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Drone legislation priorities for 2018, UAVs and university research, Piaggio’s latest P.1HH HammerHead, unmanned vehicles from Turkey, the drones made by DJI, drone applications in Maine, and hydrogen fuel cells for drones.

UAV News

Commercial Drone Alliance: Legislative Priorities for 2018

Founded in 2016, the Commercial Drone Alliance is an independent non-profit organization led by members of the commercial drone industry. They “…advocate for the commercial use of drones by reducing barriers… creating value for commercial enterprise end users to facilitate adoption of drone technology… [and] educate on the benefits of drone technology for various end user communities.”

The Alliance has eight drone legislation priorities [PDF] they feel the U.S. Congress should support in the FAA Reauthorization bill or other relevant legislation:

1. Eliminate (or at the very least amend) the Section 336 hobbyist loophole, which endangers the safety and security of the airspace and slows innovation.
2. Require the FAA to require remote identification for all drones over 250 grams, including hobbyist drones.
3. Direct the FAA to swiftly implement a rule authorizing low-risk operations over people.
4. Direct the FAA to allow safe operations beyond visual line of sight in a timely way.
5. Direct the FAA to streamline and improve the operation waiver process.
6. Direct the FAA to implement a “Trusted Operator” program that establishes streamlined permitting and operational procedures for authorized commercial UAS operations.
7. State the sense of Congress supporting the industry-driven Unmanned Aircraft Traffic Management (UTM) System and its timely implementation.
8. Ensure that UAS programs, and relevant agency offices, are adequately funded and staffed to accomplish these priorities and support existing programs in a timely way.

Additionally, the Alliance wants Congress to pass appropriately-tailored UAS threat mitigation legislation as part of an FAA/DOD/DHS reauthorization, and design certain tax incentives.

UAV-ersity Research: The Soaring Rise of UAV’s and University Research

Researchers have found that UAVs represent a new tool for professional data collection applications. Plus, university-level unmanned aerial vehicle programs are widely available. Mike Hogan, Microdrones’ Sales Director for the Americas, recommends that a basic needs analysis is performed to understand what the researcher’s goal is, what data they are trying to collect, and how they are going to apply it.

P.1HH HammerHead Unmanned Aerial System to enter in service with UAE armed forces

Piaggio Aerospace showed its latest P.1HH HammerHead at the International Unmanned Systems Exhibition in Abu Dhabi. The HammerHead is derived from the P.180 Avanti II commercial aircraft, and is designed for...