About us | Florida Aerial Survey Technologies

Meet the owners

These guys know their stuff.

Our aerial surveying and drone mapping crews are lead by Andrew and Scott. They are veterans of the construction and survey world with decades of combined experience in the technology, survey, and construction industries. They both enjoy coffee and working hard to get their clients quality data in a reliable, easy to use form. Read more about their backgrounds below.

Andrew Kobza

Licensed UAS & Private Pilot and Owning Partner.

Andrew specializes in all things tech. At FAST he operates and co-ordinates our drone fleets and manages the data processing. A veteran of the construction industry, Andrew has been on construction sites since he could walk, often accompanying his father who owns a general contracting firm in Naples.

Andrew has been flying since he was 15. He started out flying Cessna 172s and moved into RC and Drones when learning flight characteristics of planes during crosswind landings. He has been a licensed UAS pilot since the day the Part 107 license came out and has owned and operated his Florida based drone services company, Professional Drone Solutions, since 2016.

His experience in technology goes back over 20 years to when he would take stereo systems apart and reassemble them. From stereo systems to computer hardware to software development and website coding, Andrews passion and skill in technology has grown steadily and quickly over the years. He handles the day to day tasks and heads up FASTs R&D, ultimately benefiting our clients through increased productivity and responsiveness of our employees and systems.

Scott Rhodes

Licensed Surveyor and Owning Partner

Scott is a distinguished professional with over 41 years of experience in surveying and mapping. He launched his career in 1984 as a rod man with Wilson, Miller, Barton, Soll, and Peek in Naples, Florida. His exceptional skills led him to become a crew chief by 1989, and by 1994, he was supervising as a Cad Technician. Scott earned his Florida surveying license in 1997, and he is also licensed in Kentucky.

In 1997, Scott and his brother Tom founded Rhodes and Rhodes Land Surveying in Bonita Springs, Florida, where Scott has played a crucial role in the company’s success and in 2018 he took over as the sole owner of Rhodes & Rhodes.

In 2023, Scott became a managing partner at Florida Aerial Survey Technologies, applying his extensive background in surveying and mapping to oversee high-quality aerial survey operations. His commitment to excellence is evident in his meticulous review of data sets post-flight, ensuring that every deliverable maintains the highest standards before reaching clients. His broad expertise and leadership are instrumental in advancing the capabilities and reliability of the aerial survey services provided by Florida Aerial Survey Technologies.

What we Stand for

FAST is more than a name to us.

FAIR

Legal, Competitive, Honest.

Florida statutes and federal regulations lay out clear requirements and licensing for both surveying and commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations. Florida Aerial Surveying Technologies is licensed and insured in both surveying and UAV piloting. Our program isn’t an afterthought either. We fully understand the technology we use and our executives have over 8 years of flying experience, 30 years of licensed surveying experience, 15 years of IT and data management, and numerous successful companies. Our company plays by the rules- we are fair.

ACCURATE

Billions of points. Complete Accuracy.

Our surveys return anywhere from tens of millions to tens of billions of GPS referenced points in a point cloud. Each of these points are accurately geo-referenced to within a small window of error and signed off on by a licensed surveyor. With these measurements and other data, we can render job sites, create CAD files, calculate volume, and much more. Compared to a traditional survey utilizing a grid every 10-20-50 feet, our survey gives thousands of points per square meter, giving our data much tighter tolerances. Our data is Accurate.

SWIFT

Fast. Stealthy. Rapid.

Our methods allow us to process data at an unsurpassed rate, with very tight tolerances, with very little disturbance to our clients projects. Our time on site is usually 1-3 hours, with 3 hours allowing us to capture around 200 acres of surveying data. The post production of our data is where most of the magic happens and we use custom-built, specialized computers to sift through our data at lightning speed. This allows a complete turn around time of 3-5 days for our expedited orders, even on sites as large as 300 acres. Our company is swift.

THOROUGH

Whether you know what you need or not.

Our technology captures a completely accurate to scale, digitized model of your project. From this model we pull our data and do our calculations. The model is then saved to ensure that no matter what may arise you have what you need. Need a volume of a dirt pile from 3 months ago but forgot to ask, not a problem, if you have monthly or bi-monthly flights with us, we have that volume for you- whether you asked for it 3 months ago or today. Our tech is Thorough.