Drones

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 […]

Mystery surrounds what former Eclipse Aviation founder and CEO Vern Raburn is doing these days, but we do know that Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has pulled the plug on Titan Aerospace, the company Raburn had been tapped to head to build solar-powered drones that would beam Internet to remote parts of the world. X, the […]

An aerial-photography company that last year found itself under scrutiny by the FAA over its use of drones has agreed to pay a hefty fine of $200,000. Chicago-based SkyPan International, which uses drones to photograph hotels and other property for clients in Chicago and New York City, announced it had reached a settlement with the […]