AIN, small rule delayed yet again.
Shock horror the FAA delays NPRM again, whilst giving large oil companies the green light.
This news comes in the week when the UK announced a joint agreement between Aberporth and the Aerohub Enterprise Zone and another ex military airfield is opening up for trials in North Wales.
Speaking last week Al Titterington, Managing Director of Newquay Cornwall Airport commented: “The global aerospace market is forecast to be worth four trillion dollars (US) by 2030, yet the UK is currently forecast to see just 10% of this investment. The UK aerospace industry has a major opportunity in the UAS market but first it must develop, demonstrate and prove that systems and sub-systems can contribute to ensuring safe and reliable operations, whilst being properly regulated.”
“The creation of the NAC has given the UK a world unique, national asset, where the development of new aerospace technologies, in the form of UAS, is now being undertaken. We are excited about announcing this launch in partnership with West Wales Airport.”
This is what by BILL CAREY has to say over at AIN.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration expects that energy company ConocoPhillips will make the first commercial flight of an unmanned aircraft today. Under a restricted category type certification the FAA awarded in July, ConocoPhillips will launch an Insitu ScanEagle from the research vessel Westward Wind in the Chukchi Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean west of Alaska.
Jim Williams, manager of the FAA’s UAS integration office, revealed the expected first-flight milestone during a presentation at the NextGen Ahead conference in Washington, D.C. ConocoPhillips did not immediately return a message seeking confirmation.
[On Wednesday afternoon, the company confirmed that the first flight was planned for today, but it had not yet received a status report that it was conducted. “We hope to have more information available as the week progresses,” said a ConocoPhillips spokeswoman. —BC]
The FAA awarded restricted type certifications on July 19 for the catapult-launched ScanEagle and the hand-launched AeroVironment Puma AE, for the first time permitting operators to use unmanned aircraft for commercial purposes—in both cases in remote Arctic airspace. The agency expects ConocoPhillips will use the ScanEagle to monitor whale migrations and ice flows in the Chukchi Sea. It has an agreement with the company to collect data about the aircraft’s flight operations, and an inspector from the agency’s Alaska region was due to accompany the first mission.
Meanwhile, the FAA’s release of a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would enable wider use of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the U.S. has been further delayed and is now expected early next year. The agency originally expected to issue the proposed rule governing the operation of small UAS weighing up to 55 pounds in December 2011.
