Three Remote-Pilots First to Complete Sky-Futures Training Program Since Gaining CAA NQE Status in January
Sky-Futures, the global leaders offering UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) inspections in oil and gas has, under its CAA National Qualified Entity (NQE) status, approved three new Remote Pilots who have achieved Sky-Futures Remote Pilot (S-FRP) certification following successful completion of training.
Sky-Futures have been hiring new Remote Pilots to support the company’s fast growth, as they expand their operations in the UK, USA, South-East Asia and the Middle-East.
The three new Remote Pilots were selected through a highly competitive employment process from a wide group of prospective candidates. Two join Sky-Futures following distinguished military careers. Mike Belither from the British Army and Javier Teofilo-Sanchez joining from the Royal Marines. Their previous roles included the use of UAS for surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Mungo Laing also joins Sky-Futures with a background as a pilot in civil aviation and holds a commercial pilots license.
Nick Rogers, Sky-Futures Chief Regulatory and Training Officer commented;
‘The team at Sky-Futures has worked very hard since we began UAS operations in 2011 to embed world class unmanned aircraft training processes and provide the best training facilities for new Remote Pilots joining the business. I commend the three new Sky-Futures Remote Pilots who have achieved a very high standard during an intense training process. During flight training, the new Remote Pilots flew in excess of 10 sorties per day in a variety of extremely demanding environments at our training ground. Our unique training centre is further enhanced by highly operationally experienced Remote Pilot Instructors.’
S-FRP status is awarded to those who successfully complete Sky-Futures internal Remote Pilot syllabus. Sky-Futures extensive in house training course includes ground school, flight school and industry specific inductions, all of which need to be passed to Sky-Futures training team satisfaction.
The Remote Pilot training programme takes place at a highly specialised location onshore in the UK, with facilities including free standing structures over 100 ft. Such a facility enables the S-FRP instructors to build up trainee Remote Pilot skills by simulating the complex, challenging and dangerous environments they will encounter when inspecting infrastructure both onshore and offshore for Sky-Futures oil and gas clients. S-FRP instructors are highly experienced, ex-military, with 1000s of hours of UAS flight experience.
Sky-Futures is only the third in the UK to hold Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) National Qualified Entity (NQE) status, enabling the company to train prospective Remote Pilots to a CAA approved competency level for visual line of sight UAS operations. This NQE status also allows Sky-Futures to recommend other prospective operators in the UK to the CAA who hope to gain ‘permission’ status to fly UAS visual line of sight commercially. Any external operators must have certain credentials before any ‘permission’ status recommendation to the CAA can be made by Sky-Futures training team including: a fit-for-purpose operations manual, an appropriate UAS system appropriate for operator’s intended commercial use, and the completion by the proposed pilots of S-FRP training syllabus to a satisfactory standard.
About Sky-Futures:
About Sky-Futures:
Sky-Futures are the global leaders providing UAS inspection services to clients globally in the oil and gas sector with world-leading expertise in engineering inspection and reporting using HD video and thermal camera imagery. Sky-Futures has over 8,500 hours’ worth of flying experience, providing live flare, structural and under deck inspections onshore and offshore for oil and gas clients. Sky-Futures are growing fast, a ‘Hyper Growth Company’ according to UK government-backed Growth Accelerator, and are set to continue to grow as the world’s leading UAV inspection operator in Oil and Gas.Sky-Futures have over 30 clients globally, and work providing inspections in 10 countries across 5 regions of the world.
