Reconnecting with Abby Speicher, CEO of DARTDRONES

It’s great to check in again with Abby Speicher, CEO of DARTDRONES.  DARTDRONES Flight School is one of the only national in-person drone flight schools in the country. Their mission is to provide training on Unmanned Aerial Systems for businesses, emergency services teams, and hobbyists while employing military veterans as Flight Captains.

In the beginning of 2014 when drones had just started to get more attention after Jeff Bezos of Amazon showed 60 Minutes the company’s intention of launching a drone delivery service, our team began to see the amazing potential in the drone industry. We purchased a Phantom FC40 (the Phantom 1) to start to learn more about the industry. It took us over 30 minutes and multiple YouTube videos just to figure out how to get the Phantom out of the box and turned on. Of course, we thought that we would be able to fly it very easily. After our eighth crash, we started to understand the complexity of flying and that clicking one wrong button could have the drone doing the exact opposite of what we expected. We researched the options for attending a drone school, but could not find any drone training school within 1000 miles of us and nothing under $3000. We realized the need for affordable, hands-on, expert training that would be accessible around the country. DARTDRONES was started to solve this need. We offer one day certification by true aviators.

We have been growing like wildfire. In May when we received our 333 Exemption, we set out on a mission to hire flight instructors across the country. By the end of the year, we are hosting classes every month in 24 cities with 20 flight instructors. All of our flight instructors are true pilots and include Black Hawk pilots, commercial airlines pilots, retired fire fighters, and SWAT team members. We plan to add an additional 40 flight instructors and cities in 2016. We are also hoping to add many female flight instructors. If you know of any lady pilots, please have them email team@dartdrones.com! Pilot’s license is required.

What’s the makeup of a typical class? Enthusiasts or those that plan to apply drone technology to industry?
Our classes are always filled with a mix of students with different backgrounds and ideas for applications of their drone. We have a lot of hobbyists ranging from age 12 to age 75. Additionally, many search and rescue personnel and business owners attend our classes as hobbyists. In many cases, their intention is to pitch the idea of adding drones to their department to their boss or chief. Our students leave our class very knowledgeable about where and when they can fly, how to abide by FAA regulations, and confident in what to do in an emergency.

With so many moving variables, it is very difficult to nail down a strategy for how to grow our business. We continue to do a lot of testing and interviews with our customer base to figure out the best way to serve them. We have to update our training material constantly due to so many changes in the industry and regulations.

The biggest challenge for our team has been spreading awareness about why getting professionally trained is essential. Many people struggle to get excited about “training”, and they think that they can teach themselves. After taking our courses, almost all of our students say that they had no idea that there was so much to know about flying a Phantom. Even people who have been flying for over a year find our classes to be very informative, fun, and worth taking. We are working to continue to stress the importance of training to all new pilots. Training doesn’t only save their drone, but helps protect the industry from even more strict regulations.

Most people in the drone industry are entrepreneurs. I come from a very entrepreneurial family, and I absolutely love helping other entrepreneurs start businesses and solve business problems. Our team is constantly on the phone with “drone-preneurs” helping them develop a strategy for applying for a 333, choosing a drone model, and implementing drones into their business. We are continuing to add services that help first time entrepreneurs be successful in this emerging industry. It’s really exciting to see our past students receive their 333 and launch their businesses.

We plan to expand our services rapidly. We will continue to be leaders in the drone industry and a name for high quality drone pilot education. We currently have five new courses in the pipeline and a couple exciting new initiatives that is going to be great for our past and future students!