Stuart Smith spent decades touring arenas as a guitarist for the band Sweet before COVID collapsed his music income and pushed him into drones. Today he runs The Droning Company, a subscription platform connecting thousands of US drone pilots with paying work, without taking a cut of their earnings. Stuart breaks down how his no-commission model works, why niche gigs like ash scattering and gender-reveal flights can pay $500 a session, and which industries are hiring drone pilots at the highest day rates. He also shares what separates pilots stuck doing roofing shoots from pilots landing oil and gas contracts. Alan and Stuart close by comparing the US market to what's unfolding across the Caribbean's tourism, agriculture, and coastal industries. Tune in to discover how a rock musician built one of the largest drone pilot networks in America.

The Pilots of the Caribbean Podcast recommends the Pilot Institute - Part 107 Made Easy course for anyone looking to prepare to sit the part 107 exam and become a licensed commercial drone operator.

Website: https://pilotsofthecaribbeanpod.com

Email: pilotsofthecaribbeanpod@gmail.com

All our links: https://linktr.ee/pilotsofthecaribbeanpod

* Affiliate disclaimer: some of the above links maybe affiliate links, which may generate a sales commission.*

This month's Caribbean drone news: Barbados stands up a new multi-role drone unit spanning defence, disaster response, and agriculture. Antigua and Barbuda's Cabinet weighs a national BVLOS security network amid rising gun crime. And out of Washington, a Section 232 tariff proclamation and an FCC proposal to redefine "military-grade" drones could both reshape what Caribbean operators pay for thermal, LiDAR, and heavy-lift equipment. Alan Gabriel breaks down what each story means for operators flying across the region, from training structures to supply chain timelines. Tune in to find out what's changing and what to budget for before your current fleet ages out.

The Pilots of the Caribbean Podcast recommends the Pilot Institute - Part 107 Made Easy course for anyone looking to prepare to sit the part 107 exam and become a licensed commercial drone operator.

Website: https://pilotsofthecaribbeanpod.com

Email: pilotsofthecaribbeanpod@gmail.com

All our links: https://linktr.ee/pilotsofthecaribbeanpod

* Affiliate disclaimer: some of the above links maybe affiliate links, which may generate a sales commission.*

Derrick Annan built a drone survey business in Ghana, then used one certification to expand into four more African countries. As Co-Founder and CEO of Axis Drone Surveys, Derrick grew the company from a single survey job into operations across Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Tanzania, riding on West Africa's ECOWAS framework for cross-border recognition. Alan and Derrick get into why Ghana's regulators moved fast once Zipline built the world's largest drone delivery network there, why Axis walked away from agriculture in favor of mining and energy work, and how local operators compete against foreign companies that clients assume are more reliable. Derrick also makes the case for why the Caribbean and Africa should be building this industry together. Tune in to discover what a truly connected drone industry looks like.

CONNECT WITH DERRICK ANNAN
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derrick-annan-98023554/
Website: https://www.axisdronesurveys.com
Drone Ignite Africa: https://www.droneigniteafrica.com

The Pilots of the Caribbean Podcast recommends the Pilot Institute - Part 107 Made Easy course for anyone looking to prepare to sit the part 107 exam and become a licensed commercial drone operator.

Website: https://pilotsofthecaribbeanpod.com

Email: pilotsofthecaribbeanpod@gmail.com

All our links: https://linktr.ee/pilotsofthecaribbeanpod

* Affiliate disclaimer: some of the above links maybe affiliate links, which may generate a sales commission.*

Levi Hinds, better known across Trinidad and Tobago as DroneGuyTT, didn't set out to become one of the the Caribbean's most recognized FPV drone pilot. He wanted to be a commercial pilot, couldn't afford it, and found FPV instead, crashing his first drone before it even cleared the yard. A decade later he's flown Shal Marshall music videos, Tobago's Hill Climb, and enough Carnival trucks to lose count.
In this episode, Levi and Alan get into the real cost of building an FPV business in Trinidad: the $8,000-to-$15,000 TT buy-in, the client conversation that taught Levi to finally charge his worth, and the Carnival photo that went viral and got blamed on the wrong pilot.
Tune in to discover what it takes to turn FPV from a hobby into a career, and why Levi says "try to be you" might be the best advice he can give.

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CONNECT WITH LEVI HINDS (DRONEGUYTT)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DroneGuyTT
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DroneGuyTT
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/droneguytt/

The Pilots of the Caribbean Podcast recommends the Pilot Institute - Part 107 Made Easy course for anyone looking to prepare to sit the part 107 exam and become a licensed commercial drone operator.

Website: https://pilotsofthecaribbeanpod.com

Email: pilotsofthecaribbeanpod@gmail.com

All our links: https://linktr.ee/pilotsofthecaribbeanpod

* Affiliate disclaimer: some of the above links maybe affiliate links, which may generate a sales commission.*

As Director of CERMES at UWI Cave Hill, he's spent years watching Caribbean drone policy lag behind Caribbean drone practice, and he's doing something about it. In this conversation, Alan Gabriel talks with Professor Yawson about how CERMES built one of the region's earliest drone programs around monitoring sargassum strandings, why "banned" is the wrong word for Barbados' cautious permitting process, and how the Caribbean Drone Hub just rolled out the region's first tiered drone certification. They also dig into what came out of the inaugural Caribbean Drone Symposium, from repair-center gaps to the push for certifications that travel across borders. Tune in to discover how one small university unit is trying to build the regulatory backbone the Caribbean drone industry has been missing.

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CONNECT WITH PROFESSOR DAVID YAWSON
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-yawson-97aa252b/
Caribbean Drone Hub: https://www.caridronehub.org
CERMES: https://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/cermes

The Pilots of the Caribbean Podcast recommends the Pilot Institute - Part 107 Made Easy course for anyone looking to prepare to sit the part 107 exam and become a licensed commercial drone operator.

Website: https://pilotsofthecaribbeanpod.com

Email: pilotsofthecaribbeanpod@gmail.com

All our links: https://linktr.ee/pilotsofthecaribbeanpod

* Affiliate disclaimer: some of the above links maybe affiliate links, which may generate a sales commission.*

Caribbean Drone News Page

This month on Caribbean Drone News, Jamaica picks up hardware on two completely different fronts. Prime Minister Andrew Holness accepted the 2026 Esri President's Award for the National Drone Response that mapped Hurricane Melissa in real time, while Jamaica's Drone Soccer team came home from South Korea with a fifth place finish and a funding model worth studying. DJI also quietly flew its first cargo eVTOL near the summit of Mount Everest, hitting the highest documented altitude for a cargo drone in its class. And the FCC closed out July by expanding its covered list to foreign made robots and grid equipment, a move AUVSI welcomed with one major caveat. Alan Gabriel breaks down what each story means for operators and manufacturers watching the region. Tune in to catch up on the month in Caribbean and global drone news.

The Pilots of the Caribbean Podcast recommends the Pilot Institute - Part 107 Made Easy course for anyone looking to prepare to sit the part 107 exam and become a licensed commercial drone operator.

Website: https://pilotsofthecaribbeanpod.com

Email: pilotsofthecaribbeanpod@gmail.com

All our links: https://linktr.ee/pilotsofthecaribbeanpod

* Affiliate disclaimer: some of the above links maybe affiliate links, which may generate a sales commission.*

Code: CARIBBEAN100

Discount: $100 off an Exhibit Hall Only Pass or a Full Conference Pass

Direct registration link (code pre-applied): https://www.xpressreg.net/register/UAVA0926/landing.php?sc=CARIBBEAN100

Devon McKellop episode

Brian Smith episodes - Episode 1 | Episode 2

Ram Fish / 19Labs episode

The Caribbean drone industry had a big June.

In this month's Caribbean Drone News, Alan Gabriel covers four stories from Jamaica and Guyana that are quietly reshaping what's possible for UAS operators in the region.
Jamaica's national drone soccer team returned from California undefeated, defeating teams from the US, Canada, Mexico, and Kazakhstan.

Jamaican competitor Omar Cockett is heading to the World Skills Competition — one of the largest vocational skills events on the planet — to compete in the unmanned aerial systems category.

In Guyana, Dragonfly Drones formally launched an international joint venture with Canadian firm Automox Offshore.

The Ministry of Health completed drone-supported medical deliveries to riverine communities along the Mahicony River as part of a broader logistics rollout.

Tune in to get the full breakdown, the context behind each story, and why these developments matter for the wider Caribbean drone space.

The Pilots of the Caribbean Podcast recommends the Pilot Institute - Part 107 Made Easy course for anyone looking to prepare to sit the part 107 exam and become a licensed commercial drone operator.

Website: https://pilotsofthecaribbeanpod.com

Email: pilotsofthecaribbeanpod@gmail.com

All our links: https://linktr.ee/pilotsofthecaribbeanpod

* Affiliate disclaimer: some of the above links maybe affiliate links, which may generate a sales commission.*

COMMERCIAL UAV EXPO 2026 — EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT
Use code CARIBBEAN100 to save $100 on an Exhibit Hall Pass or Full Conference Pass.
Register here (code pre-applied): https://www.xpressreg.net/register/UAVA0926/landing.php?sc=CARIBBEAN100

Matt Collins has spent the last year learning the commercial drone industry from the inside — as the man who shapes the program at Commercial UAV Expo and runs editorial at Commercial UAV News. In this episode, he gives an unfiltered read on where the industry stands in 2026.

We get into the real gap between AI marketing and actual field use, why the FCC Covered List's biggest threat is the hobbyist-to-professional pipeline, what the Part 108 NPRM got wrong, and why Caribbean drone operators are still missing from global industry data — and what to do about it.

Matt also walks through what's new at Commercial UAV Expo 2026 (September 1-3, Las Vegas): roundtable sessions, the Level Up Lounge, a new focus on agriculture, and a state of the industry keynote with Pilot Institute's Greg Hughes.

Tune in to discover how to get the Caribbean drone community into the global conversation — straight from someone who writes and edits that conversation daily.

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CONNECT WITH MATT COLLINS
LinkedIn: Search "Matt Collins Commercial UAV" on LinkedIn
Website / Event: https://www.expouav.com
News: https://commercialuavnews.com
Contact: info@commercialuavnews.com
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The Pilots of the Caribbean Podcast recommends the Pilot Institute - Part 107 Made Easy course for anyone looking to prepare to sit the part 107 exam and become a licensed commercial drone operator.

Website: https://pilotsofthecaribbeanpod.com

Email: pilotsofthecaribbeanpod@gmail.com

All our links: https://linktr.ee/pilotsofthecaribbeanpod

* Affiliate disclaimer: some of the above links maybe affiliate links, which may generate a sales commission.*