Month: November 2012

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science &Technology (S&T) Directorate and the State of Oklahoma are partnering on the Robotic Aircraft for Public Safety (RAPS) project to test and evaluate Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS) for potential use by the first responder community and DHS operational components. SUAS include small […]

Somewhat lost in all the noise and frenzy regarding “Big Brother” and the privacy issues surrounding the introduction of UAS into the national airspace are the many positive aspects of unmanned aircraft and the benefits UAS promise our society and our economy. As reported in the January 2013 issue of Air & Space […]

Citing safety concerns and privacy issues, the FAA has delayed the selection of U.S. sites to be used for the testing of unmanned aircraft. In a letter to Republican Congressman Howard McKeon of California, chairman of the House Unmanned Systems Caucus, FAA Acting Administrator Michael Huerta said the establishment of six […]

Though it’s clear commercial use of UAS in the national airspace is for the most part and for now banned by the FAA, the private/personal use of UAS is very much a grey area. As long as the UAS is not used for business purposes, almost any type of private […]

TechJect, a spinoff from Georgia Tech’s Robotics & Intelligent Machines Lab, may well have come up with the next generation of micro flying robots. Through a research project funded by the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the micro robot is designed to emulate the unique flying characteristics of its […]

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), The Helicopter Association International (HAI) and 17 other aviation related national organizations have petitioned the FAA to continue its efforts to safely integrate the operation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Airspace System (NAS). In a […]

November 9th, Air Force officials briefed Capitol Hill staffers on the possibility of locating a “Remote Split Operations Squadron” at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station. This would be a much-sought new mission for the 107th Airlift Wing which the Pentagon proposed shuttering last spring. Though the change of mission […]

In May 2011, would-be terrorist Rezwan Ferdaus of Asland, Mass. planned to convert a radio control model aircraft into a weaponized drone and fly it into the US Capitol building. The FBI learned of his suspicious activity through contacts in the aeromodeling community and ultimately arrested Ferdaus before he could […]