AeroRev Co-Pilot Launches to Help Drone Pilots Build Businesses

Amy T. Wiegand, founder of Earhart Alden & Associates, has launched a new business development platform called AeroRev Co-Pilot. The platform aims to help certified commercial drone pilots turn their technical skills into sustainable revenue streams, addressing a common challenge after obtaining a Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate.

Wiegand told DRONELIFE she receives frequent feedback about the difficulty of building a business. She said she gets a lot of feedback on the need to understand how to build and grow this business, and that most newly certified pilots stall on the business side. She identified common mistakes like buying equipment before validating a market, quoting jobs below true cost, and creating poor marketing materials.

From Certification to Customers

The challenge is particularly acute for solo operators and small service providers. While a pilot may know how to execute a mission, running a business requires different skills. Key questions include which services to offer, local market demand, job costing, pricing strategies, and how to create professional proposals to secure repeatable work.

AeroRev is designed to guide pilots through these questions in stages. The program covers market selection, customer discovery, capabilities and compliance, service design and pricing, marketing, operations, and market entry. Wiegand emphasizes it is not another flight-training course. She said it does not teach you how to fly. It helps you decide which market to serve, set defensible pricing, and produce the real deliverables that close deals.

The platform provides specific deliverables, including a niche and market scorecard, a cost model and price book, proposal and contract materials, a website, and a compliance checklist. Client-facing documents must pass a human approval step before they can be sent to potential customers. Progress is results-based. Wiegand noted that you do not advance by watching content. You level up when your numbers and deliverables work.

Building Around Real Commercial Drone Work

Wiegand says the platform's guidance is based on input from working drone service providers, not just general business theory. This includes collaboration with Jared Janacek, founder of TexasDroneCo, who contributed experience from commercial operations to the platform's pricing logic and practical guidance.

Janacek highlighted the common pitfall of business mistakes over flying errors. He said in the launch announcement that he has flown the jobs and sent the invoices, and the mistakes are almost always business mistakes, not flying mistakes. He added that the Co-Pilot is the partner he wishes he had when he started.

Wiegand brings over 30 years of experience in growth, operations, sales, and marketing to the project. Her involvement in unmanned aviation began while running a flight school in Virginia. In 2016, that school became the first to facilitate a formal small UAS training program for the State of Virginia. She has also advised on aviation technologies including Unmanned Traffic Management and Advanced Air Mobility.

Testing a Path From Pilot to Business Owner

AeroRev was introduced earlier this year through Commercial UAV Expo's Innovation Spotlight. The public beta and waitlist opened on September 1 as Wiegand continues to test and refine the model.

Pilots can start with a complimentary Discovery Flight, a self-guided, audio-based consultation that takes about 40 minutes. This session evaluates the operator's current business standing and produces a readiness report with a recommended path. No credit card is required. Pilots can then join a waitlist for upcoming Essentials and Advisory offerings.

The goal is to measure whether the process can help operators move more quickly from certification to consistent, paid work. For an industry focused on aircraft, sensors, and training, the business side of operations often receives less attention. Yet for independent pilots, technical capability only becomes a sustainable business when customers are willing to pay enough for the work.

Wiegand framed the platform's mission simply. She said certification gets pilots in the air. She added that they wanted to give them a practical co-pilot that helps them choose the right niche, price with confidence, and turn skills into profitable, professional operations.