With the continued demand for drones in the workforce comes the increasing need for specialized areas to test these drones.  Drones need to be tested for any issues before they can be used for things like inspections, photography, search and rescue, or cargo delivery.  Besides needing to test the drones, having a training facility for perspective drone operators is also becoming necessary.  Which is why a new indoor facility to test drones is opening in Colorado.

The new facility will be held at the Rifle Garfield County Airport, about 6km east of the downtown Rifle area.  The small airport has been categorized as a general aviation facility by the FAA, and has only one runway.  Because the airport doesn’t see much traffic yet still has plenty of space (338 acres) it is the perfect location to build an indoor facility to test drones and train pilots.  A $331,450 contract was awarded to local construction team, Kuersten Construction, LLC, to build the 7,000 square foot facility.  The Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting(CoE) will oversee the building’s operations.  The CoE is a branch of the Colorado Department of Public Safety, and they opened the building to around 70 people for a sneak peak earlier this month.

According to Ben Miller, the director of CoE, this structure will provide those in the drone industry with a cutting edge in the field of testing.  He said, “The big advantage of the facility is that we can test new things that aren’t quite allowed or contemplated by the FFA because we are indoors.  We shut the doors and do all the flying we want to in here. We fly big drones that aren’t allowed outside yet, which exceed the current rules, and if we are successful in here, it shows promise and momentum to approach the FAA.”  At 45ft tall, 70ftlong, and 100ft wide this indoor facility provides ample room for testing a wide range of drone prototypes.

The facility will not only be used to test out drones though.  It will also be used as a facility to train and test drone operators to be compliant with FAA regulations.  Because this is an indoor facility, they can provide training and testing for pilots year round, unlike most centers that are subject to weather conditions.  The CoE and the Colorado Department of Public Safety recognize the need for trained drone operators and hope to make sure they become a leading center for preparing those looking to become commercial drone operators.

While the center will be mainly used to train public service agencies like firefighters, the center will be open to the public as well.  But as Garrett Seddon, Unmanned Systems Project Manager for the center pointed out, “After the wake of the fires of 2014, their destructive nature, the state government wanted to look at the way we do firefighting. One of those was aerial firefighting and they wanted to put in place a detection for fires to prevent devastating fires.  Our main focus is on public-service agencies. We are here if the general public ever has any questions. We can help them answer those questions.  But our training efforts and initiatives are all focused toward public safety agencies.”

This new facility will be the first of it’s kind in the state of Colorado and should serve as an example to other public safety departments looking to enhance their abilities through the use of drones.  Ben Miller went on to say, “This process began as an internal certification process where we take our staff within Colorado Department of Public Safety to that next level beyond just the FAA certificate.”  What started as a way of bettering the certification process has turned into a revolutionary facility that will launch Colorado into the forefront of the drone industry.

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