Experience Heliguy's New Pilot Training Day

Today's blog is brought to you by Bruce Daniels who is giving his experience of Heliguy and DJI's first New Pilot Training Day. If you are interested in experiencing this for yourself, you can register your interest on our website. **Our next session is at the BV EXPO in London on 26th February 2014. Register your free tickets at bvexpo.com 14605_10153141670791509_1824630806855183131_n.jpg As a kid I was always interested in remote control cars and had always wanted to get a remote control helicopter but I never had the money to get one. Now that I’m a big kid with my own money I could afford to buy a few more toys to entertain my boy hood dreams. So I purchased a couple of cheap co-axial helicopters that I used to fly round the house to annoy the wife and scare the dog, but I always wanted to build and fly a quadcopter, I just never had the time to do it. Then one day a close friend who was also interested in quadcopters sent me a link on Facebook that was about applying to attend a new pilot training event that Heliguy was running for the Phantom 2 Vision +. It was just down the road from where I lived, and I had the day off, so I decided to apply. I thought the opportunity to see one flying, instead of just watching a video on the internet, was one which was too good to miss. Unfortunately it was the Monday before the event and so I thought that there probably wouldn't be any spaces left, thankfully I was in luck and managed to get a place. 10371898_10153141671706509_1778097642478575468_n.jpg I and my friend Brian, being particularly keen arrived 30 minutes early. I was a little bit apprehensive and nervous at first as I didn't really know what laid ahead of me for the next 3 hours; I needn't have been. On arrival at the conference room the guys were still setting up and were just finalising a few details but they were very welcoming and stopped what they were doing to greet us as soon as we walked in through the door. They took our names and made us a brew before showing us to some seats where we sat down and started chatting to Justin and Scott while we waited for everyone else to turn up. 10150699_10153141670756509_3492528160637341590_n.jpg After everyone had arrived Justin started the presentation which I presumed would be solely about the Phantom 2 Vision + and what it could do. I was very wrong. The presentation covered a lot of detail about not only the Phantom 2’s tech spec but also how to set it up, get it flying, rules and regulations about where you can fly and also common errors that people make. Then there was more detail about the drone industry as a whole, this part I found very informative and very interesting. It covered a number of issues about being certified to fly before you could fly one commercially and also explained the opportunities about what you could do with a drone, plus the business ventures that could fall from becoming a competent and qualified pilot. I initially approached the day as a hobbyist, looking to gain insight into one of the newest and most exciting RTF quadcopters, and left with ideas and thoughts for a part time job that could supplement my main income. 10409227_10153141671561509_3478301939563677268_n.jpg After a short break we moved outside to see a full demonstration of the Phantom 2 Vision +, with full initial set up and flying whilst filming. We were also blessed with a demonstration of what a S1000 can do from a professional pilot. This released the dreaming inner child. 1979487_10153141671221509_5165029505560311039_n.jpg After returning back to reality there was a Q&A session where the lads from Heliguy, and the professional pilot, were available to answer any questions. Many people used this opportunity to ask questions about business ideas and opportunities they had, others questioned the technical details of the Phantom platform. I spent this time drooling over the S900 and S1000s on display but it also gave me the opportunity to ask my own burning question of “what is the key difference between a Phantom 2 vision + or a Phantom 2 with H3-3D and GoPro camera?” All the guys from Heliguy were very helpful and knowledgeable about the whole of the drone industry and provided everyone with good answers to any questions that they had. 10622907_10153141670806509_2991048541809525580_n.jpg The pilot training day gave me an incredible insight into the Phantom 2 and the drone industry as a whole. A little over a month later and I am now a Phantom 2 owner and I have just spent the last weekend in the Lake District filming some waterfalls and taking photos with my drone. Now I am planning to give it 6 months until I do my accreditation course but hopefully by this time next year I hope to have a running business that will provide me with new opportunities, that without the New Pilot Training Day and Heliguy, I would not have known about. So here’s to the next 12 months and the new opportunities that owning a drone has to offer. Windermere.jpg Bruce Daniels aerial shot of Windermere

More about our new pilot

As far back as Bruce can remember he has always been interested in gadgets, technology and engineering. So, that when Bruce could he would leave school and become an apprentice electronics technician. After 10 years of working for a large national organisation Bruce have now reached a point where to really progress in his career he feels he must attain a degree, so Bruce is now currently studying a BEng in Electronic Engineering at Newcastle University. "Although very happy in my current career, I have also had an interest in control systems and automation and the drone industry is one of the most interesting and fastest growing industries at this moment. Currently I am enjoying the use of drones purely as a hobbyist but I do have aspirations of one day in the future becoming self employed and using a drone to make that happen." - Bruce Daniels**