A Week in the Life of Heliguy’s Technical Team In our latest post on the teams in heliguy™, we have been looking at the heliguy™ Technical Team and their role within heliguy™ and the wider drone industry. We spoke to Ross, the newest member of the team, who has been with heliguy™ since the start of August in 2017. Heliguy’s Technical Team are a DJI approved repair centre who offer custom builds for a variety of different industries. The team are trained by DJI in the repairs of consumer and enterprise drones. They also have a huge range of experience from various aspects of technology and creative industries. Like the Training Team, the job is pretty varied with day to day depending on what’s happening within heliguy™ and the world of drones. Keep reading to find out more from Ross and the wider Technical Team. 
DJI Matrice 200 Training Group - Netherlands DJIRead our previous post where we speak to Ben from the heliguy™ Training Team here.
Interview
We spoke to Ross about his work history, day to day work at heliguy™ and much more. Read on to find out what he said.. Can you tell us what you did before working at Heliguy? Before heliguy™, I worked it a company called VREO innovation. While I was there I had many roles including PCB design engineering and product concept to market design. I was also the manager of the surface mount production line where a small team populated PCBs for third-party clients. I met with clients in the field to help them with tech issues and supported them with prototype design and industrial redesign for subsequent product generations. Did you have any experience with drones before starting? Before I joined heliguy™, I built my own racing drones and competed as a hobby. I was also involved with prototyping autonomous water-based surveillance vehicles. Additionally, I have experience in using ROVs to map the bottom of lakes. Can you tell us about a normal day inside the Technical Team? My role in the Technical Team is mainly to facilitate the diagnosis of damaged drones and the repair of those drones. There is no set day plan due to the variety of drones that come in at different times. I will normally spend the first few hours carrying out admin tasks such as sending drones and equipment to DJI, answering emails, and completing open cases. The rest of the day is normally spent assessing and repairing drones whilst supporting customers on the phone and answering their email queries.
Ross in DJI Training Group Can you tell us how you spent last week? Last week, I was at the DJI repair centre in the Netherlands taking part in their first official enterprise training for the DJI Matrice 200 Series. I was trained on how to disassemble and reassemble an M210 as well as diagnose complex internal problems without opening the drone. We discussed the aircraft and all of its components in detail. This gave me a fantastic knowledge base for this drone series, building on my overall experience with the DJI product line. Further to this, I achieved an official status of being trained by DJI, along with a certificate of training. This helps bring extra value to my role here at Heliguy. I can support the emergency services and enterprise clients that choose the M210 to a much greater level and can also conduct handovers and on-site damage and error assessment. While I was in the Netherlands, I met the managers of the centre and built on the existing strong relationship. I also met the other 5 trainees who were from various European countries including Italy, Germany, Poland, Denmark, and Spain. I was the only UK repair centre representative who attended the course making heliguy™ the only DJI enterprise certified centre in the country. What’s your favourite drone to fly and why? I really enjoy flying the new DJI Mavic Air. The small foldable drone fits into small gaps and is easily portable in any bag you have. It has great flight time and fantastic image quality. It’s also just really fun to fly, especially in FPV. What’s your favourite part about working with Heliguy? Being constantly challenged by the assessment of problems can be very rewarding when you figure out how to fix it. Some issues can be persistent or sporadic so can be difficult to solve. I also feel very rewarded when I’m able to help someone over the phone. What advice would you give to someone thinking about applying for a role with Heliguy? The learning curve can be very steep, and you need to be prepared to learn quickly. Make sure that you have a good knowledge of drones and your local legislation. It’s also handy to have some flight experience behind you. This will give you a huge advantage. What makes heliguy™ different from other drone retailers? heliguy™ is a one-stop shop for every customer need, from advice on buying your first drone all the way through to fully commercial pilots wanting specific custom equipment for professional use. We offer technical support and repair services if you crash your drone as well as annual servicing of your equipment. We also provide bespoke training for gaining your PfCO as well as video creation and editing courses. No other UK drone company can offer what we do as a whole package. 
DJI Training Groupheliguy™ Technical Team Job Role
The heliguy™ Technical Team have a varied role that includes several different areas. The below are the main aspects of the team's day to day role.Repairs and Support
The biggest part of the Technical Team’s job is undertaking repairs and offering support to customers over the phone and by email. Over 4000 onsite and remote repairs have been completed by the team from a variety of different sources. This includes warranty repairs, insurance repairs, drone crashes and faults and Crash Cover repairs, all keeping the team busy. heliguy™ has one of the largest stocks of DJI repair parts in the UK. This allows the team to complete a wide range of repairs across the DJI product line from the Spark up to Matrice systems. An average turnaround of two weeks is available for repairs through heliguy™ with some drones being repairs in a matter of a couple of days. Support and guidance is given to heliguy™ customers by phone and email with any technical query. This is a huge benefit for commercial operators and hobbyists, with between 300 to 400 queries being dealt with every month.Need to book your equipment in for a repair? Head to the heliguy™ support site here.
Servicing
In 2017, heliguy™ started offering services for the DJI range. Services are available in three stages; small, medium and heavy lifts, ranging from the DJI consumer drones to enterprise systems. During services, the team will complete an in-depth inspection of the drone in order to assess its health, with focus on areas where faults have been known to occur. This allows the team to identify issues that may lead to the breakdown of drones. Like with drone repairs, all drones receive a thorough flight test to ensure proper functionality of the equipment.
DJI Inspire 2 Inspection
Heliguy Builds
The heliguy™ Technical Team offer three types of custom builds, helping customers no matter how niche their aerial needs. Builds include the following: Standard Heavy Lift Build – This build involves putting together pre-configured equipment such as a Matrice 600 Pro with a Ronin MX and camera mount. Customised Heavy Lift Build – Slightly more complex, these builds use components such as the Matrice 600, a Ronin MX and a Micro-Epsilon and Sony A7RII. Multiple video downlinks are required with custom power and mounting. Customised Sub 7KG Build – Build include standard drones such as an Inspire 1 or Phantom Series drone with unique attachments such as lighting, NDVI modifications etc. The heliguy™ Technical Team have created solutions for a wide range of enterprise customers, offering creative and effective design.Handovers and Demonstrations
For custom builds and enterprise equipment, the Technical Team are often involved in handing over equipment as well as demonstrations. This is to allow a transfer of their in-depth knowledge of the products and tips and tricks on use. Handovers are particularly valuable for enterprise customers who have purchased advanced equipment in order to achieve all of the possible options from their aircraft.
DJI Inspire 1 ServiceSummary
The heliguy™ Technical Team help make heliguy™ the standout drone retailer in the UK. With the huge number of repairs and builds complete as well as high levels of support, they are hugely beneficial to Heliguy’s success. The job is varied from day to day, with new projects coming in all the time. Each requires a unique tactic to achieve the high levels that are expected from Heliguy. To see the available positions in heliguy™, head to the careers page on our website here.To discuss any information from the above post or any DJI or Freefly product, please give one of our team a call on 0191 296 1024 or email us at info@heliguy.com.
Keep checking back to Heliguy’s Insider Blog for more announcements, insights into drones and, of course, the latest news from the drone industry.
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