Unmanned Vehicles

Helicopters participating in the disaster response efforts surrounding severe flooding in Oklahoma are having trouble with illegal unmanned aircraft system (UAS/drone) operations interfering with their flights. According to Tulsa Fire Department spokesperson Andrew Little, emergency response personnel encountered approximately 30 drones flying illegally on Wednesday alone. Little emphasized that emergency response helicopters can’t operate when […]

Looking ahead to the day that the stalwart postman or Fedex driver is replaced by a package-carrying drone, NASA has been testing a “national traffic management system” for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The latest simulations took place in Reno, Nevada, where NASA tested the avoidance capabilities and other features of its UTM (short for Unmanned […]

The FAA published a notice in the Federal Register on Friday stating that it is implementing several changes for recreational drone fliers that were mandated by Congress in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. The notice (PDF) sets out eight statutory conditions recreational drone users must meet, including requiring recreational drone users to obtain prior […]

uAvionix has announced a new line of certified avionics for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The company says its ping200X Mode S ADS-B transponder and truFYX Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation source are designed to enable UAS type certifications and Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) mission capabilities. “The UAS market […]

The Unmanned Safety Institute (USI) will be collaborating with Textron Systems to bring Aerosonde Small Unmanned Aircraft System (SUAS/drone) operator training into university curriculums. According to the companies, the agreement will create an employment pipeline for college students, secondary students, exiting military personnel and adult learners “interested in pursuing an unmanned career pathway.” The new […]

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) are forming a Blue Ribbon Task Force on the mitigation of unauthorized unmanned aircraft system (UAS/drone) operation at airports. According to AUVSI, the task force will be looking at ways to “refine procedural practices and provide a policy framework” to address […]

Our concept of drones is that they land—sometimes with grace, sometimes not—on a more or less flat surface when their mission is over. But researchers at Yale are working on a drone that can land and “perch” like a bat to save energy during portions of its mission. Where some studies have tested drones that […]

Google’s Wing Aviation made history as the first drone delivery company to be certified as an air carrier by the FAA on Tuesday. The certification will allow Wing to start a commercial delivery service in the U.S. that will use all-electric drones to deliver small goods to local homes and businesses. As shown in the […]

The comment period on the FAA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on its rules for drone operations has ended and 899 comments were received on the highly detailed document. The agency says it’s now digesting those comments and won’t give an estimate of how long it will take to turn the NPRM and the comments into […]

This week, AVweb’s news roundup uncovered reports on a message from the National Agricultural Aviation Association to drone operators, a training infrastructure expansion for Lufthansa Aviation Training, a new partnership for The DAES Group, an upcoming flight simulation expo and a convention attendance announcement from Click Aviation Network. As the growing season gets underway, the […]