As more and more commercial drone operators enter the industry in the UK, how do you make yourself stand out from all of the other operators?
There are many different ways to gain clients such as; marketing, PPC advertising and other forms of lead generation which are well documented (we’ll be covering these in much more detail in future blogs, so as always, stay tuned!). However, it now appears that one of the lead differentiators is having enhanced permissions under an Operating Safety Case or ‘OSC’, which go above and beyond those held by other commercial drone operators.
In this series of blogs, which we see spanning more than 100 individual pieces, Matt Williams - the international authority on drones - will aim to outline precisely what an operating safety case is, why you need one and ultimately how to write one. It is worth noting that while the current form of this body of work will primarily be based here on the blog; we are also working on forming this content into a video series, podcast series and ultimately delivering it as one contiguous piece under a seminar and course-based format. More on that soon!
Read Time: ~4 Minutes
Matt Williams is the Managing Director at Aerial Motion Pictures and founder of the critically acclaimed ICARUS drone training course.
A highly experienced aviator with thousands of manned flying hours in both civilian and military aircraft, Matt has also been a lifelong remote control pilot; flying model helicopters and fixed wing aircraft for over 25 years.
Upon leaving the Royal Air Force in 2013 due to an injury sustained during a flying accident on frontline operations, he created the ICARUS drone training course which has led to more than 1500 people becoming commercially qualified to fly drones in the United Kingdom.
Matt has operated model helicopters and drones for the film and TV industry since 2008 and, despite his other commitments to business and training, is still regularly commissioned to fly heavy and super heavy-lift drones in high-risk environments.
You can learn more about Matt’s most recent drone work by following the link here.
He regularly operates heavy-lift drones under operating safety cases down to separations of just 5m from persons, vessels, vehicles and structures not under his control. In addition to this, his positioning within the international aviation community has seen him consult with both companies seeking to gain these better permissions and National Aviation Authorities seeking to create frameworks which allow these types of operations to occur safely. As part of these consultations, he has trained people and written OSC’s which have allowed operations in some cases with no restrictions on overflight or separation distances.
As part of Matt’s philanthropic methodology, he firmly believes in allowing anyone who is willing to take the time and make the effort to read, comprehend and utilise the information he is providing, with the ability and opportunity to enhance their skill set and business by being able to apply for enhanced permissions and operate under an OSC.
He is focused on ensuring the continued development of the unmanned aircraft systems industry not just in the UK, but worldwide and anything he can do to help facilitate this development whilst ensuring the safety and integrity of the operations conducted therein is of utmost importance.
He also thrives on helping others grow not just personally, but also in respect of their business and the sense of satisfaction he gains through enabling this development is immeasurable. He feels particularly strongly about this when others are willing to invest the time and effort it takes to listen (or in this case read) to leaders within an industry and leverage their expertise to help themselves and their businesses improve.
Nothing worth doing comes easy - and creating and operating under an OSC is no mean feat.
Maybe deliberately so, the process of gathering the evidence, writing, auditing and ultimately applying for enhanced permissions can be rather protracted, and until now, it’s been a well-guarded secret within the circles of the OSC qualified operators.
So, grab a strong coffee and buckle your seatbelts – we’re about to embark on what may be a long and sometimes frustrating journey, but the end goal will be more than worth it.
By following the advice throughout this series, you will be able to place yourself in a position where you have a completed OSC document along with all the evidence you should need to allow you to apply for enhanced permissions from the CAA.
There’s a lot to learn, but I’m here to help you every step of the way. I can’t wait to help you celebrate the success which you will gain if you follow this process to the letter and become a CAA approved OSC holder.
It’s time to knuckle down, dig deep and start to transform your life and business - let’s go!
Blue Skies,
Matt