Uncrewed Systems, BVLOS ARC Updates, BEYOND to be Presented in Florida

The FAA is holding the 2022 FAA Drone Symposium in Orlando, Florida, bringing together the industry to cover the latest and greatest from the uncrewed industry. The event will see a handful of topics, from the recently completed final report of the Beyond Visual Line of Sight Aviation Rulemaking Committee and BEYOND program updates to to Part 107 operations updates from around the country.

Also: Airbus Bio Wing, Freefly Systems Alta X, Nat'l Museum Of The USAF Rocketry Team, Hartzell Prop

Recent journalistic digging has brought up some interesting industry gossip regarding the internal workings of Amazon's drone delivery program. The idea of automated, "floor to door" aerial delivery of packages is one being approached from multiple angles throughout the UAV market, and of all those racing to get their program up and running, Amazon has often been seen as one of the strongest bets to make. Their infrastructure, considerable logistics expertise, and bottomless treasuries should theoretically create a sterling drone delivery system, but af

Microsoft Brings Reno Air Races To Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) With New Flight Simulator Feature Add-on

Reno Air Races recently announced that as of March 2022, the Xbox Cloud Gaming system (xCloud) now supports the Reno Air Races as an expansion pack (for an additional fee) through the Microsoft Flight Simulator (MFS) marketplace! Microsoft had announced the arrival of the Reno Air Races expansion pack on 18 November 2021, adding that MFS runs on Xbox One and other ‘supported devices’ such as mobile phones, tablets, and lower-spec PC’s.  Furthermore, the standard controller inputs such as the Xbox Wireless Controllers are also supported. 

Alaska Airlines Pilot Leadership To Send Strike-Authorization Vote To Pilots

The Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA) issued a press release on 22nd April 2022 in which it stated that after three very slow years of negotiations, Alaska Airlines’ pilot union leadership unanimously voted (11-0) to conduct a strike-authorization ballot among their membership. This first step will give them the authority to go on strike when legally permitted to do so. 

Drone Rescue Systems Joins Forces With Auterion To Provide A Unified Front In Autonomous Safety Systems for Commercial Drones

Auterion, through its software platform, seeks to integrate drones into business systems by providing an ecosystem of connected assets, payloads, and applications in an easy-to-use-platform based on open-source standards. Doing so loosens the restrictive proprietary infrastructure to provide choice, flexibility, and, most importantly, integration. The merger with Drone Recovery Systems (DRS) offers an additional level of operating service, specifically the autonomous parachute system in case of an airborne malfunction, which can be electrically triggered and deployed

Stowe Aviation Vacates Its Coop At Stowe-Morrisville State Airport

In mid-April 2022 Stowe Aviation, the lone Fixed Base Operator (FBO) providing light maintenance, fuel, and other services at the Stowe-Morrisville State Airport (KMVL) in Vermont had vacated the premises after it failed to receive what it believed were good faith promises by the state to develop and expand airport operations. The lack of fuel at KMVL was not Stowe Aviation’s fault, but a side-effect of the state’s removal of the fuel farm in the summer of 2021 to facilitate runway upgrades.  Due to the now commonplace ‘supply chain issues’, the state is hoping to have a new fuel farm installed in summer o

USA Drone Maker ‘Skyfish’ Teams Up With Asset-Tracking ‘DroneLogbook’ To Improve Compliance With FAA Regulations 

Skyfish, a US-based manufacturer of drones, has teamed up with DroneLogbook to make the pilot’s life easier by facilitating the collection of various datasets to improve compliance with FAA, CAA, CASA, Transport Canada, and DGCS regulations. Skyfish’s Mission Control software can automatically cloud sync flight data servers as soon as the drone has landed. DroneLogbook collates the data to create reporting for regulatory or operational purposes.

Stowe Aviation Vacates Its Coop At Stowe-Morrisville State Airport

In mid-April 2022 Stowe Aviation, the lone Fixed Base Operator (FBO) providing light maintenance, fuel, and other services at the Stowe-Morrisville State Airport (KMVL) in Vermont had vacated the premises after it failed to receive what it believed were good faith promises by the state to develop and expand airport operations.

From XPO 2021 (YouTube Version): Alex Orozco, Vice President at Nippon Kayaku America, Speaks With ANN At XPONENTIAL 2021 

ParaSafe is an emergency parachute system for drones. Its parent company, Nippon Kayaku, has been building automotive technology with a focus on safety systems, such as car airbags, for the past 29 years. Creating products for unmanned systems seemed like the next step for the company to embrace the future. Nippon Kayaku created ParaSafe with the aim of protecting people. “We are a company that cares, we want to be able to offer high reliability products for society,” Orozco says.

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