People need a licence to fly a drone over Regina, expert says

After seeing breathtaking footage on social media of city skylines and natural landscapes, more and more people are becoming interested in drones.

Ryan Beston, the owner and operator of Queen City Drone Productions and Training, told the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Tuesday people need to obtain a drone licence before they fly can one over Regina.

“If (people) fly out of town and … have a drone under 249 grams, (they can do whatever they want),” Beston said. “Once you get into the city, it’s controlled airspace.”

He added his company offers training courses to help people get their drone licence.

“We provide over $20,000 worth of drones for all the students to fly,” the owner said. “Not only are they learning the paperwork part about it, they’re actually getting the real-time experience flying a drone.”

According to Beston, the licence is valid across Canada.

“People will start off in fields out of town, but then they want to get the nice shots, like the downtown,” he said. “(People) can take (their drones) on vacation and can get those amazing shots.”

He also said hobbyists aren’t the only people looking to obtain a drone licence, adding government workers, search and rescue teams, professional videographers and emergency services are all interested in becoming licensed as well.

“Our farthest reach from our training here in Regina had been Alaska,” Beston added. “Somebody has come all the way from Alaska to do our training.”

A lot more people in the farming community are also becoming interested in drones as well.

Beston said farmers want to bring in spray drones, which would replace crop dusters.

“We’re just waiting for the regulations to be approved on that, but it’s coming very fast,” he added.

According to him, drones can actually be more effective than crop dusters.

“It actually doesn’t spray a constant amount. It only sprays what it needs,” he said. “There’s another drone that can scan the crops to provide that data to the spray drone, so then the spray drone is only spraying the spots that area needed.”

Beston also said drones are able to spray fields automatically without anyone controlling them.

“(People) are basically just drawing a square box around the field and it does it automatically,” he added. “When it runs out of battery or a spray, it comes right back to (them).”

The drone would go right back to where it stopped once the battery is changed or the spray is refilled, Beston said.