Episodes

The X-47B UCAS-D team wins the Collier Trophy, drones and Bluefins and the search for Malaysia Flight 370, the UK CAA convicts a drone pilot, and listener feedback. The News: Legendary Collier Trophy Awarded to X-47B Team The 2013 Robert J. Collier Trophy has been awarded to the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) team by the National Aeronautic Association. The team was selected for “developing and demonstrating the first unmanned, autonomous air system operating from an air...

An FAA Center of Excellence for UAS, 3D printing a drone, the industry pressures FAA on UAS regs, drone privacy, a thought-controlled quadcopter, drones used for and against hunters, anti-drone legislation, Korean drones, and who needs drones when you have gulls? The News: Notice of Intent to Establish the FAA Center of Excellence (COE) for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Within the next year, the FAA intends to competitively select a Center of Excellence for UAS . The Center will conduct UAS re...

A near miss between a UAV and a crop duster, a new social network for the multi-rotor community, UAVs that survey cemeteries, no beer delivery by drone in the UK, and a red hot video of the week. The News: Victorian mine drone in near miss with aircraft The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has issued a final report that says that a Sensefly eBee 178 UAV came within about 100m horizontally and up to 70m vertically from an Ayres S2R crop duster. The ATSB rated this incident, which occurre...

Paul Braun and Dan Frye tell us about Taking Autism to the Sky (TATTS) where children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) build and fly a small UAS. This program helps the children build confidence, gives them world perspectives, and develops interest and ability in skill sets that may help them eventually find and hold productive jobs. With April being Autism Awareness month , this is a timely conversation. Paul and Dan work for Continental Mapping Consultants, Inc. , who create authoritative ...

An analysis of the Raphael Pirker v FAA appeal, an offensive quadcopter and conservationists look to utilize UAVs. The News: FAA To Appeal NTSB Finding On UAS Case An NTSB Administrative Law Judge dismissed the charges against a UAV pilot for flying a commercial mission, but the FAA intends to appeal the decision. We talk about what that means to the sUAS industry and where the appeal goes next . SXSW 2014: Chaotic Moon Demonstrates CUPID, a Drone That Can Tase You The C.U.P.I.D. hexacopter (Cha...

Audio transcript of NTSB Docket CP-217, FAA v. Raphael Pirker. We reported In Episode 29 that a decision had been rendered in the case of the FAA v. Raphael Pirker, also known as Trappy in the sUAS community. The FAA claimed that Pirker flew a Ritewing Zephyr , which they considered to be a UAS, as a commercial operation. Furthermore, that in so doing, Pirker endangered life and property. The FAA fined Pirker US$10,000. Pirker appealed, and the NTSB Administrative Law Judge dismissed the charges...

Facebook buys a drone company, having enough communications and data bandwidth, an international UAV test consortium announced, UAV training at Roswell, busting FAA myths about UAVs, FAA authority to regulate UAS questioned, privacy questions flare down under, and Russia building Israeli UAVs. Breaking news: Commercial Drones Are Completely Legal, a Federal Judge Ruled The News: Facebook Follows Amazon, Google Into Drones With $60 Million Purchase Facebook is reportedly purchasing Titan Aerospac...

The size of the global UAV market, more on the FAA losing the drone war, a device that tries to warn you about drones overhead, ignorant politicians passing drone laws, a military UAV providing cargo lift, police use a quadcopter in a murder investigation, and other police shut down a journalist. The News: Small UAV Market Worth $582.2 Million by 2019 MarketsandMarkets published Small UAV Market Global Forecast, 2014 – 2019 that projects the small UAV market will grow to $582.2 million over a si...

A DJI Phantom watches baseball spring training, FAA policing UAS usage, Canada wants to buy drones, so does the Russian military, and Korea seeks to be a UAS supplier. The News: Nationals using aerial drone to record footage of spring training The Washington Nationals baseball team is observing spring training through the eyes of a GoPro mounted on a DJI Phantom. They say they’ll also use aerial footage on the scoreboard for games. Runaway Drones Map Land, Film ‘Wolf,’ Knock Down People, as FAA ...

FAA progress in meeting the UAS mandate, an update on plans at the Griffiss International Airport UAS test site, a former United States governor is hiding from the drones, a system to monitor river environments, maintaining UAS control in the airspace with satellites, and drones at the Olympics. The News: FAA reports on drones and NextGen Hearing reveals FAA behind on NextGen, UAS, consolidation A Congressional hearing was held to check on the progress made by the FAA in meeting the roughly 200 ...

Drones for defense says Navy, the CPB Predator B russels up a conviction, drones go nuke, a quadcopter that thinks its a Falcon, the AMA and FAA come together, and spotting a fire. The News: Bring on the Countermeasure Drones Rethinking the drone as a defensive weapon rather than offensive. The UCAV can be used to protect the Carrier Battle Fleet while manned systems take on the offense. Also, the drones can act as deception device to fool sea skimming missiles. This is not a new idea – the ADM-...

A proposal for licensing and permitting small UAV operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection grounds their fleet, quadcopters filming whales, and drinking and droning don’t mix. Proposal for UAV/sUAV Licensing/Phased Permitting Plan Listener Tim Trott submitted a proposal for a collection of UAV classes, each with requirements for airframe type (multi-copter or fixed wing), weight, altitude, operation in private or public areas, VLOS or FPV, logging, observer requirements, safety and flight ...

This Episode: Commercial use of drones, what the FAA plans to deliver by 2015, sites developing UAS technology other than the selected six, and a common operating system for drones. The News: Federal ban on drones doesn’t stop photography The FAA has a ban on commercial use of use of unmanned aircraft. Yet some people seem to be pulling it off. How? According to the website of Phoenix real estate photography company Aerial Raiders , they “fly for free.” They do, however, charge for editing and c...

Guest Manie Kohn is the Owner and Creative Director of DontTellMeSHOWME.com , and a trained, certified, and insured civilian drone operator. Manie tried using helicopters for real estate shoots, but found those lacking in some important aspects. After trying alternatives, nothing satisfactory, he turned to UAVs. Manie found those better, but not perfect for his needs. He began to share his experiences and advice with the manufacturers and also the insurance underwriters, focusing on safety and d...

Guest Lawrence H. Brinker is Executive Director and General Counsel for the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research (NUAIR) Alliance, the New York and Massachusetts UAS research and test site. Larry is also a former Air Force and commercial pilot. We talk about the formation of the NUAIR Alliance as the managing UAS site operator for New York and Massachusetts, where the main test objective is going to be air and ground borne sense and avoid radar. Larry tells us about the facilities at Grif...

This Episode: At the end of December, the FAA announced the six congressionally-mandated UAS research and test sites that are a key part of the U.S. roadmap integrating UAS into the national airspace. These sites, operated by public entities, will perform research, and develop operational experience and needed technologies. FAA selected Six Drone Testing Sites The Sites: The University of Alaska Geography: seven climatic zones, and locations in Hawaii and Oregon. Mission: standards for unmanned ...

This Episode: A successful first sense and avoid flight, a Russian drone killer, UAS test site selection approaches, and a drone hunting proposal is going to the voters. The News: General Atomics tests UAV that can “sense and avoid” other aircraft General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. has had a successful first test flight in California of a prototype Sense and Avoid (SAA) system, using a Predator B. Developing SAA is key to allowing UAS in the U.S. airspace. Radar, transponder, and traffic...

This Episode: Guest Bob Schmidt is President, UAV Propulsion Tech , a U.S. technical sales rep firm that markets German and Australian technology into the U.S. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle market. We talk about A Mexico Mayor buying drones, the secret RQ-180, a sub-launched stealth, and drones that heal themselves. UAV Propulsion Tech solutions include consumer off the shelf (COTs) and custom propulsion and servo solutions, as well as rescue/recovery parachute solutions that protect high value air ve...

This Episode: Using a drone to smuggle contraband into a prison, learn to fly unmanned vehicles at a University, UAV privacy laws carve out drones as a special case, drones are blocked even for humanitarian purposes, the Amazon.com vision for UAS, and how to hack a drone. The News: Drones used to try to smuggle contraband into jail Prison guards, probably among the most perceptive people, noticed a hexacopter over Calhoun State Prison in Georgia. Four people were arrested after the drone was fou...

This Episode: UAS applications in Alaska, an autonomous drone with a robotic arm, a European “drone club” is formed, Turkey eyes the European drone market, a middle-eastern drone company gets some traction, a small UAV that thinks it’s a jellyfish, the Global Hawk achieves a milestone, and journalists flock to UAVs. The News: UAV industry takes off in Alaska With its remote areas accessible only by air, Alaska is a ripe environment for UAVs: remote sensing, airborne surveillance, wildlife manage...

This Episode: UAV market growth in the Middle East, Piaggio’s Hammerhead, China sends a UAV toward Japan, autonomous drones in Peru, foam drones, and more UAV crashes, including one fished out of the sea. The News: As UAV Market in Middle East Grows, US May Look to Draw Back Driven by border protection concerns, UAV growth in The Middle East is projected to grow to $3.8 billion over the next decade, with that region accounting for 8 percent of the world market. MALE Performance Enhancement: Piag...

This Episode: We parse the recently released and much anticipated FAA reports on Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Comprehensive Plan: A Report on the Nation’s UAS Path Forward [PDF] The Plan outlines the path for integration of civil UAS into the National Airspace System. It seeks to transition from individual approvals to a standard process integrated into the NextGen environment. High-level strategic goals provide for public integration leading to civil integration fo...

This Episode: Guest Sally French , also known as Drone Girl , uses aerial photography from drones to tell a story. She also works in multimedia production at 3D Robotics . Sally still flies her original DJI Phantom copter with a mounted GoPro camera. She has built her own 3D Robotics Y6 , and she looks forward to their Iris. We talk about using drones for journalism and other applications, where to go to learn about drones and how to fly them, and how to get started. As Sally says, “It’s a great...

This Episode: Drone safety rules, an affordable Piaggio MALE UAV, a drone incursion that turns out to be birds, the Taranis UAS makes it’s first flight, VTOL UAVs, the Aussie CASA threatens fines, the impact of UAVs on the NextGen ATC system, and looking at drones to deliver cargo in Africa. The News: No Seat Belts Required: Drone Hobbyists Talk Safety Hobbies grow up and then the hard questions come up. Like when do you start to make rules? The FAA is working on regulations but at the local lev...