Drones

Anyone who offers up hard numbers for the drone population in the United States is merely guessing, especially since the FAA’s new Part 107 rule took effect last year. While the precise number isn’t really known, the trend is certainly clear: there will be more and more drones from now on. What worries people who […]

One of the more popular selling points for most drones is that should something sever the communications link between the aircraft and the pilot or ground command, the machine knows the way home and normally returns automatically … except of course when it doesn’t, as the U.S. Army experienced in late January. An Army Shadow […]

The ever-dwindling population of honeybees in North America and Europe is not a new problem. With a few rare blips on the survival tracking charts, nearly 45 percent of honeybee colonies still die annually. A group of Japanese scientists, however, believe a tiny drone could become a solution to the pollination deficit caused by the […]

There’s a lot of buzz going on lately about drones and how they might be integrated into our daily lives, with the FAA creating rules for commercial use and a growing list of private companies developing pilotless modes of aerial transportation. Package-delivery company UPS added to the conversation Monday with the first test of its […]

Welcoming drone pilots into the general aviation community, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association announced a new line of memberships for pilots of unmanned aircraft. “Drone pilots are seeking their place in the larger world of aviation and looking for opportunities to expand their experience,” said AOPA President Mark Baker. “This is an ideal time […]

Look out, Uber and Airbus, two companies already on record as seriously involved in efforts to offer pilotless drones to transport people around urban areas. Enter the city of Dubai’s transportation agency, which this week announced plans to offer rides aboard computer-operated drones around the Middle Eastern city beginning this July. Dubai’s head of transportation […]

Opportunities for unmanned aircraft system (UAS) pilots are now wide-open under the new FAA small UAS (sUAS) Part 107 rule, which legalizes and regulates these air ops. Drone work in the U.S. film and TV industry has also taken flight recently under the agency’s Section 333 exemption waivers. Meanwhile, demand for experienced commercial and military […]

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s 2016 Transportation Statistics Annual Report released last week presents a cornucopia of aviation industry data. The report’s introductory look at a hot topic, infrastructure, may surprise some readers. “The majority of airport runways (commercial service, reliever, and select general aviation) are in good condition; only 2 percent are considered poor.” […]

Drone proponents are quick to point to the safeguard of UAVs’ ability to fly safely back to their owners should the communications link between the two be inadvertently severed. A recent incident in Australia shows even these systems are not foolproof if and when a drone heads out on a solo adventure. Luckily, the region […]

Palo Alto-based uAvionix has announced the creation of an ADS-B transceiver not much larger than a contact lens — and weighing in at just 1 gram — aimed at the drone market’s yet unresolved problem of identifying themselves to other aircraft and drones while operating in the national airspace system. uAvionix CEO Paul Beard said […]