A federal administrative judge has dismissed a proposed $10,000 fine against businessman Raphael Pirker, who used a remotely operated 56-inch foam glider to take aerial video for an advertisement for the University of Virginia Medical Center.The FAA alleged that since Pirker was using the aircraft for profit, he ran afoul of regulations requiring commercial operators of “Unmanned Aircraft Systems” to obtain FAA authorisation. Continue reading
Author Archives: The Editor
Northrop Grumman/HAV-Developed Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) Reappears as HAV Airlander
A 300-foot-long aircraft originally developed for, by then dropped by, the US Army was recently re-unveiled in Great Britain as the world’s largest aircraft. The HAV 304 “Airlander” is an amalgamation of airship, airplane, helicopter and hovercraft features, and is referred to as a hybrid air vehicle. Continue reading
Watchkeeper Approved for UK Army Training Flights
Watchkeeper, the unmanned aircraft system (UAS) developed by Thales for the British Army, has been given a Release To Service by the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD). Continue reading
Airbus Teams with Delta Drone on Precision Agriculture Services
In 2014, Airbus Defence and Space, Arvalis – Institut du végétal and Delta Drone will explore the potential offered by image and data acquired from sensors carried on-board fixed and rotary wing UAS. Such addition of UAS data could lead to the optimisation of Farmstar Expert’s crop diagnostic and precision agriculture service offering. In the longer term, it could open up new prospects going beyond the current scope of Farmstar Expert. Continue reading
Unmanned Aerial Video Biotelemetry System
A new UAS service is being developed to help athletes and teams elevate their performance while helping to prevent sports injuries, including concussions, cardiac incidents, and heat-related illnesses. Borne out of a New Jersey flight academy, the AeroTrainer is an unmanned aerial video biotelemetry system designed to give athletes and teams, together with their coaches and trainers, a full picture of athletic performance and physical activity. Continue reading
P-51 Mustangs at Flying Legends 2012
Flying Machines TV recently posted this sequence of P-51 Mustangs at Flying Legends 2012. Continue reading
AeroVironment Announces Fiscal 2014 Third Quarter Results
AeroVironment, Inc. has reported financial results for its third quarter ended January 25, 2014. UAS sales in the third quarter of Fiscal 2014 were up compared to Q3 2013, but overall year-to-date revenue was down 4% for the first three quarters of Fiscal 2014. Continue reading
Unmanned Systems Canada Announces Three Phase 1 Winners in Student UAV competition
The mission for the competition is to address challenges commonly faced by the Oil and Gas, Mining and Agriculture industries. A judging panel, comprised of Canadian subject matter experts, has completed its independent review of the technical papers submitted by each team. Overall, the judges were impressed by the quality of the reports, the inclusion of new technologies into the systems and the way the solutions were presented. Continue reading