Drone operator's business really taking off: agriculture, municipal work powering UAV company.

AuthorRoss, Ian
PositionTEMISKAMING & REGION

Precision agriculture is a part of the new vernacular in farming.

One fledgling northeastern Ontario drone company is on the flightpath to make a landing in that market.

Although Ray Belec of Unmanned Technology is certified to fly UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) anywhere in Canada, he finds there is an abundance of opportunity in his own backyard.

"We've kind of positioned ourselves in a really good place," said the Kirkland Lakeborn, New Liskeard-raised Belec.

The multi-faceted company that he and his wife, Nicole, launched last June offers a wide range of aerial and training services for an expanding list of clients.

The couple maintains a Kirkland Lake home but spends most of their time at their CNC-equipped development centre in Restoule, southwest of North Bay. There, on 180 acres of farmland, Belec manufactures his own fibreglass and aluminium airframes and tests the drones' flight and payload systems in Transport Canada-se cured airspace.

Rather than work in a silo, Belec has taken a more collegial approach to business by forming a consortium with other UAV companies, incorporating their individual specialities, to collaborate on larger projects and help each other source work.

Last summer, Belec joined forces with North Country Aerial on a joint mapping project of the town of Cobalt. The data gathered is being 3D printed into a scale model at Canadore College's ICAMP technology campus in North Bay.

He also assists other UAV companies in wading through the paperwork of meeting Transport Canada and Industry Canada regulatory compliance. Since no federal UAV pilot certification program currently exists, Belec developed his own program that's been sanctioned by Transport Canada. So far, he's trained 10 operators from the five partner companies he works with.

"We found that by helping other companies get their compliances that it really opened the door to doing these joint ventures."

Trained as a CNC programmer, Belec spent seven years at sea as a Canadian Armed Forces marine engineer before going to work for Davie Shipbuilding in Quebec where he worked on the navy's frigate program.

Drones aren't just airborne platforms, explained Belec. The new class of Canadian warships can take to sea, virtually unmanned, and be operated from a land base via satellite. Whereas these complex and sophisticated vessels have 80,000 control points, a UAV has only six.

"What I realized is that it's not a huge step from (CNC and computer) programming to...

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