New Training Course for Unmanned Aircraft Operators

On Tuesday, 25 June 2013, the inauguration of the European Aerial Systems Training Academy (EUTA) took place in the Dutch municipality of Gilze en Rijen. It is offering a new training course for operators of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and the first class of eight 'UAS-operators' will commence training in September. EUTA is both literally and figuratively spreading its wings with this training course, which is unique in Europe.

In addition, EUTA will be using its own flying equipment and simulators in its training courses and will focus on the operation of unmanned aircraft. UAS can be deployed in many ways, including professional aerial monitoring, such as the inspection of windmills, electricity pylons, petrochemical installations, the delineation of roads and all kinds of applications in aerial photography and video filming. In the geomatics sector, the use of UAS is now expanding enormously.

In the meantime, a number of interested parties have already applied for the training course: professional pilots, companies that conduct aerial inspections, specialists in the field of aerial photography and the video business, engineering consultancies and petrochemical companies.

Own Unmanned Aircraft

EUTA will start off with its own unmanned aircraft, the AeroVironment Qube, which is now being built in America. This is a helicopter model (rotary wing), but EUTA is not ruling out the possibility of training on unmanned fixed-wing aircraft.

The new training course has been made possible by the cooperation agreement between the aviation company, AEC Air Support and the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands (NLR). They are being supported by host and partner Midpoint Aerospace & Maintenance Cluster Brabant on its aviation campus, Gate2, in Gilze en Rijen.

The training course lasts 4 and a half months and costs EUR4,500. Instruction is given by scientists from the NLR and former military pilots.