As the county attorney for Alamosa County, Colorado, you could say that Jason 凯利 already has a good overview of day-to-day life in this south-central region of Colorado. As an active member of the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) advisory committee for Trinidad 州立大学(TSC)，凯利的优势地位更高.

凯利’s connection with TSC has formed a little over five years ago when he was approached by UAS Colorado, a not-for-profit organization championing UAS opportunities in the 科罗拉多州. 他们请他帮助推广圣路易斯山谷，使其获得联邦航空管理局的批准 无人机飞行试验区.

无人机中心的完美地理位置
“The San Luis Valley comprises about six counties in south-central Colorado,” says 凯利. “我们几乎是世界上最高的山谷. 这里的海拔高度是 大约7500英尺，四面环山. 它的面积约8100平方英里， so it’s a pretty large area where drone operators can really expand on the use of 无人机(非武装飞行器)并进行一些测试.“虽然圣路易斯山谷 wasn’t selected as one of the FAA’s test sites, it was awarded the largest Certificates of Waiver or Authorization (COA) of anywhere in the country at that time to conduct 广泛的无人机试飞.

“如果无人机操作员想要驾驶重量超过55磅的无人机. 并上升到一定高度 在平均海平面15000英尺时，他们会联系我。”凯利说. “我和他们一起工作 to get them authorized under our COA and then we would work with them and UAS Colorado 协调这些航班.”

凯利 believes that by positioning the San Luis Valley as a hub in the fledgling drone industry, the region will benefit beyond the increased flight opportunities.

“We live in a pretty economically depressed area, so any new jobs that we can bring in, especially on a higher-scale level, would be really exciting,” says 凯利. “If we bring a lot of people in — they stay for 2 or 3 weeks in our hotels, they spend money here — that’s an indirect benefit that we can bring into the valley.”

无人机操作员工作机会
While most of the drone operators 凯利 works with are operating at the experimental end of the industry, he insists that there are already many opportunities available 为无人机驾驶学校的毕业生准备的.

“In the current job market, companies are always looking for pilots,” says 凯利. “A lot of them are looking to use smaller drones to gather information and data — 比如检查输电线路、风力涡轮机和铁路.”

The need to monitor changes in environmental conditions also creates opportunities 无人机操作人员.

“Government and environmental organizations can inspect things like waterways, collecting data and comparing it with historical data so they can check for erosion and things 就像那样，”凯利说.

According to 凯利, areas like search and rescue and law enforcement already present 无人机飞行员的重大机遇.

“搜索 and rescue is probably the biggest opportunity because you're able to get to places you are not able to get to with other rescue equipment,” says 凯利. “目前, a drone operator can conduct a basic search with a drone equipped with an infrared 摄像头来识别一个人的位置. 随着飞行器体积的增大， 它可以用来运送补给. 这可能包括一个收音机或急救箱， so it potentially extends the life of that individual and buys them a little more 是救援人员到达他们身边的时候了.”

使用无人机也有成本效益. 通过雇佣无人机飞行员， companies and organizations stand to realize considerable savings over operations 以前只有载人航空系统才能做到这一点.

“Running a helicopter would cost approximately $400 to $600 an hour,” says 凯利. “With a drone — assuming you have already purchased it —basically you are only paying for a pilot who would probably cost anywhere between $50 and $75 per hour. 所以你 你说的是相当可观的节省吗.”

科罗拉多州企业家的高飞机会
凯利 believes that there is an excellent opportunity 为无人机驾驶学校的毕业生准备的 to start their own businesses and suggests that in Colorado, the agricultural industry 能提供一条潜在的有利可图的航线吗.

“We're an agriculture-based economy and water is a prime concern,” says 凯利. “最后 去年我们有丰富的水，今年几乎没有了. 那总是。 concern for our farmers — with our compacts that we have with the downflow states, we have to send so much water down to them and that's based on a formula. 越 data that we can collect about what our snowpack is and the amount of moisture we have, it gives us a more precise and more accurate estimate of what we can retain 以确保我们最大限度地利用这些水.

凯利 believes that agriculture also presents an opportunity for the entrepreneurial-minded.

“If someone wanted to take the opportunity to go round some of the farms, I think that's where they would find some opportunities to do some work,” says 凯利. “因为 water is such a difficult commodity to manage, a drone operator could take a drone 上去检查一大片土地的湿度水平. 有了这些信息， they can help the farmer say, ‘I don't need to water today except for this two-acre 就在我160英亩的土地上.他们今天可以给那个特定的区域浇水 and then turn their water off — and go back and water the whole thing tomorrow when 需要.”

As the industry takes off and regulations are put into place to allow for larger drones to share airspace with commercial and other manned aircraft, 凯利 believes that the skills learned in UAS classes at TSC will stand drone pilots in good stead.

“With their Part 107 license from the FAA gained at TSC to fly drones commercially, those students are going to be familiar with the rules and regulations that they have 要遵守，”凯利说. “他们也会很好地理解如何规划 their missions, and how to collect and analyze data captured from drone flight operations. These are the kind of skills employers are looking for and will set students apart 来自飞行经验有限的爱好者.”

了解更多
To learn more about the opportunities available to professional drone pilots or to 参加TSC的无人航空系统项目， 请访问我们网站上的项目页面.