Search Results for: drones

I see in The New York Times that rugged-individualist Western farmers are using drones to inspect crops and locate lost cattle, defying FAA regulations that forbid commercial use of the ubiquitous gadgets. “Precision agriculture,” as this kind of eye-in-the-sky farming has come to be called, seems like a pretty harmless thing — a good thing, […]

Over the weekend, the board of directors of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) created a new “associate member” category for electric and hybrid-propulsion aircraft. The reason for the new membership category is to hasten the worldwide development, growth and airworthiness certification of electric airplanes, which very well could play an important role in securing […]

As industry watchers warn that as many as a million recreational drones will be sold this holiday season, lawmakers in Washington criticized FAA officials at a hearing on Wednesday for missing a deadline to issue new safety regulations to deal with the potential hazard they pose for air traffic. The FAA missed a deadline last […]

As the use of drones is increasing in a wide variety of applications and the FAA is finalizing the operational requirements for unmanned aircraft, there will be a growing need for training for the pilots of these systems. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc (GA-ASI) is about to break ground on a new facility in Grand […]

Reports of close calls with personal quadracopters and other remotely piloted UAVs are on the rise, with the latest scary story coming from the pilot of a SkyLife medevac helicopter in Fresno, California, who says he came “within about 15 feet” of a drone yesterday afternoon before making a sharp turn to avoid a collision. […]

The FAA has finally had enough. After a sharp rise in close encounters this year between remotely piloted UAVs and commercial aircraft, the agency is now warning drone pilots that they face stiff penalties, criminal charges and even prison time for unauthorized flights. The FAA says there have been 650 reports of UAV sightings by […]

EAA hosted one of its busiest Oshkosh shows ever in July, with record numbers for aircraft arrivals and campers. Near-perfect weather for the entire week kept the airplanes flying. The show hosted for the first time a B-52, and an Airbus A350 XWB from the test fleet was open for tours. All the usual daily airshows, forums, and events kept visitors busy nonstop. Aircraft designer Burt Rutan returned after an absence of several years to talk about his new SkiGull amphibian design, and Icon delivered their first A5 amphib LSA to EAAs Young Eagles. Yingling Aviation, based in Wichita, debuted a new remanufactured 172, and Vulcanair, from Italy, introduced a newly FAA-certified twin turboprop.

While we haven’t seen evidence of the skies being blackened by drones just yet, the FAA says it has now granted more than 1,000 exemption approvals to commercial UAV operators for everything from film production to pipeline patrol to real estate photography. As of today, the agency says it has issued 1,008 Section 333 exemptions, […]

Amazon is proposing a “drone zone” in the airspace below 400 feet to facilitate high-speed delivery of packages to customers who just can’t wait to get their hands on the latest gadgets from the online retailing giant. The proposal calls for crafting new operating rules in Class G airspace below 500 feet to keep unmanned […]

There are increasing numbers of reports of recreational UAV operators wreaking havoc in the national airspace system, getting in the way of airliners and light aircraft alike. And TFR areas are apparently no deterrent for these operators. The most recent report of an offending drone comes from southern California, where a UAV was buzzing around […]