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Jimmy Caniff and Rick Kimberlin, both veterans and former Black Hawk helicopter pilots, are targeting their expertise in a field they feel is the next frontier for the flight industry: drone aviation.
With the launch of their joint venture, Blackhawk Aerial Imaging, in 2017, Caniff and Kimberlin hope to leverage their training to offer professional drone imaging services for an array of clients and applications, from marketing campaigns and real estate sales to event coverage and industrial building inspections.
Caniff and Kimberlin first met while stationed together in the Army National Guard C Company, 169th Medevac unit based out of Frankfort, Kentucky. Since retiring from the Army National Guard—Caniff as a captain and Kimberlin as a chief warrant officer—both worked as EMS helicopter pilots before embarking on a career as commercial pilots flying out of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport for PSA Airlines, a regional carrier owned by American Airlines.
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Blackhawk Aerial Imaging co-founders Rick Kimberlin and Jimmy Caniff say the potential for drone-assisted imaging to assist in dangerous jobs such as cell tower and bridge inspections is only beginning to be explored.
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In their time outside of the cockpit, the business partners have steadily grown Blackhawk Aerial Imaging from a side venture into an in-demand provider of high-tech imaging services.
“We started Blackhawk because we felt we had a different edge that other people in the market didn’t have, thanks to our military background and our professional pilot experience,” Kimberlin said.
While they’ve honed their videography and photography skills on the fly, so to speak, Kimberlin and Caniff’s extensive and diverse aviation background have served them well in knowledge of how aerospace works, in navigating FAA regulations and in obtaining the necessary waivers to fly the drones safely and legally.
“We provide our customers with a means for them to go hands-off in terms of dealing with the regulatory restrictions, the FAA requirements and the risk management that’s involved in flying these drones." — Jimmy Caniff
“We provide our customers with a means for them to go hands-off in terms of dealing with the regulatory restrictions, the FAA requirements and the risk management that’s involved in flying these drones, while still getting the product they’re looking for without all the hassle,” Caniff said.
Blackhawk is the designated drone imaging provider for Lexington-based Prosper Media Group and has helped supply aerial imaging for an array of public relations and advertising projects, including overhead shots of Keeneland’s spring 2017 meet, which were broadcast on NBC Sports’ live racing coverage of the Bluegrass Stakes.
“Getting permission to fly over Keeneland, since it’s so close to the Blue Grass Airport, really took some doing,” Kimberlin said. “It took us about four or five months of working with the FAA to get that approval.”
The pair has also filmed aerial images at iconic Central Kentucky locations including Buffalo Trace Distillery and the first-ever Horse Capital Marathon.
Rick Kimberlin monitors a drone in flight.
But Caniff and Kimberlin feel the real untapped potential for their services may lie in the industrial sector, where the power of drone imaging as an inspection tool is only beginning to be realized. Already, their drones have provided high-definition imaging to assist cell companies in inspecting their towers and have enabled large, industrial manufacturing facilities to pinpoint the location of leaks in their roofs.
“The drones … allow us to deliver images without requiring a person to do an inspection in what could be a dangerous situation,” Caniff said.
Both Caniff and Kimberlin feel further applications for the drone industry are on the verge of a boom, and they’re excited to be on the front lines of a new field of aviation.
“The [commercial drone] industry has been around as we know it only for about six years,” said Caniff, alluding to 2012 legislation that updated FAA regulations to include drone flight. “So this whole thing is still in its infancy.”
Most of Blackhawk Aerial Imaging’s drones are manufactured by a company called DJI, weigh between six and eight pounds, and have a wingspan of about two feet. Some are equipped with integrated high-definition video cameras, while others utilize forward-looking infrared cameras, which are ideal at spotting roof leaks at night, Caniff explained.
Among other applications, the thermal cameras can also be utilized to find shorts in power lines.
Caniff and Kimberlin said their years of working in Central Kentucky’s aviation industry have given them a vast network of fellow pilots who they hope to incorporate into their team of drone operators as their business grows.
Said Caniff: “All of us realize that unmanned aviation technology is the next big thing.”