PRODUCT TESTING

Having been involved in the civilian drone industry since its inception, the Roswell Flight Test Crew possess an uncommon depth of knowledge regarding this technology. As a result, our team is frequently called upon to test and demonstrate the capability of new systems and novel applications. Over the past seven years, they have performed ground-breaking work across a range of fields -- from public safety, to industrial inspection and environmental protection and restoration. Whenever possible, we share the results of our efforts on our YouTube channel and respected industry publications, so that the whole industry can benefit from our experiences. Here are just a few examples:

THERMAL IMAGING

Coupled with the aerial perspective made possible by drones, thermal imaging can be an enormously powerful tool across a range of applications — provided you understand its limitations.

In this popular YouTube video, Patrick Sherman of the Roswell Flight Test Crew performs a few simple experiments to show what this technology is able to achieve, and where it does not live up to the magical capabilities seen in movies and television.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Supporting firefighters and other first responders has always been a cornerstone of our work at the Roswell Flight Test Crew. In this demonstration, conducted in 2013, we flew a drone equipped with a FLIR thermal imaging camera over a structural firefighting exercise conducted at a local fire department.

As you will hear from the firefighters themselves in this video, drones have enormous potential to help keep emergency workers safe by identifying hazards sooner than is possible by other means.

INDUSTRIAL INSPECTION

Today, drones are used with increasing frequency in industrial applications, such as inspecting flare stacks, wind turbines and power lines — saving time, money and lives by keeping workers out of dangerous environments.

However, four years ago, the concept was still largely unproven. Here at the Roswell Flight Test Crew, we had the opportunity to conduct this pioneering demonstration that proved drones could not only operate in a challenging, high-wind environment — they could also gather valuable information.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

In this example, we were invited to travel to West Virginia to determine whether or not a drone could detect differences in surface water temperature. However, this was not simply the subject of idle scientific curiosity.

An endangered species of brook trout living in a remote wilderness was facing extinction after nearly a century of logging and environmental degradation. Cold water from natural seeps and springs is key to their survival and are logical sites for habitat restoration.

However, there had been no means of identifying these locations ​— unless we could prove that drones could do the job.