The Current Status & Applicability of UAS/UAVs

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are frequently in the news, most often for their military applications or the random story of a college experiment gone wrong, which inadvertently placed a UAV in controlled airspace. However, rumor has it that their practical application in the civilian world is becoming more of a possibility. Please answer the following questions for this week's topic:

1) What civilian purpose, if any, are UAVs currently being used for in United States? How are these civilian UAVs currently regulated (if they are regulated)? What are some of the details of the regulations that apply to the commercial use of UAVs?

The primary civilian purpose that UAVs currently serve in the United States is mere recreation/private use. Most civilians that purchase small drones (UAVs) are hobbyists and/or aviation enthusiast seeking a challenge or enjoyment from flying them. Furthermore, said civilians are utilizing their recreational UAV/drone usage for personal photography of their property (or the environment) and/or aerial videos to create personal montages (Wingfield 2016). Therefore, the only civilian purpose UAVs currently serve are recreation, leisure, or sport, which gives aviation enthusiast, hobbyists, ‘gear-heads’, or children (to a certain extent) the opportunity to actively partake in aviation by means of ‘piloting’ the UAVs.

However, there has been a significant increase in civilian drone/UAV pilots wanting to become involved in aiding fire/rescue crews with emergency service missions. Albeit the area of emergency service is technically classified as ‘commercial’ use, the fact that civilian drone operators are seeking to ‘volunteer’ their expertise and skills regarding UAVs/drones on such missions warrants the inclusion of this topic in ‘civilian use’. In order for a civilian (and their drone/UAV) to participate in emergency service missions such as fighting wildfires or mountainous search and rescue missions, they must file a ‘333 exemption’ with the FAA. If the exemption is approved by the FAA, then that means said civilian has FAA permission (i.e. clearance) to participate, but are not authorized to do so as there may be additional rules/regulations that need to be conferred first (largely dependent upon the risk, location, and severity of the particular mission) (Popper 2016). According to Popper (2016), there is a drone pilot who utilizes his own fleet of UAVs to render aerial services, but has not transformed his fleet/services into a business opportunity, which denotes that there is another potential purpose (aside from recreation) these drones/UAVs can serve while under civilian operation as long as the proper documentation with the FAA is provided.

FAR Part 107 explains all the rules pertaining to small-unmanned aircraft, which means the FAA is regulating civilian UAVs. For a civilian to own and operate a drone/UAV, they must first register said drone on a national database regulated by the FAA. Doing so allows the drone and its operator to be tracked in the event of an accident/incident involving the drone as well as for other regulatory purposes (Wingfield 2016). Furthermore, when registering the drone, the operator must submit their name(s), home address, and email address in addition to reading and signing multiple disclosures, which signifies the operator understands the rules/regulations of operating the drone/UAV and will abide by them. When operating recreationally, the FAA has created an all-encompassing set of regulations to make attaining and operation of UAVs (for civilians) easy, yet safe. While flying for recreation, a civilian does not need a pilot certificate, but if their drone is over 0.55lbs, then the drone/UAV must be registered within the database previously mentioned. Furthermore, the FAA states the operator must remain at least 5 miles outside of any airport (unless they have contacted and sought approval from airport ATC prior to). Lastly, the drone/operator must always yield the right of way to manned aircraft, and during flight, the operator must always maintain a visual-line-of-sight with their drone/UAV (Federal Aviation Administration [FAA], 2016). In regards to the state level, several states have passed and implemented their own laws to govern drone/UAV usage to increase and maintain safety. Some of these laws prohibit drone/UAV operators from flying their drone in parks, neighborhoods, school zones, and over churches in efforts to protect civilians in the event the drone/UAV fails (i.e. increase the safety of the general public) (Wingfield 2016). Thus, not only must civilian drone/UAV operators abide by the regulations established by the FAA, but they must also follow all the laws implemented by their state (if applicable).

The rules/regulations governing the commercial utilization of drones/UAVs is stricter than that of civilian or recreational use because of the increased risk of safety associated with commercial operations. According to the FAA (2016), in order for a drone/UAV to be used for commercial purposes (i.e. work/business), the operator must be at least 16 years old, pass an FAA-approved knowledge test, and be vetted by TSA (i.e. have a thorough background check conducted). The drone/UAV being utilized by said operator must be less than 55lbs and registered with the FAA via their UAV/drone database. While operating the drone/UAV for commercial purposes, the operator must operate in Class G airspace, keep the aircraft in visual-line-of-sight, fly under 400 feet, fly only during the day (i.e. VFR), maintain speeds at or below 100mph, always yield the right of way to manned aircraft, and must not fly over people or fly from a moving vehicle (FAA 2016). Thus, to operate a drone/UAV for commercial purposes, there is a more thorough vetting process (to verify operator integrity) as well as more rigorous regulations to abide by to increase and maintain a high level of safety to circumvent incidents/accidents, subsequently protecting the general public.

2) Do you foresee UAVs integrating into the NAS? If so, how? Also, what problems do you foresee resulting from this? Be sure to include not only logistical problems, but also potential perception problems.

Yes, I do foresee UAVs integrating into the NAS because of the fact that there will be civilian and commercial utilization of the drones/UAVS, therefore there will be a need for airspace specific regulations to be set forth to ensure and maintain air transport safety, especially of manned aircraft. To facilitate a smooth and seamless transition for the integration of UAVs to the NAS, the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Integration in the National Airspace System (NAS) project, or UAS in the NAS, was created. The purpose of this project was to reduce all the technical barriers pertaining to the safety and operational challenges related to UAVs/drone being operated within the various facets of the NAS (National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA], 2014). To ensure all aspects and parameters of the UAS integration were covered, NASA broke their project down into five focus areas, which were separation assurance, communications, human systems integration, certification, and integrated tests and evaluation. Separation assurance pertains to the safe separation of unmanned aircraft from manned aircraft when operating throughout the NAS; communications covers the various command and control systems governing the radio frequencies to ensure safe operation of the UAS; human systems integration considers possible human factors issues relative to ground stations overseeing the UAS operated in the NAS in addition to factors within UAS operators; certification standards were needed for UAS avionics to ensure and maintain UAS airworthiness and; integrated tests and evaluation would be given to determine UAS technology viability in terms of safety and beneficence (both financially and logistically) (NASA 2014). Through these five parameters, I foresee the integration of UAS into the NAS occurring in a rather expeditious fashion.

Currently, the FAA regulations pertaining to the operation of UAVs/drones states that civilians (i.e. those operating UAVs for recreational use) may operate their drones wherever as long as they are remain 5 miles outside of airport airspace and are not flying over other civilians or public areas (e.g. parks, schools, etc.). Commercial operators must operate their UAV/drone within Class G airspace, remain under 400 feet, only fly in VFR weather, and remain at or below 100mph (FAA 2016). With that said, UAVs have integrated into the NAS system with the help of the UAS in NAS integration project coupled with the diligent efforts of the FAA. This integration has manifested itself in the form of FAR Part 107, which allows UAVs and their operators to fly within Class G airspace (depending upon if they are operating recreationally or commercially).

As with any integration of new technology, there are bound to be problems, delays, and/or mishaps. With the integration of UAS into the NAS, I foresee a few problems, of which primarily stem from the improper use of UAS by operators (both advert- and inadvertently) to issues associated with the negative public perception of air safety.

With the UAS technology being relatively new, there will be a lot of ‘hype’ towards becoming certified and showing off piloting skills by flying a UAV/drone, which can lead to an increased risk of operator error (ergo, pose a logistical problem). This risk of operator error will be less likely to occur with operators who already possess prior pilot certificates and aviation knowledge, but the real risk lies with those who are new to the aviation field and are attempting their first ‘flight’ via UAS operation. Novice operators tend to have less working knowledge of the FARs and of aircraft in general, subsequently they are more likely to pose a logistical threat to other UAVs, manned aircraft, civilians, etc., by breaking airspace regulations (or the state laws pertaining to UAVs). Violating controlled airspace is a big ‘no-no’ with the FAA (as many experienced aviation professionals know) that can have serious repercussions. Thus, the creation and/or amendment of current consequences (e.g. letters of investigation/warning, certificate action, civil penalties, etc.), may be necessary to ensure fair/equal disciplinary action is imposed upon novice operators, of which posses another logistical problem since regulation and ramification revisions take time, effort, and personnel.

Additionally, as with any new technology, there are bound to be ‘bugs’ or ‘glitches’ in the system, or in this case avionics, that will not be known until they reveal themselves during operation by either malfunctioning and/or crashing. This, coupled with the UAS craze that will bring novice operators poses a notable threat to civilian safety. The public is already skeptical of individuals utilizing UAS as ‘peeping toms’ and for other malicious purposes, but if they also believe these drones will/can fall out of the sky or self-destruct for no apparent reason, then there will be an immense adverse perception of safety conveyed by the general public towards aviation, the FAA, and UAS operators. Individuals that utilize UAVs for malicious purposes (i.e. rogue operators) are inevitable; therefore, we must take the good with the bad. However, I feel as if no matter how many or how thorough UAS regulations are, or how many real-world safety or emergency applications UAS have, there will always be a slight negative perception by the public because they are cognizant of individuals utilizing these UAS for the wrong reasons.

3) As for the military application of UAVs, how have they transformed military strategy? Has their integration been efficient (consider all aspects - from financial to ethical)?

The military application of UAVs has transformed military strategy in a positive, holistic fashion, subsequently enhancing the safety of soldiers by lessening their exposure to risks and hazardous situations. One of the most important aspects of military strategy that has been significantly improved is surveillance, which has been facilitated by the increase of utilization and survivability of UAS. With the viability of increased surveillance via UAS, the opportunity to implement enhanced long-range weapons, communications, and monitoring of special interest groups is a real possibility (Wilson 2014). Therefore, by utilizing tools and resources that have longer-range capability, the UAS conducting these dangerous missions will assume all the risk, meaning less soldiers will be exposed to said risk, consequently improving their safety.

Furthermore, the UAS have additional military applications that have not only enhanced the safety our military and soldiers, but have subsequently made military operations such as surveillance (monitoring), security, search and rescue, etc., more efficient (with respects to both financial and ethical efficiency). Increased efficiency constitutes less money being spent, the ability to allocate time towards other operations, and increased safety. For instance, in regards to the area of military monitoring, a UAS can be sent in to monitor and/or collect air or soil samples (for pollution evaluation) as opposed to sending a soldier into hazardous (health) conditions (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Association [UAVSA], 2017). Sending a drone/UAV to conduct such an operation that would be adverse to one’s health benefits the military from both an ethical and financial aspect. The ethical perspective is applicable because the individual giving the orders will not feel guilty for sending a solider to conduct a mission that could potentially harm his/her health (severely) since a UAS will be sent in their place. Moreover, if said soldier were sent to collect a sample and consequently sustained respiratory damage from polluted air, then the military would be responsible for paying the health expenses pertaining to the individual/incident. However, this would not be a factor if an UAS was utilized instead, thereby saving a significant amount of money on medical expenses, which is money that can be used to improve other facets of the military.

Therefore, I feel as if the integration and the application of UAS into the military has transformed the military strategy for the better with respects to improvements in their strategic planning, tactical operations, long-range capabilities (e.g. communications, surveillance, and weaponry), and safety. Utilizing UAS for dangerous and high-risk missions has indefinitely allowed for a more efficient and effective operation of the military regarding ethical and financial decisions.

4) Finally, do some research and find out if their are UAV jobs that are advertised for civilians (both flight and management students). If so, include this as your link. If you are unable to locate a job posting, reference your above answers to brainstorm the potential for types of UAV jobs in the future.

Most of the UAV/UAS job postings I found were related in some way, shape, or form to the military, specifically, the National Guard and the Army. This means that in order to apply and/or be offered employment, you must be affiliated with that particular branch of the military, and not just a civilian. However, I was able to find two UAV/UAS jobs that were specifically tailored to civilians and collegiate-aged students (applicable to both aviation flight and management students).

The two UAS/UAV job advertisements I found are as follows:

1.     Position: Drone Pilot

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Employer: Dronegenuity, LLC

Link to job posting: https://uavjobbank.com/job/31/drone-pilot/

2.     Position: UAS Pilot/Integrator

Location: Ann Arbor, MI

Employer: SkySpecs

Link to job posting: http://media.wix.com/ugd/04f2ea_33434533e4c64c7ab1ef9e0171351678.pdf

Although it was difficult to find civilian based UAV/UAS jobs, most aviation departments, flight schools, and/or administrators/directors send links for various industry jobs to the student body, which (flight/management) students who are seeking employment within the UAS/UAV sector may find helpful.

References

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). (2016). Fly for work/business. Federal Aviaiton Administration. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/fly_for_work_business/

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). (2016). Unmanned aircraft systems. Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). (2014). NASA Armstrong fact sheet: unmanned aircraft systems integration in the national airspace system. NASA. Retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/FactSheets/FS-075-DFRC.html

Popper, B. (2016). Hundreds of civilian drone pilots are signing up to fly emergency service missions. The Verge. Retrieved from http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/16/11244660/emergency-drone-services-civilian-volunteers-faa-exemptions

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Association (UAVSA). (2017). Military UAS applications. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems Associations. Retrieved from https://www.uavs.org/military

Wilson, J.R. (2014). The future of military unmanned aircraft. Military & Aerospace Electronics. Retrieved from http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/print/volume-25/issue-7/special-report/the-future-of-military-unmanned-aircraft.html

Wingfield, N. (2016). A field guide to civilian drones. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/technology/guide-to-civilian-drones.html?_r=1