Drone News – Thu June 18, 2020

Here are today's most important drone News articles. We publish this post every weekday at 5:30 p.m. Some of these stories are from DroneXL.co and some of them will be from other sources. If you'd like to receive this in an email going forward, be sure to subscribe using the form below.

Drone news from DroneXL.co

Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam begins trial with inspection drones – A one-week trial with inspection drones will begin at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. During the trial, taxiways, small buildings, and aircraft will be inspected by drones. There will also be drones that transfer light goods between different locations.

Black Lives Matter mural appears on the streets in Birmingham, Alabama – Over the last two weeks, we have seen a number of murals saying “Black Lives Matter” appear. The first one we reported on was on the streets Washington, D.C., but since then we have seen more of them appear across the country in cities like Seattle and Brooklyn. This Drone Video shows the latest one which is being created on the streets of Birmingham, Alabama.

Lenin-shaped Siberian forest captured in drone photo – Can't see the forest for the trees? Well, then check out this Lenin-shaped Siberian forest that is only visible from the air and is stunningly captured in this drone photo.

Check out this video ‘ALONE' made with mostly DJI equipment – Check out this short film or video that was made with mostly DJI equipment. It is titled ‘ALONE' and it is well worth watching. It has all kinds of cool effects and cinematic drone footage.

Next FAA Drone Advisory Committee (DAC) meeting ‪on Friday, June 19 from 12-3 PM ET‬. – The next Federal Aviation Administration's Drone Advisory Committee (DAC) meeting ‪will take place on Friday, June 19 from 12-3 PM ET‬. You will be able to follow it live on Twitter, Facebook, or Youtube.

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Other drone news

The search for missing 8-year-old girl will continue on Thursday – OMAHA, Neb. (FOX 42 KPTM) — The search for Taire Price is not over. There was a water search from the Missouri River to Schramm Park and a ground search from Schramm Park to Highway 50. The search for Price on Wednesday ended at 6:00 p.m. The Sarpy County Sheriff's Office had help with the Nebraska Game and Parks, and Cass County Emergency. Also, there was help from an Omaha helicopter, two cadaver dogs, a person with a drone and Lincoln Fire Departments Urban Search & Rescue Team/Nebraska Task Force 1. The search will continue on Thursday, June 18th at 8:00 a.m. The Sarpy County Search and Rescue Command say they are asking again for volunteers who only have specialized equipment that will help in the efforts to find Price. The equipment such as Air Boats, cadaver dogs, sonar, or drones. Those volunteers will be asked to help on a case by case basis by the Search and Rescue Commander.

Police: Armed suspect flees Eugene police before being captured by K9 team – EUGENE, Ore. — Eugene Police Department says a man who stole a vehicle and potentially armed was taken into custody overnight. Around 7:52 p.m. Wednesday, Eugene Police Street Crimes Unit was in the area of Motel 6 on Glenwood Drive near Interstate 5. Street Crimes officers were conducting follow-up in the area on an unrelated robbery case when they located an occupied stolen vehicle with a known suspect, 24-year-old Mohammad Melthi, Eugene Police said. The EPD Drone team also responded to assist officers on scene with search for the suspect.

Red Deer airport using drones for runway inspections – Unmanned aircraft vehicles will gather data and photos of runways. Red Deer Regional Airport has teamed up with a Calgary company that specializes in using drones for runway inspections and other work. One of Aerium Analytics' first projects will be to use its unmanned aircraft vehicles to collect data from the air on the airport's $2.6-million runway refurbishment that just got underway.

Look. Up in the air: It's Sioux Falls Police – SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — The Sioux Falls Police Department is creating its first unmanned drone team. There will be all sorts of uses for the Unmanned Aircraft System says team leader, Sgt. Kevin Henkel – for example, in fatal crash investigations. “Lot of the times when we have a fatal crash we'll close the street down for four or more hours. The UAS will allow us to map those in a much quicker time period.” The drones will also be used for event or protest security, during disaster emergencies, and search and rescue. Henkel says a grant is helping pay for the program.

Marines send RQ-21 Blackjack drones to Australia rotation for first time – The annual Marine Corps rotation to Darwin, Australia will, for the first time, incorporate unmanned surveillance drones this year, according to U.S. and Australian officials. RQ-21 Blackjack drones will soon arrive in Australia to support Marine Rotational Force — Darwin, rotational force commander Col. David Banning said in a telephone interview Thursday. This year's rotation, delayed by two months due to the Coronavirus pandemic, includes 1,200 Marines, fewer than half as many as headed south last year.

Drones to be used to improve hurricane intensity forecasts – ORLANDO, Fla. — There are currently two types of hurricane hunters: The Air Force big WC-130 planes that fly through the storm at lower levels, at about 10,000 feet, and the flights that are done by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists and pilots, which usually take place at higher altitudes. Hurricane hunter planes are also equipped with radar and other instruments to measure different elements of a storm. These flights are done as soon as the storm threatens the land. Scientists aboard the flight drop radiosondes that measure temperature, humidity, winds, and pressure. These data are critical, as they are put straight into weather forecast models to have better initiation of models, which likely leads to a much better forecast. The better the data, the better the forecast, the more money saved in mitigation and in saving lives.

DIGGING DEEPER: Federal authorities probe illegal drone use over Bighorn Fire – TUCSON – Crews battling the lightning-sparked Bighorn Fire have been dealing with high temperatures, windy conditions, and other hazards. They've also faced another threat – people illegally flying drones near the fire. The Federal Aviation Administration has placed a Temporary Flight Restriction, or T.F.R., in the airspace above and around the fire. Firefighters tell News 4 Tucson, aircraft being used to stop the fire's spread generally fly at very low altitude, sometimes as low as 150 feet above the ground.

CDOT uses drones in Grand Junction – The Colorado Department of Transportation flew a drone, or an unmanned aerial system, above North Avenue on Wednesday about 10 a.m. in a test flight in order to collect survey data in Grand Junction more efficiently.

Oh crap, the US Military has shape-shifting drones now – Ok, so maybe that headline was a little strong. But that said, the US military has validated technology for vertical lift vehicles (think drones and UAVs) that can change shape depending on the specific requirements of a mission. But let's slow down before we convince ourselves that the US military just invented a range of Transformers or Decepticons, the tech is far more nuanced than it sounds.

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