South Bay drone coach helps local pilots soar
UAV Coach is a South Bay business helping teach people hoping to pilot drones for businesses. Photo by Erik Tallackson
Two years ago, almost all of Erik Tallackson’s work was done inside. Today, the sky’s the limit for the Hermosa Beach resident.
Tallackson is a drone pilot coach for UAV Coach, a company focused on helping aspiring commercial drone users navigate the testing requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, and get a handle on the hovering devices. UAV Coach has coaches in 20 states, but Tallackson is one of only two the company has on the west coast.
Tallackson was living in Chicago until he relocated with his wife and kid to Southern California 18 months ago. He left behind work as a photography instructor at camera stores. After some research, he decided to get into drone photography.
“I figured I could open up a lot more work in the real estate market. I’d just been imagining all these vantage points I couldn’t get to,” he said.
Back in the Midwest, Tallackson had made extra money working as a DJ. So he sold off some hip-hop and R&B records, and used the money to buy a drone. But he quickly discovered that, if he wanted to make money off his new toy, he’d have to go through some hoops.
Drones have been surging in popularity in recent years, with both amateur hobbyists and commercial operations taking to the sky. The federal government has sought to get a handle on these “small unmanned aircraft systems” and developed a set of rules for those seeking to fly drones for commercial purposes. Known as “Part 107” for its place in the Code of Federal Regulations, the rules require pilots to pass an exam and obtain certification.
UAV Coach began in 2014 as an online-only program helping people study for the Part 107 exam, said Isabella Gustave, digitial marketing manager for the company. The company started receiving more and more inquiries about in-person instruction, and launched the on-the-ground flight classes earlier this year. UAV Coach has found that those who take the in-person program have an advantage in marketing themselves as drone photographers, Gustave said.
“You can say, not only do I have theoretical knowledge, I have the experience to back it up,” she said.
Once in California, Tallackson began studying for the 107 exam, and said it required a bit of an adjustment: he hadn’t been in school since graduating from college in the late ‘90s, and he had to cram it in after putting his kid to sleep. But he missed only one out of 60 questions. And once he got the controls in his hands, he found he had a natural facility with flying, something he credits, half-jokingly, to a lot of time spent playing video games.
Tallackson’s instinct about real estate photography was correct: many of those seeking his coaching want to market themselves to Realtors and agencies, or are already in real estate themselves. But the applications for commercial drone pilots continue to expand, and in his free time, Tallackson has recently been hired to do overhead tracking shots on Hollywood movie productions.
Gustave said UAV Coach is considering creating specialized classes to cater to increasing interest from other industries, including agriculture and construction. The public sector is also starting to embrace the use of drones, she said, particularly public safety agencies and emergency responders. Tallackson said some of the newest models of drones are equipped with microphones that could, for example, communicate with people trapped by a mudslide or wildfire.
Gustave said that UAV Coach keeps up to speed on the “landscape of regulation” of drones in each of the jurisdictions in which it gives lessons, and that municipalities could pass laws regulating the areas where drones take off. But in the air, she said, federal regulations are supreme.
“The FAA is the only entity that can legally regulate the airspace where drones fly. They are the ultimate authority we are going to follow,” she said.
Local officials have offered a pointedly different interpretation of the law. Hermosa passed an ordinance regulating drones in May 2016; at the time, City Attorney Michael Jenkins warned the council that the federal government was moving slowly on the issue, and that pending state legislation could potentially preempt the ability of cities to regulate the devices. One such bill, AB 2320, passed the state Assembly and state Senate, but was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown later that year.
Hermosa’s ordinance came after several councilmembers expressed concern about the flying cameras’ potential to violate residents’ privacy. Among other provisions, the ordinance requires all drone users to obtain a permit from the city before using a drone within its boundaries. According to the Hermosa Beach Police Department, the permit costs $145 for the first year, and $75 to renew. Although the ordinance distinguishes between flying drones for commercial purposes and those flown by hobbyists, both types appear to require permits.
But although UAV Coach’s website identifies Hermosa as its location, Tallackson has yet to offer a lesson in the city. He loves his adopted hometown, but said that there is too much going on in its 1.4 square miles, and he has been unable to find enough empty space in which to safely hold a lesson. He said he is prohibited from disclosing where he usually teaches, but said that it is a bit to the south of the city.
Since opening, UAV Coach has fielded inquiries from all over Southern California. Tallackson has looked into other pilot training programs in the region, including some at local community colleges, but said that the combination of individual instruction and control-in-hand training was tough to beat.
“I think this is one of the greatest places to learn,” he said of his classes in the South Bay. “When I did photography classes, it was one-on-one. Beyond getting so much information, people can respond instantly: How do I do this, how do I do that? But when I did photography, people were taking notes inside. Here, you’re outside in the sun.”