Mitch Bannink piloting the airwaves with drones

Pilot and drone business operator Mitch Bannink is blown away by the speed of the fledgling industry’s advancement.

Pilot Mitch Bannink sought permission from CASA to operate a drone at the National Carillon in Canberra. Picture Gary Ramage

Combining a career as a commercial aviation pilot with a drone business would appear to be fraught with problems, given the tensions between airlines and drone users.

But pilot and drone-operating business owner Mitch Bannink wears both hats with apparent ease as he strives to educate others about the responsible use of unmanned aerial vehicles.

His interest in drones grew out of a childhood fascination with remote-controlled aircraft that became more sophisticated as he grew older.

“My first remote-controlled aircraft with a camera on it was a little $200 helicopter with a camera stuck to the bottom,” Mr Bannink said. “It just seemed like a very good idea to have a camera that we could use to take photos of buildings and things like that but the quality was terrible.”

Despite his own pioneering ­efforts, Mr Bannink is still in awe of how rapidly drone technology has developed in recent years.

He said the range and quality of drones, not to mention the shrinking size, was unbelievable.

“Nowadays, (drone manufacturer) DJI are making products that have infra-red cameras on drones, there are sensors on drones which avoid obstacles so the drone actually has a thought process,” Mr Bannink said.

“With just simple DJI products we can go out into remote areas and generate a 3D map similar to Google Earth in a matter of hours.

“The same drone can turn around half an hour later and be used in a search and rescue operation and five minutes later you can go and use the same piece of equipment to go shark spotting.”

Applications for drones were growing daily, with the Queensland government recently announcing that the technology would be used to precisely apply herbicides to weeds in sugar cane fields.

The technique has the added benefit of reducing herbicide run-off into local waterways.

“One of the most interesting ones I’ve heard of is the use of drones to fly in the blowhole spray out of whales,” Mr Bannink said.

“Instead of chasing around a whale with a stick to try to get a sample, they just fly a drone through the spray and then get it back and take the DNA off the drone.

“Who would’ve thought that was something you could do with a drone?”

DJI head of Asia-Pacific public policy Adam Welsh said the company had invested heavily in safety functions such as return to home and obstacle avoidance, and he hoped further regulation of the industry in Australia would not restrict innovation.

A recent Senate committee report on unmanned aerial vehicles made a range of recommendations, including a requirement to register drones weighing more than 200g, and for their operators to undergo written and practical tests.

Mr Welsh said any high costs for registration or an unreasonable level of training would slow the growth and adoption of the technology.

“That would mean Australia might lose its place as one of the key innovators in the sector, which would be a shame as there is so much excitement in the market, and so much more value this powerful technology can bring to businesses and society,” Mr Welsh said.

“It should be a source of pride for Australians at how fast this country has adopted and built businesses around such a new technology.”

He said drones were “saving lives” at least once a week.

“A third of those lives saved are from recreational users who see someone in duress and report it,” Mr Welsh said.

“Access to this technology is important. It creates jobs, it saves lives and it has fostered a really health technology ecosystem in Australia that everyone should want to see it thrive.”