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

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, Part 107 implications for business, UAS for NOAA, and a drone detecting system. News The Air Force’s space drone has been in orbit for over 500 days — and its mission is classified The Boeing X-37B looks a little like a baby Space Shuttle, and its purpose is not public. The Impact of Commercial UAVs on Corporate America Part 1 The author writes about the impact of U...

Aviation safety analyst Dr. Todd Curtis discusses unmanned aircraft safety. Guest Dr. Todd Curtis is an aviation safety analyst, author, and publisher. He founded  AirSafe.com  in 1996 to provide the public with useful information about airline safety, fear of flying, plane crashes, TSA security, and other issues of concern to the traveling public. Todd was an airline safety engineer at...

A UAS service for public safety agencies, ScanEagle goes to the Smithsonian, testing drone strikes on airliners, NASA tests BVLOS, maritime drone tests, a new sense and avoid sensor, and FAA outreach. News Aeryon Introduces Flexible UAS Subscription Solution for Law Enforcement at IACP 2016 Aeryon Labs, Inc.  is offering UAS services to qualified public safety agencies on a monthly subscripti...

A review of the new DJI Mavik folding quadcopter, Verizon drone tests continue, India looks at ATC towers and civil UAS, drones for flood control, and drones for flood rescue.  Guest Parker Gyokeres got his hands on the new DJI Mavik and gives us his observations after flying the quadcopter. Parker notes that the price, performance, features, light weight, and ultra-compact size makes the Mav...

International agreement on armed UAS import/export, quadcopter power by induction, California allows first responders to take out drones, a droneport concept, drones interrupting airport operations, an underwater UAV launch, and a very different concept for an aerial video platform. News White House Rolls Out Armed Drone Declaration The U.S. State Department calls it the first step toward creating...

Guest Parker Gyokeres  is the owner of  Propellerheads , an FAA Part 107 licensed business providing aerial photography and medium/heavy lift cinematography, thermal imaging, NDVI multispectral and 3F photogrammetry. Parker is an award-winning U.S. Air Force photojournalist, a freelance author, UAV subject matter expert and photographer. He serves as a member of the board of directors fo...

The top 14 drone podcasts, FAA’s Huerta delivers InterDrone keynote, using drones to discover ancient geoglyphs, and a college course where students build real UAS business plans. News Top Drone Podcasts Skytango looked at the available drone podcasts and made a list of the top 14. These are, in order of the number of episodes released so far: Ask Drone U The UAV Digest sUAS News Podcast DroneVibe...

Manned aviation associations want drone safety rules across the EU, Israeli Air Force changes UAV training system strategy, a Lockheed Martin and the Warsaw University partnership, observations from the Commercial UAV Show Asia, Mercedes and Matternet partner on package delivery, and Huerta delivers InterDrone keynote. News EU aviation groups want all drones to be registered Ten manned aviation as...

The FAA quickly grants some Part 107 exemptions, drought-stricken agriculture embraces UAS, the Facebook Aquila drone is meeting with some success, and a robot pilot offers to make existing aircraft unmanned. News CNN Wins FAA Waiver To Fly Newsgathering Drones Over People CNN received a Part 107 waiver from the FAA to fly UAS in the U.S. over people. Previously, CNN had only flown only over unpop...

A major news network launches a UAS newsgathering unit, a real-time UAS flight data exchange for a drone traffic management system, and a tethered drone solution for persistent applications. News CNN Launches CNN AIR News network CNN has launched a UAS unit called CNN Aerial Imagery and Reporting (CNN AIR) with two full-time UAS operators. They will provide aerial imagery and reporting for the CNN...

We talk with a Part 61 pilot who has successfully completed the FAA UAS online training course. We also look at consumer drone vulnerabilities, the threats that drones represent to aviation, using big data to develop a contextual route-plan for autonomous drones, a globe-trotting drone racer, and flying drones in public parks. Part 107 The new small drone rule for non-hobbyists (also known as Part...

Drones and law enforcement, Disney and Google drone patents, a call for anti-drone systems, and a drone that looks and flys like a drone. News Modesto Police Unveil New Crime-Fighting Drones The Modesto, California police department has a DJI Phantom painted like a patrol car and recently they used it to track a suspected robber. Three officer pilots will use the drones for official police work on...

Initiatives announced by the U.S. Government and private sector that advance the integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems into the National Airspace System. Also, a 2.5 ounce ADS-B solution, drones that obstruct fighting wildfires, and drones that help fight wildfires. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Workshop on Drones and the Future of Aviation White House Announces New...

Cell coverage provided by drones, sUAS conflicting with aerial applicators, controlling swarms with your mind, another package delivery milestone by Flirtey, a drone pilot is arrested, and using drones to find old land mines. News Better cell service for responders when COWs fly AT&T uses Cell On Wheels (COW) equipment to temporarily add cell capacity for large events, or bring coverage to dis...

The MQ-25 Stingray UAS, Star Wars drones, an Amazon patent for sUAS flight decks, Customs and Border Protection solicitation for small drone studies, how drones might make the future of aviation brighter, an arrest for a drone flight, new geofencing firmware, and Facebook laser drones. News Amazon patents special drone housing in the sky TAmazon was awarded U.S. patent number  9387928  f...

Crowdsourcing designs for cargo drones, UAS for higher education, US Air Force training enlisted RPA operators, NASA detect and avoid tests, delivering vaccine by drone, a woman freed by a Phantom, and drones interfering with wildfires. News Airbus reveals cargo UAV challenge winners The Airbus Cargo Drone Challenge  was created by Local Motors and Airbus Group to crowdsource the design...

Flightradar24 and Skysense collaborate on ADS-B for drones, Boeing establishes the Collaborative Autonomous Systems Laboratory, Kansas chooses an unmanned aircraft director, Eurotunnel employs UAVs, implications of AI, and DJI updates its geofencing capability. News The Site That Lets You Track Planes In Real-Time Wants to Track Drones Too Flightradar24  and  Skysense  are  par...

A workshop to teach educators how to introduce drones to students, Flirtey is in the news again with another package delivery milestone, and a report on the Hogan Lovells sUAS Part 107 webinar. Guest Princess Aliyah Pandolfi updates us on the exciting projects being undertaken by the  Kashmir World Foundation . We last spoke with Aliyah when we covered the DaVinci Build-a-Drone workshop in&nb...

The DOT and FAA released the rule that finalizes the February 2015 NPRM titled Operation and Certification of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems. That NPRM proposed operating and certification requirements for sUAS to operate for non-hobby and non-recreational purposes. To this point, those operations were allowed via Section 333 exemptions, COAs, and special airworthiness certificates. This rule now...

A 3D printed aerial imaging drone, new drone sightings data analysis, a hand gesture-based controller for the Parrot AR, bad practice lawsuits, control of airspace over private property, and an autonomous aerial taxi. News O’Qualia unveils Captor UAS, a fully 3D printed commercial aerial imaging drone Singapore-based startup  O’Qualia  has created the Captor UAS, said to be a high-qualit...

David talks with Frank Jones, Deputy Director, Research Services Directorate at NASA Langley Research Center. Frank Jones describes how sense and avoid algorithms based on ADS-B have been researched using the specially instrumented NASA Cirrus SR-22 as a surrogate drone. NASA and the other research partners conducted a number of flight tests to try and tried to break the algorithms with “blunder m...

A manned aircraft manufacturer looks ahead to UAS, whale-watching drones, ADS-B for UAS, a report on U.S. drone retail sales, and the U.S. Commerce Department issues privacy guidelines. News Air Tractor® Makes Entry into the UAS Market – Acquires Yield Defender Air Tractor, Inc.  produces a number of manned agricultural aircraft: 400, 500, 600 and 800-gallon capacity airplanes powered by Prat...

The FAA tests a drone detection system at JFK and releases registration data, drone-on-drone refueling demonstrated, a drone that can perch on walls, a new UAS risk management course, and a review of a guide to drones. News FAA Tests FBI Drone Detection System at JFK The FAA conducted tests of the effectiveness of an FBI UAS detection system at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New Yo...

The FAA created an advisory committee, permits educational institutions to fly UAS, and rescinded a proposed website for collecting reports of bad drone behaviour. UPS and Zipline partner for drone delivery of medical packages, and more interviews from the Drone Dealer Expo. News FAA Administrator Makes Major Drone Announcements FAA Administrator Michael Huerta made  two significant announcem...

Dr. Danette Allen from NASA Langley Research Center’s Autonomy Incubator describes projects that will advance autonomous technology for unmanned aircraft. Guest Dr. Danette Allen is the NASA Senior Technologist for  Intelligent Flight Control System  and the Head of the Autonomy Incubator at  NASA Langley Research Center  (LaRC). She is responsible for setting the strategic vis...