UASidekick is a simple to use, mobile app that provides near instantaneous airspace authorizations (LAANC and NOTAMs) and interactive flight planning safety tools. The company’s mission is to solve a very specific set of challenges facing UAS pilots today by helping to remove the complexity of understanding and gaining access to the National Airspace System (NAS). By streamlining processes and creating an intuitive user interface, UASidekick provides a means for commercial UAS professionals, public safety operators and recreational pilots to “File and Fly”, usually in less than 30 seconds.
One key component of safety in the NAS is weather which is why UASidekick has partnered with ClimaCell to provide the most accurate MicroWeather available today. By leveraging a combination of traditional aviation weather resources and combining them with data streams from millions of IoT devices (smart city sensors, traffic cameras, cell phone information, etc.), ClimaCell is able to provide 500-meter by 500-meter hyperlocal weather reports and forecasting. This same technology is being leveraged by legacy airspace users such as JetBlue and other major airlines to better manage low-altitude operations around airports.
Traditional weather companies repackage the same government data and models. ClimaCell sees the world differently and turns everything around us … from windshield wipers to cellular towers … into virtual weather sensors feeding proprietary weather models. This combination of old school and new world data produces accurate, actionable, minute-by-minute, street-by-street reporting that provides UAS operators with weather specifically tailored to low-altitude airspace users. In addition, ClimaCell’s real-time forecasts help pilots make the right risk calculations to maximize safe flying time before hazardous conditions develop.
“Our goal at UASidekick is to help pilots be safe when they take to the skies. Providing next generation tools, such as ClimaCell’s MicroWeather solution, is essential to moving the UAS industry forward. Understanding weather at this level of detail provides a new capability for strategic flight planning that allows operators to maximize productivity while minimizing liability and risks to equipment and people on the ground.” – UASidekick CEO, Nathan Ruff.
Based on loss-ratio analysis, it was determined that UASidekick’s flight planning tools significantly improve safety in the NAS. Due to the fact that safer pilots mean fewer accidents, Allianz Global Insurance and Transport Risk Management offer up to a 25% discount off market insurance rates and broader coverage to the app’s users. This new MicroWeather capability only enhances pilots’ safety in the skies.
Knowing the best time to fly, and not fly, allows commercial drone operators to improve operational efficiency that has meaningful bottom-line implications to their business. Similar to UASidekick’s ability to provide preplanned LAANC authorizations or further coordination requests weeks in advance, ClimaCell forecasting allows pilots to proactively factor in future weather conditions to make calculated and safe mission schedules preventing them from wasting valuable time and money by driving to a site only to have an unsuccessful mission closed-out due to bad weather.
UASidekick is excited to announce that it will be releasing an enhanced version of the MicroWeather solution next month that will include vicinity-based hazardous weather alerts. Notifications of thunderstorm microbursts, squall lines, lightning strikes and more will be proactively pushed to pilots to minimize weather-based surprises. The app’s goal is to truly be a helpful Sidekick for UAS pilots that streamlines processes, removes headaches, and helps keep the UAS community safe. By focusing specifically on airspace access and safety, UASidekick remains dedicated to providing safety-enhancing tools at a price ($4.99/month) that makes them accessible for all pilots.
