First local drone academy licenced to train on Beyond Visual Line of Sight and Aeroplane type drones

The drone industry is growing as we saw from the 2022 Zimbabwe International Drone Conference. However, up until now, there were certain skills that drone pilots could not learn within Zimbabwe’s borders.

The first is B-VLOS, beyond visual line of sight training. See, drone pilots have to keep their aircraft in sight and that is not more than 500 metres away. This is for safety reasons. However, drones do have screens on them and if a pilot goes through the training, they can operate a drone from further than 500 metres away.

This training will now be available in Zimbabwe.

The other skill that will be taught in in Zimbabwe starting this year is that of piloting fixed wing drones. These are different from the multi-rotor drones we are used to. The fixed wing drones are like aeroplanes, not like helicopters. As a result they are harder to pilot as they have to constantly be in motion for one.

Drone Solutions Academy will be the first to offer both in Zimbabwe.

Drone Solutions Academy, (DSA), the first school in Zimbabwe to be licensed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe, (CAAZ), to offer training in drone technology has scored yet another first by becoming the first school to be awarded 2 new licence ratings to train on (B-VLOS), Beyond Visual Line of Sight and Aeroplane type drones. The Academy was awarded these new ratings with effect from 25July 2022.  As far as training on the Remote Pilot Licence, (RPL), is concerned, the ratings have enabled the Academy to extend its portfolio to offer both multirotor and fixed wing training. The B-VLOS training authorizes trained pilots to fly beyond the restricted distances, thereby opening vast opportunities for the industry. 

The Accountable Manager of DSA, Mr. Jeremiah Musabayana, said that with the awarding of the B-VLOS rating, companies and individuals can now legally carry out critical services such as long distance surveillance at border posts and mines as well as delivery of medical packages and other goods to marooned victims during disasters. It is expected that the adoption of long endurance fixed wing drones will rapidly increase due to the aeroplane training accredited to DSA.

‘’We are excited that people can now enroll for B-VLOS training at DSA. The CAAZ requirement is that one must be a valid holder of a Remote Pilot License, (RPL), before they can train for B-VLOS. To incentivize the market, we are offering those who enroll to train for the RPL with us, a 30% discount when they enroll for B-VLOS training,’’ Mr. Musabayana added.

Drone Solutions Academy has already started booking classes for B-VLOS and Aeroplane trainings and there’s overwhelming interest from industries such as mines, power producers and foresters. Our highly discounted “Heroes Class” RPL, (multi-rotor), training will commence on the 15^th of August, followed by the highly discounted “Far and High-class”B-VLOS training on 29 August. The highly discounted “I have wings class”RPL (Aeroplane), training commences on the 5^thof of September 2022.

Drone Solutions Academy is located at No 9 Belfast Road, Emerald Hill and can be contacted by phone on 0867708926(switchboard) or 0776669891(mobile/WhatsApp).

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