Facebook Aquila 1A – N565AQ
It looks like we have a name now for the larger version of Facebook’s Aquila UAS, the Aquila 1A. Below is an extract from the FAA N-register and on the 26th of October 2015 Facebook’s Aquila 1A became an N-registered aircraft. The airframe is listed as being in the weight class of between 55 lbs and 12 499 lbs maximum all up weight, has a registration number of N565AQ and serial number F1501.
Facebook now have 3 N-registered UAS vs Google’s 2 as can be seen below.
The world is definitely an interesting place when a social media company is also an aircraft manufacturer. This has been known for a while obviously and it really does make sense for Facebook to utilize drones to push out laser & wi-fi signal while loitering forever above the third world. Although my mind still boggles ever so slightly every time I see an N registration next to the name Facebook and the word Facebook listed in an aircraft manufacturer column.
Maybe it’s because I come from the manned aviation world where the big names like Cessna, Beechcraft, Boeing and Airbus tend to dominate lists of registrations and the like.
The speed at which the N-registrations of UAS is growing is phenomenal and soon my mind won’t boggle ever so slightly anymore as we all get used to a world of certified drones operating commercially. The world is changing faster every day.
