The National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) has launched a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) safety campaign to raise awareness and prevent accidents between RPA operators and low-altitude manned aircraft. The first public outreach tool in the safety campaign is a “safety stuffer” designed for aerial applicators to share with farmers and other agricultural stakeholders. Sized to fit into a […]
drones
Amazon makes its case for drone highways in the sky
Much of the talk around the feasibility of Amazon’s Prime Air drone delivery service is rightly centered around how the vehicles can be safely squeezed into US airspace, according to a post at GizMag. But Amazon officials have a plan, where drones would get exclusive access to that chunk of airspace between up to 400 feet. The first 200 […]
Education and innovation the key to safer skies
By BRIAN WYNNE Unmanned aerial systems (UAS), also known as remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) or drones, have grown in the past few years from a niche tool to a must-have holiday toy and business asset. The increasing availability of this technology has led many new enthusiasts to take to the skies, sometimes in places where […]
Drones: A pilot’s perspective
By JUSTIN MOORE A little more forward throttle, a bit more yaw to the left. Perfect. Click. You might assume that I’m flying an airplane and taking a picture from one, but I’m not. I’m piloting a Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) — also commonly known as an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) — and I just took a picture of […]
Drones survey flood damage and assist search and rescue efforts
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A test-site research team from the Lone Star Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center of Excellence & Innovation (LSUASC) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi has been dispatched to Wimberley, Texas, to conduct low-altitude research flights in the wake of devastating flooding. The town of Wimberley, about 30 miles southwest of Austin, was struck […]
FAA launches National Capital Region No Drone Zone Campaign
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The FAA has launched a new public outreach campaign for the National Capital Region around Washington, D.C. to reinforce the message that the District of Columbia and cities and towns within a 15-mile radius of Ronald-Reagan Washington National Airport are a No Drone Zone. “Federal rules prohibit any aircraft from operating in the […]
Lindbergh Foundation launches Air Shepherd program
The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation recently launched its Air Shepherd program, which uses remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) to stop the poaching of elephants and rhinos in Africa. At the present rate of killing, it is estimated that there will be no elephants or rhinos in the wild in 10 years, according to foundation officials. “About […]
Some big questions about RPAs, including the big one: Insurance
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In 2014 there were 2,294 national airspace violations. That would be an average of more than six every day. In most of these incidents the persons involved were licensed pilots. What do these abstract figures mean? Perhaps very little unless you were involved in one of the incidents. Or, unless you are […]
Texas issues first permit for RPA agriculture research
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and Texas A&M AgriLife Research have received the state’s first permit to use remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) to conduct agricultural research. Research will begin soon in the use of RPAs that will help growers improve crop quality and yields while reducing production costs, savings that could be passed on […]