MAAA Wingspan - Quarterly Magazine

15 MAY WING SPAN MAAALogo. “I think inmodel aviation the youth are a tricky one to capture because the amount of available interest that can distract them is huge,” says David. “Drones have certainlymade an impact with younger people and then sometimes they branch out and decide they’d like to do a bit more and fly somethingmore interesting.” David is certainly in a position to appreciate the evolution of drones given that he was working on themduring their infancy. “The initial drones all had customequipment; all the electronics and themechanics were custommade because there were no other options out there. Today, that’s a completely different story – you can buy an Avionics now that has infinitelymore capability for $150 that back in 1995 would’ve cost you $20K,” he says. “There’s certainly been an evolution in design too. Back in those days, being able to fly amulti-rotor was not easy because the senses that stabilise themulti-rotor weren’t available in the speed and in the lightweight that was needed.” David currently works as amicro drones customer service engineer for a German company. Prior to this, he designed the wing structure on the current generation of Aerosonde drones. “We were flying fixed-wing as Aerosonde [drones] were designed to fly through hurricanes. So, it was a completely different aircraft and it could fly easily for 24 hours. It was a real leader in its field back in its day. Today, Aerosonde is still running but it’s now amilitary program due to its extreme weather capabilities.” David also worked as UAV Flight Operations Manager for Flirtey, the world’s first commercial drone delivery company that is based in Reno, Nevada. “I gave junior engineers, who were straight out of university, somementoring in terms of general design and engineering direction. I find it very satisfying to guide the next generation into a rewarding career in aviation,” he says. David has certainly had a compelling career trajectory and his aviation enthusiasmshould be an inspiration for all budding aeromodellers.