“Looking back, we’re positioned where we want to be,” Carlock said. “We did a lot of learning and got ahead of everyone else who right now might be looking at it. We’ve done a lot of research. ... We can turn this into a good idea for someone who has a farm or baseball stadium.”

“A lot of economists have said that it’s going to be, well, well into multimillion dollars,” Cox said of the growing industry.

A look at basic drone rules

A drone pilot must have Part 107 drone certification to fly commercially, and a Section 333 Exemption to fly in the Federal Aviation Administration-governed National Airspace System or within five miles of an airport, stadium, sporting event, hospital or areas affected by natural disasters.

Drone pilots must take an exam and perform a flight review every two years. They do not need to pass a medical exam. They must be at least 16 years old. It costs about $150 for the initial test to obtain a commercial drone pilot’s license.

The unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly called drones, must be registered with the FAA. They must weigh less than 55 pounds and they must remain within their operators’ sight.

UAVs must be operated during daylight hours — defined as 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after official sunset. The complete list of regulations for Part 107 commercial drones is at FAA.gov.

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