Beyond Achieving your Drone Pilot Wings - Deliberate Airmanship: Why the Best Drone Pilots Don’t Rely on Luck

By: Colonel (ret) Bernie Derbach, KR Droneworks, 14 Jan 26

Inspired by the work of Maj David Cooke, RCAF (Ret'd), and the International Test Pilots School (ITPS)

Introduction: The Invisible Skill

If you ask a hundred drone pilots what makes them safe flyers, ninety-nine will likely point to their equipment: obstacle avoidance sensors, return-to-home (RTH) functions, and GPS lock. They aren't wrong—technology saves drones every day. But what happens when the GPS fails? What happens when the "return-to-home" path is blocked by a crane that wasn't there yesterday?

This is where Airmanship begins.

In the manned aviation world, airmanship is the holy grail of pilot training. It is the invisible glue that holds flight safety together. But in the world of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), airmanship is often misunderstood or entirely ignored. Many drone operators view themselves as tech users rather than aviators.

Major David Cooke, a retired RCAF combat flying instructor and a past instructor at the International Test Pilots School (ITPS) in London, Ontario, argues that this mindset is dangerous. He champions a concept called "Deliberate Airmanship." It is the idea that safety isn’t a character trait you are born with; it is a technical skill you must deliberately practice, every single flight.

Whether you are flying a DJI Mini in your backyard or a heavy-lift rig for a film set, understanding Deliberate Airmanship is the difference between a pilot who is lucky and a pilot who is safe.

The Myth of the "Natural" Pilot

There is a pervasive myth in aviation that some people just have "the right stuff." They are natural stick-and-rudder men and women who can fly anything with wings (or rotors).

Maj Cooke challenges this ego-driven view. He recalls an old instructor who once told him, "If you don't secretly believe you're God's gift to Aviation, then you're in the wrong business". It’s a humorous nod to pilot arrogance, but it hides a trap. If you believe you are naturally gifted, you might start believing you can handle any situation on the fly. You stop planning. You stop worrying. And that is when accidents happen.

Cooke admits that in 50 years of flying, he never took a formal course titled "Airmanship". It was simply expected to be absorbed through osmosis—drilled into students by instructors until it became second nature. But for modern drone pilots, who often learn via YouTube or self-study, that mentorship circle doesn't exist. There is no grizzled instructor sitting next to you, tapping your helmet when you forget to check the wind.

Therefore, for the drone pilot, airmanship cannot be passive. It must be deliberate. You must choose to be disciplined because no one is watching you. As Cooke summarizes: "Airmanship is a form of leadership-by-example, i.e., doing the right thing, even when no one is looking".

Defining the Indefinable: What is Airmanship?

To practice airmanship, we first need to define it. It is not just about having "good hands" on the controller. Maj Cooke, referencing the work of Tony Kern, defines it as:

"The consistent use of good judgment and well-developed skills to accomplish flight objectives. This consistency is founded on a cornerstone of uncompromising flight discipline...".

At ITPS, where test pilots are trained to fly unproven aircraft, this definition is broken down into a model of four pillars. If any one of these pillars crumbles, the flight is at risk.

1. Knowledge (The Foundation)

You cannot make good decisions if you don't understand the machine or the environment. For a drone pilot, this "bread and butter" knowledge includes:

• Systems: Knowing your battery discharge curves, how your failsafe modes actually work (not just how they should work), and the limits of your RF link.

• Regulations: Understanding the airspace. In Canada, this means mastering Transport Canada's TP 15263 (Knowledge Requirements for Pilots of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems). It’s not enough to know you shouldn't fly near airports; you need to know why the control zones exist and how to read the charts to stay clear.

• Environment: Understanding weather beyond just "is it raining?" It means recognizing urban airflow, turbulence around buildings, and the K-Index (solar activity) that can disrupt your GPS.

2. Skill (Precision)

Cooke emphasizes that whether in simulation or reality, you must "Practice, Practice, Practice - Now, Do it again with better Precision". For a drone pilot, this means flying "by the numbers." Can you fly a perfect circle manually without GPS assistance? Can you bring the drone home if the video feed cuts out? If you rely 100% on automation, you are a passenger, not a pilot.

3. Discipline (The Glue)

This is the hardest pillar for drone operators. When you are alone in a field, it is easy to skip the pre-flight checklist. It is easy to ignore the "low battery" warning to get one last shot. Cooke’s mantra is simple: "Be Disciplined - Be Decisive - Be Deliberate". Discipline is the ability to tell yourself "No." As Frank Borman, Commander of Apollo 8, famously said: "A superior pilot uses his superior judgment to avoid situations that might require use of his superior skills".

4. Situational Awareness (The Outcome)

Situational Awareness (SA) is not a skill you "do"; it is the result of doing the first three things correctly. If you have the Knowledge, the Skill, and the Discipline, you will naturally have a high state of Situational Awareness. You will know where the drone is, where the hazards are, and what the drone will do next.

The Unique Challenge of the Drone Pilot

Maj Cooke notes a fascinating observation from his time teaching UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) courses at ITPS. He found that teaching airmanship to drone pilots is often harder than teaching it to manned pilots.

Why? Because drone pilots are disconnected from the machine.

• Lack of Sensory Feedback: You don't feel the G-forces. You don't hear the wind changing speed. You are staring at a screen, often with a narrow field of view.

• The "Gamer" Mentality: It is easy to treat a drone controller like a video game. If you crash in a game, you respawn. If you crash a drone, you could injure someone or cause a mid-air collision.

Cooke realized that because many UAS students never experienced the "fear of death" that keeps manned pilots disciplined, he had to build a classroom discussion to intellectually expose them to these risks. He had to teach them to simulate the discipline that manned pilots learn through survival instinct.

This aligns with the global shift in regulations led by JARUS (Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems). JARUS has moved toward a "risk-based" approach (SORA - Specific Operations Risk Assessment) precisely because the operator is removed from the aircraft. The regulator cannot rely on the pilot's "feeling"; they must rely on the pilot's documented process.

Practical Tools for Deliberate Airmanship

So, how do we move from theory to practice? How do you actually do Deliberate Airmanship on a Tuesday afternoon flight? Maj Cooke and industry best practices offer several concrete tools.

1. The 10-Second Rule

This is perhaps the most valuable takeaway from Cooke’s work.

"Never let the aircraft take you somewhere your brain hasn't already been at least 10 seconds ago".

In manned flight, if you are "behind the aircraft," you are dead. In drone flight, if you are reacting to what the drone is doing right now, you are already crashing. Try this: Count off 10 seconds. It’s a long time. If you are flying toward a building, your brain should have already calculated the wind, the signal strength, and the escape route 10 seconds before you get there. If you haven't, stop. Hover. Catch up to your aircraft.

2. The "IMSAFE" Self-Assessment

You check your batteries, but do you check yourself? Cooke highlights the importance of assessing personal stress. "It determines who you ASSOCIATE WITH... It determines who you BECOME".

Before every flight, run the standard aviation checklist on yourself:

• Illness: Do you have a cold? Allergies?

• Medication: Are you taking anything that makes you drowsy?

• Stress: Are you worried about work? Financial pressure? (Cooke specifically notes financial and family stress as major distractors).

• Alcohol: The rule is usually "8 hours bottle to throttle," but for airmanship, it's about clear cognitive function.

• Fatigue: Did you sleep well?

• Eating: Low blood sugar leads to poor decision-making.

3. JARUS SORA & Risk Analysis

Maj Cooke asks: "When was the last time you did a Flight Risk Analysis with Mitigation Actions?". You don't need to fill out a 50-page document for every flight, but you should understand the SORA (Specific Operations Risk Assessment) mindset promoted by JARUS.

• Identify the Hazard: (e.g., "Flying over a park").

• Assess the Risk: (e.g., "If I lose link, the drone drops on a person").

• Mitigate: (e.g., "I will set the RTH altitude higher than the trees and fly only when the park is empty"). Transport Canada emphasizes this through the requirement for a "Site Survey". If you launch without looking for power lines, pedestrians, or interference sources, you have failed the first test of airmanship.

4. Delegate Wisely

As a Pilot in Command (PIC), your brain has limited "bandwidth." Cooke advises to "Delegate actions to a/c systems, crew and controllers".

• If you have a visual observer (VO), use them. Tell them exactly what to watch for.

• If you have automation (like auto-hover), use it to free up your brain to check the airspace—but monitor it to ensure it’s working.

• Don't try to be the pilot, the cameraman, the director, and the safety officer all at once.

The Regulatory Landscape: Transport Canada & JARUS

It is important to understand that Deliberate Airmanship isn't just a "nice to have"; it is becoming the regulatory standard.

Transport Canada has structured its RPAS regulations (Part IX of the Canadian Aviation Regulations) around the concept of responsibility. The "Basic" vs. "Advanced" distinction is essentially a test of airmanship. The Advanced exam doesn't just ask about drone specs; it asks about airspace, weather, and human factors—the very "Knowledge" pillar Cooke discusses.

Similarly, JARUS, the body recommending rules for drones globally, has built its framework on Competency. In their guidelines, they stress that a remote pilot must possess "Good airmanship principles," including proper planning, hazard identification, and aeronautical decision-making. They recognize that as drones get larger and fly BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight), the only thing keeping the public safe is the operator's deliberate adherence to procedure.

Conclusion: Flight Safety is No Accident

There is a saying in the safety community: "Flight Safety is no Accident". It is a pun, but a serious one. Safety doesn't happen by accident; it happens by design.

Maj David Cooke’s work at ITPS serves as a vital reminder to the drone community. We are not playing with toys. We are aviators operating in a shared, three-dimensional environment. Whether you are flying a mission for the military or filming a sunset for Instagram, the principles remain the same.

• Be Disciplined: Stick to the plan. If you didn't plan it, don't fly it.

• Be Decisive: Don't hesitate when safety is at risk.

• Be Deliberate: Practice your skills. critique your own flights.

As Cooke humbly concludes in his own paper, "I'm still working on mine". If a pilot with 50 years of experience is still working on his airmanship, you should be too.

References

1. Transport Canada. (2019). Knowledge Requirements for Pilots of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems 250 g up to and including 25 kg, Operating within Visual Line-of-Sight (VLOS). TP 15263E.

2. Cooke, David Maj (Ret'd). 3D Deliberate Airmanship. International Test Pilots School (ITPS).

3. JARUS. (2019). JARUS guidelines on Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA). JAR-doc-06.

4. Kern, Tony. (1996). Redefining Airmanship. McGraw-Hill.

5. Transport Canada. Flying your drone safely and legally. [Online]. Available at: tc.canada.ca.

6. JARUS. (2019). Recommendations for Remote Pilot Competency (RPC). JAR-doc-11.