PILOT ROCK, Ore. — The influence of the Pendleton’s unmanned aerial systems test range continues to promote economic expansion in Eastern Oregon.

Advanced Drone LLC started up a year ago in Pilot Rock, and co-founder Nathan Temple and partner Robin Mathews have been busy ever since.

Temple said he trained with Volatus Group at the Pendleton UAS Test Range.

“After I got my special training from them, I just went all out,” Temple said. “There’s a bunch of ways you could go with UAS and I happened to go into agriculture. I just found a path and didn’t stop learning, and didn’t stop researching, and just got the ball rolling.”

Drone pilot training can be expensive. Blue Mountain Community College prices its non-credit training certificate, UAS Professional Pilot, at $4,600, and financial aid is not available.

The Federal Aviation Administration regulates the industry, and Temple had multiple tasks to perform for the agency before he earned the license to pilot drones.

“If you want to fly drones commercially, you need a Part 107,” Temple said. “That’s the easy one. Then we got approved for FAA Section 44807. That’s an exemption from some rulings. We got certified to fly drones over 55 pounds, which is a pretty big deal.”

Temple said he then needed a Part 137 license to spray so-called “economic poisons,” a term that covers a broad range of chemicals, which in this case, can be applied to crops.

“It took us about a year and a half to finally get that Part 137,” Temple said, “and at the time we heard from a good source we were the third ones to obtain a Part 137 in the state of Oregon.”

The FFA also required Temple to create reams of manuals about how he intended to use the technology.

With all those certifications and a pile of documents finally obtained, Temple and Mathews were ready to hang out their business shingle.

“We had clients lined up before we were even certified,” Temple said.

Temple did not want to identify his clients by name, but he said they were “the top five production companies in this area.”

He said so far his company has been working in about a 100-mile radius from Pilot Rock and all his advertising has been word-of-mouth. He said corn is “a big one,” for chemical applications, and the company does “a lot of alfalfa and also some wheat.”

It’s impressive to see how accurately fixed-wing crop pilots can paint a field with chemical applications, but Temple said drone technology can do it better.

The flight paths are preprogrammed before starting the work as an FAA requirement is that drones must be flown autonomously.

“We can spray fields and be within inches of where we want to be,” Temple said. “There’s no off-target. There’s minimal drift. Where you want to spray is where we’re going to spray, which is a huge deal.”

He said 2-3 mph wind speed is optimum for drift of the sprayed chemical but still air is not.

“You don’t really want stagnant air,” he said. “We will spray up to 7 miles per hour, depending on wind direction and what’s around us. Anything over 7 you have to be cautious.”

Temple said one cycle of flight time lasts about eight minutes until the drone chemical tank needs to be refilled and the battery is swapped out. That routine can cover about 3½ acres with each load, he said.

Temple said the battery is capable of powering the drone for about 18 minutes.

The company owns four drones.

Temple said he and Mathews are training two additional pilots to help with the customer demand.

He said the only surprise about the technology is how well the drones perform in challenging terrain, “and they’re doing exceptionally well.”

Temple said he loves what the drones can do.

“I think this is the coolest invention, right up there with the light bulb,” Temple said. “It’s user-friendly, it’s safe and it’s getting better and better. It’s just fun to watch.”

Probably the most qualified person in the area to understand the value of UAS training is Pendleton UAS Test Range Manager Darryl Abling.

“This is useful training and it’s good to see people going through it and then remaining here in Pendleton,” Abling said.

Regarding the fact Temple had customers wanting to hire him before he had completed all the FAA tasks, Abling said, “There’s clearly a demand that’s not being met, and hopefully Nathan and others can go on and fill that hole.”

For more information

To find out more, contact Nathan Temple at advanced.drone.llc@gmail.com or at 541-969-2849.