Corvallis drone company becomes one of few to land FAA operational OK
Malia Spencer Staff Reporter-Portland Business Journal
Corvallis-based VDOS Global is among the handful of companies given clearance by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones commercially in civilian airspace and the only one cleared to work with energy producing companies.
The FAA approval helps validate Oregon’s efforts to become a hub for the unmanned aerial vehicles industry.
VDOS specializes in using UAVs for inspection services and data collection. Until now the company has used manned aircraft to perform work or has worked with government clients and customers flying in restricted airspace.
The company could fly UAVs for research but not commercially, said CEO Brian Whiteside.
“It’s the beginning of the future with working with unmanned aircraft,” he said in an interview this fall while the company awaited its final FAA approval. “A lot of history is getting to this stage. It’s exciting, with this approval we can grow and expand opportunities.”
To start, the company is focused on the oil and gas industry and specifically off-shore rigs and is launching with its first partner Shell. VDOS will be working with the energy giant to inspect rigs operated by Shell throughout the Gulf of Mexico.
In addition to working with clients in Texas and along the Gulf Coast, Alaska is also on the radar, he said.
VDOS aims to work with oil and gas clients that need to inspect facilities, however those inspections can require shutting down operations for several days and can cost several million dollar per day. Whiteside expects to begin with flare stack inspections on off-shore rigs which usually require the facility shut down for three days and can cost from $15 million to $18 million a day.
“We can do the inspection in real time and don’t have to shut down (the facility),” he said. “Now those inspections are done once a year, but its only done infrequently because of the cost.”
The VDOS waiver is part of a batch of five waivers granted by the FAA on Dec. 10 for additional commercial drone use. The first seven went to companies in the movie industry that use drones for filming. To date the government has received 167 applications for waivers.
This waiver is just for off-shore use, but Whiteside hopes to eventually have clearance for on-shore oil and gas and other industrial facilities as well. It is also limited to small multi-rotor quad copters.
Whiteside spent 18 years as Navy F/A-18 pilot and was vice president of Evergreen Unmanned Systems prior to starting VDOS.
VDOS has been working closely with the FAA as the agency plans regulation of this new industry.
“We have been focused on doing it legally,” he said. “What the FAA does has huge implications. A lot of companies had the impression they don’t have to follow the rules for small UAVs and haven’t followed the FAA.”
Now that there is a waiver application process and the relationship with the FAA has been forged, Whiteside is hoping that early work will pay off through early mover advantage.
“We are about a year ahead of the competition,” he said.
Whiteside and VDOS also helped to secure the UAV test sites in Oregon as part of the University of Alaska bid for FAA test sites. VDOS operates the test site in central Oregon on the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs reservation.
Discover more from sUAS News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
