How to make the most of Proficiencies in Ground Control
Overview
Proficiencies in Ground Control are a collection of experience, qualifications, and credentials that apply to drone operations. Proficiencies allow admins to quickly assign resources to their team and give users faster authorization from management to go collect/process data.
To add your proficiencies, login to Ground Control on the web, and go to the Profile page under your user icon in the top right corner. From here, click the Proficiencies tab:
You will be brought to a page where you can enter various information regarding your background. Below is some information about each field and the value of providing this data to your admin.
Proficiencies Data
Background Check
For most professional drone operations jobs, a background check is required for many reasons. One example of why background checks are valuable for a drone operations program is that background checks make it easier to take on certain types of missions, where it is mandatory for pilots and data analysts to have a completed background check.
Insurance
For most professional drone operations jobs, especially operations performed by Drone Service Providers (DSPs), a pilot is required to have insurance. Having insurance and providing your insurance certificate allows admins to quickly confirm that potential mission liabilities are minimized so a mission can proceed from planning to execution without interruption.
Manned Experience (in years)
Pilots who have Manned Experience may have an easier time getting special clearances to fly, especially near airports, or federal “no-fly” jurisdictions. While becoming an effective drone pilot does not require having flown an actual helicopter, jet, or plane, drone pilots with Manned Experience may have an advantage, especially as the FAA and other aviation authorities continue to refine laws around drone flight. Providing this value gives appropriate context to admins when mission planning.
Manned Flight Hours
Certain missions may warrant that a pilot has flown a minimum number of hours in non-UAS aircraft and has appropriate familiarity in aviation before piloting certain missions. Providing this value gives appropriate context to admins when mission planning.
Unmanned Experience (in years)
The number of years flying a UAS(drone) is an important detail to have recorded in order to ensure safe operation during all parts of drone flight, especially if the pilot has continued to maintain a drone certification (like Part 107) for all or most of those years flying a drone.
Unmanned Flight Hours
Certain missions may warrant that a pilot has flown a minimum number of hours with UAS aircraft before piloting certain missions. Providing this value gives appropriate context to admins when mission planning.
Operations Qualifications
Pilots should enter the regulatory qualifications that they have (e.g. Night Operations, Operations over people, etc) so drone operation admins can quickly assign a pilot to a job with full confidence in that pilot’s knowledge to successfully complete any mission that relies on explicit pilot capabilities.
Aircraft Qualifications
For drone programs that utilize a wide variety of different drone models in their fleet, it is important to make sure that each pilot is matched with the drone model(s) that they have had experience with.
Mission Competencies
Measure Ground Control features tools based on Mission and Site types. Adding Mission Competencies (e.g. agriculture, general, etc.) information ensures pilots and data analysts are assigned to projects and missions that best match their experience with that Mission or Site type.
Verticals Experience
For data analysts performing image inspections/annotations, providing the amount of Verticals Experience helps drone operations managers with assigning image analysis tasks.
Verticals Inspected
For certain data analysis projects that may require a minimum amount of vertical inspections performed, providing the number of Verticals inspected helps drone operations managers with assigning image analysis tasks.
Work Hours Experience
What is this?
Old notes for posterity (delete later):
- Background Check - For companies that require it, background checks are a legal formality to ensure a team member's background meets the requirements needed for the company.
- Manned Experience: A pilot's flight experience operating a manned aircraft like a helicopter.
- Flight Hours Unmanned - The cumulative number of hours a pilot has experience operating UAS's like drones.
- Unmanned experience (in years) - The number of years that a pilot has been flying a drone or other UAS.
- Operations Qualifications - Regulatory qualifications that a pilot has (e.g. Night Operations, Operations over people, etc).
- Aircraft Qualifications - The aircraft models a pilot is competent with.
- Mission Competencies - The types of missions that a pilot/data analyst is competent with (e.g. agriculture, general, etc).
- Insurance: Is the pilot properly insured? This is primarily used by Drone Service Providers (DSPs).
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Have questions or feedback? Please contact support.groundcontrol@ageagle.com