UAV News Talk – Drone News, eVTOLs, UAS Policy & Air Mobility

Authority for drone registration would return to the FAA if the National Defense Authorization Act is signed into law. Airbus subsidiary A³ is building full-scale demonstrators of an electric single-seat tilt-rotor VTOL aircraft for a fleet of autonomous self-piloted taxis, LAANC is starting at four airports, AT&T deploys their Cell on Wings, and AOPA holds their first Drone Talk webinar. UAV...

Additional details of the FAA UAS Integration Pilot Program have emerged, with webinars held on that topic by the FAA and others. Also, Boeing’s acquisition of Aurora Flight Sciences is complete, NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) is expanding its research scope to include Urban Air Mobility, and drone strikes on manned aircraft. UAV News UAS Integration Pilot Program Webinar T...

CNN gets a waiver for a newsgathering drone, DJI offers an electronic license plate for drones and will quiz pilots before first flight, more on the Drone Integration Pilot Program, and drone regulations in India. UAV News CNN gets a first-of-its-kind waiver to fly drones over crowds CNN received a Part 107 waiver from the FAA to fly the  Vantage Robotics  Snap over people as a newsgathe...

President Trump directs the DOT and FAA to launch an Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program, a company drops out of the Navy MQ-25A Stingray competition, a long endurance drone flies for five days, and a microbot swims underwater and flies in the air. UAV News President Donald Trump  and  Secretary Elaine L. Chao Announce Innovative Drone Integration Pilot Program In a ...

Interviews from the 2017 Big Drone Show in Toronto, Canada with Tablet-EX-Gear, Gyrfalcon Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Global UAV Technologies, High Eye Aerial Imaging, and UAV Tower Innovations. The Big Drone Show The  Big Drone Show  was held September 27-28, 2017 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, and David recorded interviews with a number of exhibitors: Brian Saunders , president...

An Autonomous Air Taxi test flight over Dubai, the SpiderMAV perching drone, Flirtey plans for delivery of emergency defibrillators by drone, using the Insitu ScanEagle to fight wildfires, the Zenmuse X7 professional camera, and drones for traffic management studies. UAV News Volocopter Completes Test Flight Over Dubai The German-designed Volocopter (recently renamed the Autonomous Air Taxi or AAT...

The DJI Matrice 200 Series for enterprise commercial solutions, drone package delivery to your fingertips, new drone flight restrictions, a hybrid drone that spins around a pole, and Boeing’s acquisition of Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation. UAV News The future of drone delivery Cambridge Consultants  has a drone delivery concept where packages are delivered directly into your hands, no matt...

Interviews with The Sky Guys, Defiant Labs, and the Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre at the 2017 Big Drone Show in Toronto, Canada. UAV News Ruling gives FAA more power over drones than local governments Newton, Massachusetts enacted drone rules that included the requirement to register with every municipality you will fly over, and flights over private and city property must be at an altitude of...

The Matternet autonomous drone package delivery network, reasons the drone industry job market is hot, studying the risk of injury when drones strike people, drones and transmission line cable construction, actuator servos and the Aerosonde Mk4.7 sUAS, and a webinar for planning your drone program. UAV News The  first  autonomous drone delivery network will fly above Switzerland starting...

ICAO proposes a global drone registry, a multi-rotor endurance record, a major change at  Drone360  magazine, tracking drones with cellular networks, drone support following Hurricane Irma, and more swarming technology. UAV News U.N. aviation agency to call for global drone registry The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) proposed a global database of drone owners. The datab...

Using drones for disaster relief, a new marketplace for used drones, a drone park for a Florida county, unmanned aircraft replacing manned helicopters, bright career prospects for drone pilots, and fighting pollution with gas-sniffing drones. UAV News Amateur Drones Over Houston Endangering Rescue Choppers, Officials Say The Texas Military Department representing the Texas Army National Guard, the...

A bladeless drone wins a design award, women to watch in UAS, drone support for Hurricane Harvey, DJI issues a mandatory firmware update, Customs and Border Protection nabs a drug runner, video gamers as drone pilots, and talking drones from Amazon. UAV News The Dyson of Drones Mexican designer Edgar Herrera has created a concept for a bladeless drone that is a winner in the 2017 Red Dot Design Co...

A new drone racing league takes shape, an unmanned aircraft vehicle traffic management system is planned for Kansas, Northrop Grumman’s MQ-25 drone tanker testbed was spotted, a Phantom landed on an aircraft carrier, DJI responds to issues over data transmission, and drones assist in a rescue mission. UAV News Professional drone racers start new league with six teams and big inaugural event in Eve...

DJI drones come under attack for data transmissions, the U.S. Army responds, military installations get approval to take down drones, a Navy fighter is forced to take evasive action, automated approval to fly in airport airspace, and thrust-assisted perching. UAV News Drone Data Security sUAS News describes the data they say is collected during the flight of a DJI drone, logged into your DJI Go ap...

Max and  @dronemama  visit Smith College and talk to the summer drone class, 3DR and DJI join resources, drones assist with invasive snakes, Farmers Insurance expands the use of UAS, and a drone privacy spat on Twitter. Drone Class at Smith College Max spoke to the  SSEP Drone Class  at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. The class is part of the College’s  Summer...

The UK plans to require registration for drones over 250 grams, a study looks at drone strikes on aircraft windscreens, a transformable UAV is under development, Airbus tested their Sagitta demonstrator, some DJI Sparks are experiencing a problem, and draft Technical Standard Orders win AOPA approval. UAV News Drones to be registered and users to sit safety tests under new government rules Drone r...

The Test Range Manager of the Warm Springs FAA UAS Test Range joins us as our guest. Guest Liz Stalford is the FAA UAS Test Range Manager for the Warm Springs – University of Alaska, Fairbanks Pan Pacific Unmanned Test Range Complex (PPUTRC). The complex is one of six official FAA test sites in the United States. It spans seven climate zones, allowing UAS manufacturers and potential users to...

A year after the crash of the prototype, testing of the Piaggio HammerHead UAS is underway again. We also look at drones and field biology, security, and swarming technology. UAV News Piaggio Aerospace Resumes Test Flights of Hammerhead UAV In May 2016, the prototype  Piaggio Aerospace P.1HH HammerHead  UAV crashed off the coast of Sicily. Reportedly, there were flight control syste...

Telecommunication drone tests from MIT and Verizon, flying near firefighters, pipeline inspection, drone registration refunds for recreational operators, and the UAS Identification and Tracking Aviation Rulemaking Committee. UAV News MIT Develops Gas-Powered UAV That Can Stay Aloft for Five Days This fixed-wing, long-endurance UAV was developed to provide temporary telecommunications service for d...

A look back at the first 200 episodes and a peek into topics that might get our attention in the future, including regulatory actions that result from FAA reauthorization. To celebrate the 200th episode, David and Max take a step back from the usual format and reminisce about the issues that were important when the podcast started in 2013. The main topic then was whether or not to call them “drone...

The director of the GENIUS NY accelerator competition for unmanned systems describes how they are helping UAS companies become successful. Guest Jonathan Parry is the Director of  GENIUS NY , an in-residence business accelerator program at the CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity (CEO) Tech Garden in Syracuse, New York. As the world’s largest accelerator competition for unmanned s...

The Drone Racing League gains sponsors and additional funding, NASA UAS traffic management testing, the impact of Taylor  v.  FAA on commercial drone operators, iRobotics proposes a drone race across the Pacific, and drones swarm in China. UAV News The Drone Racing League (DRL) Announces International Partnerships For 2017 Race Season, Close Of Series B Investment Round The Drone Racing...

NASA UAS Traffic Management system testing at the UAS test sites, Arizona law enforcement uses a drone to find a missing man, a drone company becomes a drone data company, DARPA studies mid-flight multitasking for small drones, a University of Calgary study of drone incidents, and fuel cells for drones. UAV News NIAS and NASA test the Next Phase of NASA’s UAS Traffic Management System Tests for NA...

The DJI Spark, Snap Inc. interest in drones, the ANSI UAS Standardization Collaborative, the Drone Federalism Act of 2017, Florida utility company using drones, the MQ-25A Stingray carrier-launched unmanned tanker, a drone camp for girls, and NATE embraces drones. UAV News DJI brings gesture control to consumer drones with the diminutive Spark The $499  DJI Spark  mini-drone recognizes y...

A court ruling halts recreational drone registration in the U.S. while China implements a new drone registration requirement. Also, a fast fixed-wing VTOL UAV, heavy-lift delivery drones, remote pilot training in Australia, a long-endurance solar powered unmanned sailplane, and some new drone swarming applications. UAV News Court Strikes Down Drone Registration Requirement The U.S. Court of Appeal...