A trio of businessmen are aiming to put Angus at the forefront of the ever-growing drones sector.
The drone market has been rapidly evolving over the past decade as technology has developed.
Hundreds of billions of pounds is expected to be invested in the sector globally in the coming years.
Richard Stark, Tony Webb and Mike McSwayde put their ideas together a couple of years ago.
They are aiming to exploit the opportunities associated with Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations.
The trio are directors of north-east drone company DTLX.
Regulatory changes required
Richard said: “Drones are now widely used in many industries such as construction, surveying and inspection – both onshore and offshore.
“However, drone operations are today constrained by regulations.
“Flights are limited to within Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) of the pilot out to a maximum of 500 metres.
“The next evolution in drone technology will be adoption of BVLOS where drones operate out of sight of the pilot.
“This will enable drone deliveries, long-range infrastructure inspection and survey.
“But this requires regulatory change and wider public acceptance of the technology.”
The Mercury Drone Ports Programme was the brainchild of DTLX.
Plans for Scotland’s first drone port
In partnership with Angus Council, DTLX is progressing with plans to develop Scotland’s first drone port in Montrose.
It is proposed that several others will follow across Angus over the next few years.
Richard said the foundation of the Mercury Drone Ports Programme will be to create a world-class regional scale airspace trials area across Angus.
The aim is to attract drone companies to the county to trial their systems and commercial or drone users to develop their operational procedures.
Richard hopes that will create an initial drone-services marketplace.
Large-scale manufacturers are expected to be attracted to the area along with companies specialising in associated technology. That includes artificial intelligence, data management and software development.
A centre of excellence is also proposed.
Richard said the programme would play an important role in a rapidly-evolving industry.
He said: “The use of low-level airspace and how stakeholder expectation can be managed in areas such as noise, privacy and public safety.
“The Mercury Drone Ports Programme has been allocated £1 million of funding from Angus Council’s economic development fund – The Mercury Programme – subject to approval of DTLX’s business case.”
Next steps in Angus Drones Ports programme
Regarding the main achievements of the drone ports programme to date, Richard said: “We have completed a good number of stakeholder engagements.
“We conducted a county-wide planning exercise for the first phase of the project. That is a BVLOS drone demonstration due to commence early in 2022.
“The airspace application will be lodged with the regulatory authorities shortly.
“Over the next few months, we also aim to hold public seminars where we can continue to spread the word about what is going on. ”
Three months of demonstration flights will take place next year. These will be for healthcare, logistics and offshore energy companies.
The flights will also demonstrate, Richard said, the capabilities of drones and BVLOS flights to the local authority.
Flying the flag for Angus
The DTLX team has also established a drone operator company – Drone Technologies.
It has been created to make the most of opportunities available as the UK strategic partner for EHang, a world leader in flying cars and drone light shows.
Richard said the firm aims to become Scotland’s first air taxi operator within the next four or five years.
He said: “We are also in the process of becoming a licensed drone light show operator.
“We are planning to showcase DTLX’s drone light shows in Angus later this year.”
The light shows could then be offered as a “safer, greener alternative” to traditional fireworks displays, Richard said.
He hopes that DTLX’s work will put his firm and Angus at the forefront of the UK’s drone industry.
“At one end of the spectrum, we hope to be able to work full time in the industry – flying drones and supporting Angus businesses realise the benefits of drone technology.
“At the other end of the scale, we may be building drone ports and operating thousands of drone taxis in cities around the world.
“The industry is young and developing at pace.
“It is a sector that will ultimately be worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
“If our company and Angus can get an early foothold, we have a chance of being swept along with it.”