A FORMER RAF officer is set to take to the skies again over Cardigan - only this time he will be at the controls of a drone.

Jonathan Thomas has set up his new business Skyflash Aerial Survey and Photography after going through a series of exams to gain his professional qualifications.

The 30-year-old was a Flight Operations Officer in the RAF for six years prior to leaving and moving back to the area with his wife Bethan to raise their two young children.

“It’s how I got into the drones, through one of my friends in the RAF,” said Mr Thomas. “It’s very much a growing industry and has a lot of applications.

“There are a lot of rules and regulations and I have had to pass a number of exams to qualify as a professional small unmanned air system (drone) pilot.,” he said.

“In many ways, it’s a lot similar to operating a manned aircraft. The rules are there to keep people safe as you can easily hurt someone if it fell out of the sky.”

Mr Thomas now holds a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) permission for commercial operations (effectively the licence required to operate a drone) and can offer a wide range of services including:

Aerial filming and photography

Aerial mapping and 3D model creating for surveying

Roof top/restricted access area survey

Crop health analysis for farmers

The popularity of drones has risen dramatically in recent years but Mr Thomas says things could well be about to change for the hobbyist in the near future. The use of drones has been very much in the national news of late, with a number of near misses being recorded at airports.

“By the end of the year it is expected there will be new rules in place for the hobbyist,” said Mr Thomas.

“At the moment, anyone can go out and pretty much do what they want with it but soon that could change as drones will have to be registered with the CAA and details made available to the police.

“People are not aware of what they can and cannot do or how air space works and it’s all about education.”