UASUSA LEGAL TO FLY FAA Authorization for High Performance Commercial Drones

UASUSA today announced that it had received an FAA 333 exemption for its well-proven TEMPEST and RECON commercial drones. The FAA 333 exemption allows commercial operation of drones below 200 feet above ground level, outside a five-mile radius of airports and 500 feet beyond a person or building. Skip Miller, UASUSA CEO, commented, “The exemption is important to the company as our customers are rapidly incorporating drones into their workflow and data-capturing processes. It eases our testing and demonstration process and validates our airframe once again. A number of our customers and partners had previously received exemptions to fly the TEMPEST or RECON. Precision agriculture, power transmission line monitoring and land surveying are a few of the areas where customers are employing drones. New applications are arising each day.”

The TEMPEST is a fixed-wing drone with a ten-foot wingspan and has the ability to carry a ten-pound payload. The plane’s efficient design allows 90-minute flights, and is capable of flying in winds up to 50 MPH. The Tempest will stay aloft in adverse conditions and provide quality data collection due to better stability. It has a proven design with over 100 units in the field.

The RECON was constructed and designed to offer a clear payload view, with the motor and propeller system aft of the payload. With an 8’ wingspan and weight of 6.8 lbs, it is small and versatile, yet robust enough for harsh environment operations.

Based in Boulder County, CO, UASUSA has been manufacturing UAS’s for seven years. The first TEMPEST was designed in 2009 to chase and study thunderstorms and tornados for the University of Colorado.