Episodes

New DJI Matrice 200 drones created for enterprise users, Parrot also sees a future in the commercial market, an RQ-7 Shadow goes on an unexpected cross-country flight, and swarms of drones may someday map oil spills. UAV News DJI’s Matrice 200 UAV line is built for work DJI showed its new Matrice 200 series of quadcopters at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It’s a workhorse designed for commercial and industrial applications and comes in three models: the baseline M200 with one gimbal, the ...

Drone pilots are welcome to join AOPA, drone sightings increase again, a large autonomous freight drone prototype, a beyond visual line of sight record, and autonomous package delivery by UPS. UAV News AOPA believes manned and unmanned pilots are more alike than different: “…both groups are part of general aviation, and share a fascination for flight and a craving for new perspectives.” To bring drone pilots into the organization, AOPA created a senior director of UAS programs and selected Kat...

Dubai plans to address traffic problems with a taxi drone, the Drone Advisory Committee looks at UAS tasks, a concept for very large racing drones forms in Australia, a tower trade organization issues a UAS guidance document, investing in drone technology, an NDVI data gathering solution for growers, a Microsoft UAS simulation platform, and Amazon looks at controlled descent of ejected packages. UAV News Dubai To Launch Flying Drone Taxis In July By the year 2030, the United Arab Emirates (UAE...

Drones appear at the Super Bowl, Kansas wants to be an unmanned aircraft leader, UAS for newsgathering gains momentum, an unmanned air combat drone, drones that seed clouds, and those that pollinate. UAV News Lady Gaga Halftime Drone Swarm Was Pretaped to Shield Crowd The Super Bowl LI halftime show included 300 drones choreographed by Intel. The drones were filmed in advance to comply with the requirement for no flights over people, and the TFR in effect for the event. Also, One of Amazon’s d...

DARPA calls for drones that vanish, the U.S. Coast Guard tests the ScanEagle, more Amazon drone patents, a shortage of military drone pilots, Microsoft drones for good, the Trump administration’s regulatory policy throws confusion at the UAS industry, 3DR operates drones at the Atlanta airport, and a biometric drone based on the bat. UAV News These mushroom-based drones eat themselves at mission’s end Inbound, Controlled, Air-Releasable, Unrecoverable Systems (ICARUS), is a DARPA program “driv...

Concepts for UAS traffic management (UTM) in urban areas, calls for a UTM system in Australia, Flirtey raises capital, a Great Sand Dunes National Park mapping project, and visualizing the airflow around a quadcopter. UAV News Deciding Rules Of The Road For Urban UAS If large numbers of drones are ever to provide delivery services in urban areas, UAS traffic management rules need to be created to safely manage the flow. From the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ 2017 AIAA Sci...

Online UAS training from well-respected providers, a UAV traffic control project in Germany, the FAA levies the largest ever civil penalty for UAV operation, a jet-fueled UAV endurance record, and companies collaborating for agriculture applications. UAV News King Schools Announces Unmanned Aircraft Knowledge Course Embry-Riddle Offers UAV Basics Class Online The names John and Martha King are synonymous with high-quality pilot training. Now King Schools offers a Drone Pilot Ground School and ...

GoPro will relaunch its Karma foldable drone, FAA approves Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) operations at a UAS test site, a drone strike on an airliner proves to be false, a new droneport is taking shape, a Canadian company offers fuel cell-powered drones, and autonomous drone swarming is a success. UAV News GoPro is relaunching its Karma drone after an embarrassing recall The new GoPro Karma foldable drone was quickly recalled shortly after becoming available last year. GoPro CEO Nick Woo...

The owner of an FPV flying wing company describes their design, construction, and applications. In the news, Amazon patents a floating warehouse concept, and the EU moves closer to an RPAS regulations roadmap. Guest Ruben Jauregui is the owner of SweepWingsRC, a maker of FPV flying wings. In 2010, Ruben received a little UMX Vapor indoor flyer and over time he grew more interested in RC flying. He built his own RC aircraft in 2011, and then FPV flying wings came along for him in 2012. He soon ...

The Naval Research Laboratory powers a drone with a new fuel cell design, an Amazon patent to identify threats to drones, PrecisionHawk reports on BVLOS technology needs, and the FAA drone registration system reaches its one-year anniversary. News NRL completes first flight of UAV with custom hydrogen fuel cell A team from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has developed and flown the Ion Tiger powered by a new hydrogen fuel cell developed at NRL. The program manager at the Office of Nav...

Amazon Prime Air begins a package delivery beta test, a DOT audit finds some FAA deficiencies, Defiant Labs shows a new VTOL long endurance drone, three models of aerodynamic lift are called into question, some drone tips for growers, and a wild video of the week. News Amazon Claims First Successful Prime Air Drone Delivery Amazon Prime Air delivered a TV streaming stick and a bag of popcorn to a Cambridge, UK customer in a private beta test. The process from order to receipt lasted 13 minutes...

UAS industry consolidation, open source drone projects, and the Dutch Drone Awards. News Flir buys UAS firm Prox Dynamics following Point Grey acquisition Flir Systems has acquired Oslo Norway-based Prox Dynamics for $134 million in cash. Prox Dynamics is a developer of nano-class unmanned aerial systems, with a “core mission to develop, produce and sell the world’s smallest and most advanced Personal Reconnaissance System (PRS)” for “the modern warfighter.” Australian UAV Mapping Consolidati...

Aerial Information Systems describes counter-UAS technology, the Karma drone recall exposes a larger issue, and some areas to watch in the UAS space in 2017. Interview Tim Trott from Southern Helicam interviews Larry Friese, Jr., president of Aerial Information Systems Corporation (AIS) at the inaugural Emerald Coast Unmanned Systems Business Expo in Pensacola, November 19, 2016. Larry’s session was Preparing for Counter-UAS Technology and he talks with Tim about playing the aggressor from the...

A report on Drone World Expo, held November 15-16, 2016, in San Jose, California. Guest Max Trescott attended Drone World Expo 2016 and brings us his observations from the show. Max tells us about the makeup of the attendees and the keynote panel. We hear a clip from the keynote where moderator Gretchen West of Hogan Lovells asks Ingo Piroth (IBM North America GTM Lead Partner, IBM Innovation & Emerging Tech, IBM Global Business Services) to offer some examples of the more forward thinking us...

Rulemaking for sUAS flights over people moves forward, fuel cell-powered UAVs, a drone detection system, a Predator for humanitarian relief, drones flying in formation, and autonomous aircraft collaboration. News Big News: Proposed Small UAS Rule for Flights Over People at White House for Review Hogan Lovells reports that the FAA sent to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) the proposed rulemaking for the operation of sUAS over unsheltered people not directly par...

We talk with the founder of a company that provides drones for precision agriculture. Guest Bret Chilcott founded AgEagle Aerial Systems in 2013 as a spin-off of a Kansas State University research project. AgEagle provides data acquisition drones for precision agriculture. They are an FAA Section 333 exemption holder, and their drone technology captures aerial images of crop health. Bret is a private pilot and prior to founding the company, he held sales and marketing positions with Cessna Air...

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 UAV package delivery on the package delivery industry, and on companies that use that industry to ...

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 Boeing, and he’s a frequent on-air aviation expert on CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, Fox News, CBC, BBC, Discover...

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 subscription basis. Announced at the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference and exhibitio...

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 Mavik an ideal “gateway drug” to flying drones. The small size, when folded, makes it easy to take with yo...

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 global norms for the import and export of armed unmanned systems. More than 40 countries have agr...

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 for the Professional Society of Drone Journalists, and he advises national clients on the design, operation, and ...

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 DroneVibes Podcast Drone Radio Show Drone Law Today Podcast Let’s Drone Out Quad Talk FPV Podcast ...

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 associations issued a Joint call to safely integrate Drones / UAS into Europe’s Airspace [PDF]. They...