Ohio general to vet UAV requests

By John Nolan, Staff Writer

From Dayton General News

The Dayton-Springfield area may have a new ally in its quest to become a center for unmanned aircraft development.

Maj. Gen. Deborah Ashenhurst, who oversees the Ohio Army and Air National Guard, is the state’s new gatekeeper on requests for space to fly unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs.

Ashenhurst said Tuesday that Gov. John Kasich has asked her office to be the clearinghouse for Ohio requests to the Federal Aviation Administration for approval of airspace requests for research and training flights of UAVs. Her office has already forwarded two such requests that could affect the Dayton area.

Ashenhurst plans to discuss this effort this afternoon at the Dayton Development Coalition’s annual meeting downtown.

Ashenhurst has sent the FAA an application from Sinclair Community College for a UAV training flying area and is awaiting the FAA’s response, Ashenhurst said.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/ohio-general-to-vet-uav-requests-1310825.html