BISMARCK – The North Dakota Aviation Council welcomed SkySkopes as its first Unmanned Aircraft Systems company member.

SkySkopes joins the council as an organizational member. Members include pilots, airport directors, fixed-base operations, aviation mechanics, educators and air museums.

SkySkopes is a professional UAS flight operator, headquartered in Grand Forks, with several satellite offices that include Minot. With a team of highly certified UAS pilots, SkySkopes flies a wide variety of advanced sensors and unmanned aircraft for transmission/distribution line inspections, oil and gas applications, and other innovative use cases that focus on adding value within the energy sector.

“SkySkopes joining the NDAC is another indication of the advancement of the UAS industry, especially in the state of North Dakota,” said SkySkopes President and CEO Matt Dunlevy. “It is a reminder that unmanned aircraft absolutely are aircraft and that drone pilots absolutely are pilots. We see it as an opportunity to interface with the already existing culture of aviation around our several offices in North Dakota. Joining the NDAC is a way for us to be true to our pilots. They’re cut from the same cloth as the manned pilots.”

ND Aviation Council President Darren Hall sees the partnership between the organizations as “a wonderful example of an opportunity to collaborate and connect with new partners in the UAS community to discuss shared goals, opportunities, and challenges. It’s all about what we can do together to problem-solve and collaborate for the betterment of the aerospace industry throughout North Dakota and beyond. We are excited of how the newly defined organizational structure of the aviation council allows companies to join, participate and ultimately grow our partnerships across the industry with organizations that have a vested interest in the success of aerospace in ND.”

The North Dakota Aviation Council was founded in 1983 by six aviation organizations interested in promoting aviation in the state and presenting their concerns before government and the general public. The NDAC seeks to serve aviation professionals by providing a forum for the exchange of information, ideas, and experience among their peers.