CANARY MAGAZINE

We speak with Jonathan Román,  Born in Seville and happy to live in the Canary Islands, he is a man who puts a lot of soul in everything he does. It is because of that passion for its customers that Canarias-Stock is more than just a drone shop.

Near Las Canteras beach, sheltered from the Atlantic, you have located your drone shop, where it not only sells but also repairs and is a pilot school.

We are official technical service of well-known brands because drone repair is something unique and that distinguishes us from the rest.

How is insularity handled when running the business?

He gets along very well, I can't tell. I send and receive the packages by mail. After receiving the drones, I make an estimate, it is sent with notification, I record explanatory videos and the clients are happy. In fact, I have clients from all over the Spanish geography, the  85% of customers are from the peninsula, both for repair and for sales.

Jonathan, when they talk to me about drones I think of toys but in your store you sell very elaborate devices too.

They call it toys but although we see some at a low price, they are not toys.

Then,  What is a drone?

It's a Unmanned aerial vehicle and we handle it through radio control. It is known by the acronym  UAV or  in English RPAS.

You have to know a lot before putting a drone into flight, such as where it is allowed to fly. And it must be taken into account that according to the uses of  permit and take drone pilot courses.

How do you train to fly a drone?

With the new regulations that changed on 1/1/2021, the weight of the drone is taken into account, among other things, according to this if the drone has more than 250 grams, apart from knowing the manual you have to know how to fly it; In other words, you must have the AESA certificate, also the insurance, the identification plate of the drone and the issuer.

Permits vary depending on private or professional uses.

Age is something important, from 18 years old is when you can get the pilot's title. With the new regulation it is the same as with the old one.

 Jonathan in his corner repairing drones

What investment is necessary to have the title?

The title of  pilot consists of the theoretical and practical part.  And also certified through AESA. The theorist is free and then with an academy like ours, the practical is taken out, which costs 40 to 90 euros.

The later practices are advisable, to fly the drone  Because even if you have the permit because you know how to put it into operation, that is not the same as learning to drive the drone. I advise doing some practice to control the device well.

What uses are given to drones?

Well, at a particular level, today, it is used for aerial photography, videos ... Besides this there are other more specific uses  and very varied: the police use them because it makes it easier for them to monitor them and they also use them as a control tool. They are important in surveying,  for the army and even in humanitarian aid transporting medicines in countries without other means.

Drones today do much of the work that was common with helicopters.

In messaging, for example, Amazon that has already done tests for parcels and in the near future will be used to take packages home

Tell us how did you get into this world?

14 years ago I learned electronics, although that has nothing to do with the drone itself,  But since I am a person who studies things with curiosity, with my knowledge and that interest I bought a plastic drone and  I started working on it.

I was mounting and dismounting because it did not fly well, I added and removed and began to fix one and the other ... And until now I continue working on it with the same enthusiasm as at the beginning.

I really like my job, I already liked the computer part and I was lucky enough to get into this world just when I was going to leave, at the key moment, to set up a drone sales company  and drone repair.

In these years, how has this business evolved?

In the past, drones were assembled by hand, they were configured by hand and it was almost a miracle that this drone flew for 10 minutes. Today there are many brands that sell the fully configured drone, you take it out with your mobile and fly. They go for miles and last 30 or 40 minutes of flight.

In your opinion, how do you expect access to and use of drones to continue to evolve?

There is a problem in Spain and it is that it is very behind in technology. It would be important to catch up with China, the US, the UK. Technology worldwide  advance that you do not see.

The Spanish government wants to allocate a budget for this. There are projects and it was about time.

On the other hand, there are the restrictions on the flight of drones and we have many restrictions when it comes to flying, both professionally and personally. This needs to be improved.

Is there a fear of drones?

Many media have focused it badly and that idea has been catching on, but on a day-to-day basis, the reality is quite the opposite.

Drones have a very positive part that is unknown. They are of great help to professionals: surveying, photography and  increasingly essential to save human lives. They use them in salvage so much  firefighters such as army and police. They can be ordered to defuse a bomb and without risk to a person.

 Jonathan lives his work with passion

We have found you on social networks and we see that you are very active.

I have 3 Facebook groups: sales, commercial and technical service. Also on Instagram and Tik Tok where I show new or repaired drones and clarify basic functions. And tutorials on Youtube.

Did you start on YouTube because of the pandemic?

No, no .. I've been on the YouTube channel for 11 years. I got involved in the issue of repair or recording of my flights.

Every 3 days I upload a repair. There is no company that does. I record the drone repairs and upload it. I don't think that makes me lose clients, as some people have told me. On the contrary: there are always people who dare to try. But generally people trust me and send me drones to fix them.

Those who dare and  lo  they successfully get write to me grateful. I think that helping people is a plus for the store and for me.

Jonathan, in his Tomas Miller store  He treats customers who approach with professionalism and care, both those who already know how to fly and those who have never touched a drone. It gives them information and advises them according to the desired uses.