22-06-24 - Aratere Grounding 

One of the more memorable call outs I've attended.

It was a privilege to be able to put our Part 102 certificate, training & technology to work and provide meaningful assistance during the response to this incident that thankfully was resolved without any adverse impact to the environment or injuries.

Skyworks provided:

⚫ Live aerial imagery for site overview / assessment via 5G
⚫ Aerial & terrestrial imagery for media
⚫ Coastal survey of the surrounding area
⚫ Thermal imagery during the re-floating phase that was live streamed to the response coordination team and the executives of the stakeholders involved

The collaboration of all involved parties was incredible to witness and everyone should be very proud of their efforts.

30-10-23 - UAVNZ Photo Competition 

A very last minute image submission to the 2023 UAVNZ Conference paid off, with a photo I took down in Antarctica winning the "Best Submission in the Still Image Category". 

For the story behind the image, please visit the Muruhiku Regeneration website.

The image was captured with a DJI Mavic 3 Pro, kindly provided by the good guys at Drone Depot - I've been a customer of their since the early days and rate them a solid 6 out of 5 stars.

If you operate drones / UAS commercially in New Zealand, you should seriously consider joining UAVNZ.

01-09-23 - Droneshows

I've been pushing pretty hard for the last 5 years to bring Drone Light Shows to New Zealand skies. It has not been straight forward and I'd almost given up a number of times. So it is with great excitement that today I can finally announce that I have accepted the role of Chief Pilot with Droneshows - a New Zealand based company who will be delivering drone based light shows in the skies very soon!
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Both the drones and the software that controls them have been developed here in NZ and have unique features & capabilities not previously seen in this space.​

10-07-23 - Fenix UAS Flight Examiner

We've teamed up with Fenix UAS (Formerly Aviation Safety Management Systems) and now contract to them as part time UAS flight examiner for their clients nationwide.

Benefits of obtaining a qualification from Fenix UAS are many and they offer several specific courses designed to bolster your drone knowledge and test you piloting competency. If you want to do things like fly within 4km of an aerodrome or obtain the qualification you need to operate under a Part 102 certificate then get in touch.

01-07-23 - Skyworks UAS is born

After six years of running GCH UAV I have purchased the company from GCH Aviation - Garden City Helicopters and am now the proud new owner.
The name and logo might be changing, but I will still be delivering the same high quality drone services under our Part 102 UA Operator Certificate, based here in Marlborough and operating nationwide (and maybe Antarctica...)
Thankyou to everyone who has supported me over the years and a big thankyou to the Currie Family of GCH Aviation for allowing me to chase my dreams.

01-02-23 Antarctica 

It's not every day the phone rings and you get offered a trip to Antarctica - but in January, that's exactly what happened.

Twelve days later we set off from Bluff as part of the Muihiku ki Te Tonga research program led by Ngāi Tahu ki Murihiku & Dr Regina Eisert aboard the Heritage Adventurer on what would be an eye opening and life changing experience.
Aside from one underwater shot, this video is a drones eye view of some of the sights we saw down there. Our permit only allowed for flying for science purposes (filming marine mammals) or navigational assistance so I could only film opportunistically whilst transiting to or from a target species.
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Massive thank you to Heritage Expeditions for running such a tight ship - truly an amazing operation. Also Drone Depot for supplying us with the gear to get the job done down there and every other job we do.

Our work continues the scientific research of the Top Predator Antarctic Research Program. This research was carried out under permits issued by the New Zealand Ministry and Trade and by the Department of Conservation (permit no. 103618-MAR and 103619-MAR).

17-06-22 - Drone surveillance in vineyards

Marlborough-based company Skyworks (GCH UAV) is proving what can be achieved using drones in conjunction with advanced sensors and analytic software. The company has been operating in the province since 2017, providing aerial mapping, vineyard analytics and multispectral / thermal imagery services to vineyards.

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29-04-21 - Large Scale Aerial Mapping

Skyworks (​GCH UAV) were contacted by Pinoli Ltd, to undertake a 500-hectare aerial survey of their Windbreaker plantation. This job required some serious equipment and expertise because of its scale and the array of possible uses for the outputs. Click below to find out how we captured an processed 4,611 images.

Read the case study

21-02-20 - Bird’s eye view as falcon meets drone

Skyworks (GCH UAV) operations manager Colin Aitchison was filming near Oyster Bay when he was joined in the air by an inquisitive falcon who headed straight for the drone.

“I’ve never had one make a beeline like this to the drone, my first thought was how much flight time do I have left to deal with whatever is about to happen"

14-01-20 - DOC Marine Mammal Film Permit 

Marlborough company to shoot whales 'by the book' with drone permit. The first South Island permit to use a drone to film marine mammals up close has been granted. The Department of Conservation has granted the permit to Marlborough company Skyworks (GCH UAV), allowing them to fly drones to within 20 meters of whales, dolphins and seals.

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19-01-19 - Drone and music combine for uplifting summer concert series in Marlborough

Marlborough4Fun will be giving people the bird’s eye view of popular spots around the region as part of its new “virtual helicopter tour” attraction.

Punters will be able to slap on a pair of goggles and get previously unseen, 360- degree views of Renwick, Picton and Pollard Park thanks to a drone camera.

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14-06-18 "Human Drone" falls into new line of work

When Colin Aitchison started as a free fall skydiving photographer, he was essentially a human drone.

Colin is now a member of the biggest private aviation company in New Zealand, GCH Aviation Group, which just opened a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) division. Aitchison moved to Blenheim in part to offer his multi-spectral imaging techniques to people growing grapes. It was used to help diagnose stressors in “high-value crops”, sometimes weeks before the human eye could spot them.

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