You wouldn't necessarily expect a regional town known for its gold mining and agriculture to be the next "centre of drone excellence", but this father and son did.
Flight Design research and development manager Robert Brand and his son, Jason, are setting up a facility at West Wyalong in the New South Wales Riverina to study, develop, and analyse aerospace and space hardware.
The 70-year-old has high hopes for some of the potentially "lifesaving" hardware.
He said it could have been valuable during the Black Summer bushfires and recent flood emergency in the east of the country.
"My house was one of the first almost to be burnt down in the 2019 fires in Hazelbrook [in the Blue Mountains]," he said.
"This changes the whole game, totally."
Testing technology
The facility will also host workshops for people wanting to learn how to fly drones, get their licences, and provide a space for organisations to test their own technology.
The Brands started working on a project to send balloons into the sky that will stabilise at an altitude of about 16 kilometres, something Robert Brand said had never been achieved.
"They'll have solar power, they'll have batteries, they'll be able to just motor gently against the wind up there, which is pretty light," he said.
"We can fly a system to a disaster zone and provide visuals of what's going on, and provide radio communications to people on the ground.
"If we can do that, it will change this country."
The most recent balloon launch, which contained a prototype sensor for a future mission to Mars, testing flight systems, cameras, controllers, and stabilisers, was a success.
Mr Brand said the technology could also be used by farmers, universities, space enterprises and environmental workers.
"We'll see drone activity multiply by, I don't know, I'm forecasting about 20-fold in the next five years," he said.
Built first drone as 11yo
At 20, Jason Brand is the CEO of Flight Design.
He is also the youngest person to win the Australian Industry and Defence Network Young Achiever New South Wales award.
"I was nine years old the first time we went on a balloon launch," he said.
"Long story short: the amateur radio club we knew were going to do one.
"They said, 'It's too difficult, we're not going to do it', so sad and I decided that we wanted to and it all started from there."
Growing up, school never agreed with Jason. He barely got his Higher School Certificate.
So, he took matters into his own hands, literally.
Jason built his first drone at the age of 11, and put together computers shortly after.
Tough, but rewarding
Robert works closely with his son to create never-before-used technology.
They both have a shared vision to innovate and improve systems.
Originally, Robert, with his lifetime of experience working for telecommunications companies and even the Apollo 11 mission, was leading the charge.
But that has recently changed, with Jason taking control.
It has been quite the journey.
"It can be tough. It can be very tough," Jason laughed.
"It can, but it can be really rewarding too," Robert chimed in.
"The most important thing is setting those boundaries and knowing the difference between work and actually being dad and son," Jason said.
Unique opportunity
Bland Shire Council executive assistant Julie Sharpe said it was an "exciting opportunity" for West Wyalong.
The council hired local and regional contractors to build the hangar at the airport.
"We can be at the forefront through our partnership in the development and testing of this new and modern technology, which is only going to expand in years to come," Ms Sharpe said.
