Drones

With the recent announcement that the FAA’s drone integration plans face more delays, Europe is way ahead of the U.S. There are several programs aimed at integrating pilotless drones into its airspace. For example, test flights are now underway in the UK using a Jetstream 31 twin-engine turboprop, controlled from the ground, but flying with […]

Citing safety concerns and privacy issues, the FAA has delayed the selection of U.S. sites for the testing of unmanned aircraft, effectively putting the brakes on a push to integrate UAVs into civil airspace. In a letter to Republican Congressman Howard McKeon of California, chairman of the House Unmanned Systems Caucus, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta […]

One use for pilotless drones could be to provide lifesaving data and communications links after a natural disaster. A circling drone could serve as a sort of temporary AWACS platform, beaming WiFi and cell phone coverage down on an area stricken by downed powerlines and damaged cell towers. After the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, for […]

Are you concerned about the sky gradually becoming filled with windowless aircraft controlled by someone miles (maybe even states) away? You’re not alone. But it may be that the real “threat” turns out to be less about midair collisions and more about increasingly complicated and restricted airspace rules to accommodate remotely piloted aircraft operations. They […]

A Maryland company named R3 Engineering reported yesterday it has completed successful testing of an ADS-B-based fully autonomous collision avoidance sequence. The “sense and avoid” system installed in an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) received and processed ADS-B signals from another aircraft, and the UAS’s on board computer determined that their courses constituted a threat of […]

A short video released by Israel shows what is described as an unidentified unmanned drone being destroyed, apparently by a jet fighter. The incident occurred on Saturday, Oct. 6, and was captured on ground-based video. The drone was detected as it flew along the Mediterranean coast, and then Israeli defense forces tracked it as it […]

The FAA was scheduled to supply a list of possible locations for drone testing sites by Aug. 12, but has yet to deliver. This week, politicians and industry stakeholders are putting public pressure on the agency to make good on promises to move forward with what they expect to become a multibillion-dollar industry, and a […]

As the FAA prepares to fully integrate drones into American airspace over the next few years, a growing number of schools are also prepping for the change that influx will bring to the country’s pilot training landscape. Several universities have already staked their claim in the drone arena, with dozens approved as authorized UAV launch […]

The U.S. military is continuing to show its commitment to the integration of unmanned aircraft, a strategy that is also being adopted in the civil world and causing alarm for many general aviation pilots, including us at Flying. This past weekend, the Navy moved on to the second flight-test phase of the X-47B Unmanned Combat […]

Last month a team of University of Texas researchers spoofed an Adaptive Flight Hornet Mini drone, putting it on a crash course with the ground thanks to some advanced software that allowed the team to trick the craft’s GPS receiver. The spoof was part of a Department of Homeland Security test aimed at exposing the […]