Presentation slides

Commercial Unmanned Aircraft THE STATE OF THE MARKET AND REGULATION

Introductions • Bradley Ward (LtCol, USAF Retired) • • • • • •

2500 hours in KC-135 Stratotanker 1500 hours in MQ-1 Predator 200 hours in RQ-4 Global Hawk 2 years at the Pentagon Squadron Operations Officer Squadron Commander

MQ-1 Predator

RQ-4 Global Hawk

Overview 

Introduction to Commercial UAS  The

“System”  Uses  Small UAS (for sale…) 

The Legal Environment  Who

can fly them?  A history of FAA policy to the present  Asking for permission 

Questions

3

Let’s decide on a name…  Drone  Remote

Controlled Aircraft

 Remotely

Piloted Vehicle (RPV)

 Unmanned

Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

 Unmanned

Aircraft System (UAS)

 Remotely

Piloted Aircraft (RPA)

4

Same name… …vastly different aircraft

SenseFly eBee

Northrop Grumman Global Hawk

Single-Link System UnmannedLOS “System” 

Aircraft



Payload



GCS



Datalink

RQ-14 Dragoneye

6

Multi-Link Beyond LOS

MQ-1 Predator



Aircraft



Payload



GCS



Datalink

7

Single Link – LOS System

   

Aircraft: Skywalker Foamy Payload: Canon SX260 GCS: Windows Tablet Datalink: 2.4 GHz (R/C)

8

9

Uses for UAS

Civil Applications

10

11

12

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Crop Monitoring

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

14

15

Comparison of Available Systems

Fixed Wing 

Precision Hawk



Ag Eagle



Vireo

16

Fixed Wing Comparison

17

3dRobotics Aero

Trimble UX5

SenseFly eBee

Sony a6000 (24MP)

Sony Nex5R (16MP)

Canon S110 (12MP)

Resolution

3.0

3.8

4.2

Endurance

40 min

30 min

30 min

Acres/Sortie

250

150

150

Tablet+R/C Radio

Trimble Tablet

Windows Tablet

Hand

Catapult*

Hand

Camera

Gnd Cntl Station Launcher

Multi-Rotor 

3DR X8-M



DJI Phantom 2  15

min

 ~25

acres

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Today’s Legal Framework

Today’s Legal Framework

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Who can fly them…legally? 

Public Entities  Government  Universities

Agencies

(Land Grant Colleges)

 Contractors/Subs



working for public entities

Civil  Hobby

& Recreational Users

 Commercial

Users with Exemptions from the FAA

Today’s Legal Framework

21

A short history… 

FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012



FAA Updates UAS Operational Approval – 8900.227



FAA to consider “Low Risk” Applications for exemption



First Commercial Applicants



Legal Interpretation for Public Universities



Interpretation of Special Rule for Model Aircraft



First Commercial Exemption Grant/COA

FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 

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Congress tasked the FAA to:  Designate  Develop  Ensure

civilian test ranges

certification standards

the safety of UAS and navigation

 FAA

to develop procedures for commercial use of small UAS (