Category Archives: Regulatory Matters

FAA Launches National Capital Region No Drone Zone Campaign

FAA

U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today announced a public outreach campaign for the National Capital Region around Washington, D.C. to reinforce the message that the District of Columbia and cities and towns within a 15-mile radius of Ronald-Reagan Washington National Airport are a No Drone Zone.  Continue reading

FAA Selects Mississippi State University Team As Center of Excellence for UAS

FAA

After a rigorous competition, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has selected a Mississippi State University team as the FAA’s Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (COE UAS). The COE will focus on research, education and training in areas critical to safe and successful integration of UAS into the nation’s airspace. Continue reading

Amazon Patent Links UAS Delivery to Smartphone

AmazonThe US Patent and Trademark Office revealed an Amazon.com, Inc. patent filing, which highlighted the e-commerce giants’ plan to propel its unmanned delivery service for commercial purposes. According to the approved filing, drone deliveries will be navigated by pulling location data from a customers’ smartphone — where real-time routes and directions are constantly updated to guide the delivery process.

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New Regulations for UAS in Chile

In Chile, the civil aviation regulator recently updated  the nation’s drone regulations. Previous Chilean rules governing unmanned aircraft systems (commonly known as drones) only required drone operators to request a simple permit from the Chilean civil aviation regulator, the Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil (DGAC), before they could launch a drone flight. The DGAC’s reliance on such a general, simplistic regulation led some to say that drone use was not well regulated. Continue reading

FAA Launches B4UFLY App for UAV Operators

B$UFLY

The FAA has announced a smartphone application that aims to make it clear to Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) enthusiasts where it’s legal to fly in the National Airspace System (NAS). The B4UFLY app, announced at the 2015 Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Conference in Atlanta, Ga. will allow hobbyists to determine whether there are any restrictions or requirements in effect at the location where they want to fly a UAV.  Continue reading