"The students study the regular curriculum on top of the aviation portion. It’s inspiring and impressive. Those who are keen, they know at an early stage, and having the opportunity to have formal, proper drone training, with other aviation requirements, is very good." - Sterling Cripps, president and CFI for his company Canadian Unmanned Inc.

Prairie Rose School Division hosted the second annual Drone Games on June 5, 2023, where over 70 students in the Southern Alberta Flight Academy tested their skills and were judged by volunteers involved in the drone industry.

Dana Marshall is the lead teacher of the Southern Alberta Flight Academy, the only flight academy high-school program in Canada, and said her students have gone through drone training for two months and were excited to showcase their skills. 

“These types of events are going to reach the kids who are interested in this topic. It creates space for them to feel safe, where they feel they belong, and that’s important,” says Marshall. 

The drone industry is growing significantly, and the students will be three years ahead when they graduate from the program. Throughout the years, the students receive their pilots license and build an RV plane, a two-seat single-engine, low wing airplane, among other hands-on knowledge.

“They graduate with mechanic, flight, and drone skills. We are going to be branching out the program, so students can get the mechanics certificate, and we’re working on a partnership with NAV Canada for students interested in air traffic control,” says Marshall. 

There were four stations set up with volunteer judges that focused on a specific skill. The top three students who received the most points won a prize pack at the end of the event. Sterling Cripps is the president and CFI for his company Canadian Unmanned Inc., and was a volunteer for the day. 

His passion for aviation started a long time ago, with being a pilot and flight instructor. In 2007, he took the opportunity as chief operations officer with Canadian Centre for Unmanned Vehicle Systems. He developed Canada’s first drone training course in 2009, and trained over 2,600 students from coast to coast.

“The students study the regular curriculum on top of the aviation portion. It’s inspiring and impressive. Those who are keen, they know at an early stage, and having the opportunity to have formal, proper drone training, with other aviation requirements, is very good,” says Cripps.

He says these types of events are rare, very few and far between, and most drone flying in the country is for work. When events like this are put together, a fun event that instills interest while also giving a little competitive edge, it allows students to support each other, test their skills, and have a good time doing it. 

“It’s a privilege to be here and to see the students fly. I’ve been at the leading edge with drone work, and to see this home-grown course is really great for the industry and the City of Medicine Hat,” says Cripps.