ListenHow Rob Burdick and Paul Aitken Are Training the Next Generation of Drone Operators
Enhanced Scanning owner Forrest Sim interviews Rob Burdick and Paul Aitken of Drone U, a company offering professional drone training courses.
Executive Summary
- The Origins of Drone U: Founded around late 2013 or early 2014, Drone U was created out of a direct frustration with the lack of real-world drone curriculum available at universities. Paul notes that early training programs failed to teach students actual piloting skills or offer helpful, hands-on tips. Today, Drone U builds its entire business model around shortening the learning curve for pilots by openly teaching from their own vast pool of practical experiences and operational mistakes.
- The Wild West of Regulation: In the early days, the regulatory space was entirely unmapped. The FAA relied on the rigid “333 exemption,” but drones were not legally classified as aircraft. Paul recounts facing multiple federal investigations from the Albuquerque FISDO for making money outside the regulatory network before the landmark Part 107 framework launched in 2016. Drone U was the first to market with an open study guide and comprehensive curriculum based on these rules.
- The Geopolitical Supply Chain Dilemma: Paul highlights a major, highly politicized contradiction crippling the US drone ecosystem. While the US government bars public safety agencies and local police from flying Chinese-manufactured DJI drones due to data security concerns, the US government itself actively buys up to 60% of DJI’s entire manufacturing capacity to route through Ukrainian military funding. Paul stresses that this issue could easily be solved by legislating internet restrictions directly out of drone hardware to close data conduits, rather than pushing flawed “Remote ID” mandates that tether controllers directly to cellular devices.
- The Weaponization of the Small UAS Market: Paul’s single greatest surprise over his decade-long career is how sub-2-kilogram commercial drones (like the Mavic Pro) have been thoroughly weaponized on the modern battlefield. The innate civil skills of flying close, low, and smooth are now intensely sought after by the Department of Defense (DOD), which is pushing multi-billion dollar contracts to rapidly acquire cheap, disposable, sub-$5,000 tactical unmanned systems.
- Industrial Tractions & The 10% Maturity Ceiling: While the general public views drones as simple toolboxes for “pretty pictures” or real estate videography, the true high-growth front-runners are public safety, fire services, and civil engineering infrastructure mapping. However, Paul estimates that the greater commercial industry is still only operating at 10% of its full maturity ceiling because traditional, risk-averse legacy companies remain deeply hesitant to disrupt their current workflows.
- The “Thumbs Up, Buttercup” Emergency Protocol: Paul explains a famous Drone U piloting safety mechanism called “Thumbs Up, Buttercup”. When an automated mapping mission fails or a pilot begins to panic in tight spatial quarters, the non-negotiable protocol is to aggressively push the left control stick entirely forward. Because an aircraft cannot collide with an obstacle if it flies directly over it, ascending straight up is the quickest way to preserve a high-value sensor payload.
- The Part 103 Regulatory Loophole: Paul exposes an ironic disparity in federal safety enforcement. Under the FAA’s strict Part 107 rules, capturing a basic commercial photo for a local church requires a mandatory paid examination, drone registration, and a remote pilot license. Conversely, under the experimental Part 103 framework, a citizen can buy an unmanned human-carrying aerial vehicle (like the Jetson ONE or EHang taxi) weighing up to 200 pounds and fly it out of their backyard without any license or examination whatsoever.
About Enhanced Scanning
Enhanced Scanning provides subsurface locating services designed to reveal otherwise invisible conditions for customers in the construction, engineering, and scientific fields. For construction and engineering professionals, the surface of a job site often tells only part of the story. Important infrastructure, structural components, and changes in soil conditions may be located several feet below ground or hidden within concrete. Enhanced Scanning promotes safer locating practices through the use of advanced technology and extensive technician training. Owner Forrest Sim is also a nationally recognized industry speaker who regularly discusses utility locating, concrete scanning, and related topics at industry events.
To investigate what cannot be seen from the surface, Enhanced Scanning’s technicians use a range of non-destructive technologies. Their equipment includes ground penetrating radar (GPR), electromagnetic (EM) and electromagnetic induction (EMI) locators, magnetometers, push cameras, and pulse wave generators. Each tool offers unique capabilities, allowing technicians to select the appropriate approach based on the project and the conditions being investigated. Combining information from different technologies can also provide a more complete understanding of a site’s subsurface environment.
The company’s services can help identify buried utilities, post-tensioned cables within concrete slabs, and changes in soil structure. That information can be extremely valuable before excavation, drilling, concrete cutting, or other activities begin. By identifying potential hazards in advance, Enhanced Scanning gives customers the opportunity to account for those conditions in their plans rather than reacting to them after work has already started. The result is a more informed approach to project safety and planning.
