From Droneport.com: “As reported by GulfNews.com, the US Navy is testing new autonomous technology in a sensor and software package that can turn any helicopter into cargo drones. With little input from the Marines they are destined to serve, the autonomous cargo helos will adapt to unexpected situations, including low visibility, they will encounter at combat landing zones.”
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Droneport: FAA Flight Standards Issues Notice to Inspectors on Logging Drone Pilot Time
From Droneport.com, “Because it is getting more requests in the field, the FAA Flight Standards Division, whose aviation safety inspectors conduct pilot certification duties, recently issued a notice, Logging of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Pilot Time. It clarifies questions raised by drone pilots who request credit for flight time logged on drones.” Read the rest of Droneport.com Editor Scott Spangler’s take here.
UAVs and sliced airspace
By DAVE HOOK. The time is approaching when manned aircraft will be sharing the skies with unmanned drones on a regular basis in the United States. Late last year the FAA named six UAV operators to test unmanned aircraft flying in the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS). The testing sites and ranges have not been […]
Texas A&M conducts drone research
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Just weeks after its designation as one of six federally-approved test sites for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi will conduct several test flights over South Texas ranchland to continue research and training on the RS-16 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The recent FAA test site designation, announced Dec. 30, […]
FAA slowing drone use to fight wildfires
Fire fighters hoping to use drones to “map a fire’s size and speed, and identify hot spots,” are running up against FAA regulation. A New York Times story notes a drone is precluded, “from operating out of sight of a ground-based pilot. If distance or the smoke of a wildfire obscures a drone from observers on the ground, a piloted […]
UAS operation in the homeland
“According to a recent national poll conducted by Monmouth University in New Jersey, nearly two-thirds of Americans support the use of unmanned aircraft [systems] (UAS) to protect the U.S. borders and control illegal immigration. Eighty percent of Americans support the use of unmanned aircraft to help in search and rescue missions.” The above is included in Michael Toscano’s prepared testimony for the House Committee on […]