Embarking on the journey of a drone operator was a new experience and it presented an interesting challenge for me. A fair amount of time was invested in research and training which was necessary to attain a drone operator’s licence. During the space of July, I had my first hand experience in operating a drone at Natokowaqa Grounds at Lautoka with the help of a watchful and experienced operator – Mr Richard Imrie. At first, I was quite nervous in assembling and flying the drone but with a few practice runs I gained confidence in operating the drone. It is quite similar to a gaming controller where each button corresponds to a certain movement such as moving forward, backward, left, right, up, down or rotate.
A few months after obtaining our drone operator license, Erasito was involved in some projects that required a drone survey to be conducted. This has given my colleague Eroni Aisake and I an opportunity to exercise and utilise the knowledge and the license we hold. As a fresh graduate from Flying School, the few projects we have undertaken has given us significant experience and a wealth of knowledge on how drone surveys can contribute to engineering planning. Martha Stewart once said: “Drones can be useful tools, and I am all about useful tools. One of my mottos is ‘the right tool for the right job’.”
Author: Fereti Finiasi
September 2021 Edition