FAA Requests Comments for BVLOS, Leaked DJI Air 3, Korean Air Drones for Good, PI BVLOS!

Welcome to your weekly UAS news update. We have three stories for you this week.

FAA

The first story is that the FAA is seeking public comments on four BVLOS flights below 400 feet for the purpose of data collection. If granted, Phoenix Air Unmanned, uAvionix, Ziplineund UPS Flight Forward will be able to capture data for upcoming drone policies and rulemaking. The FAA is asking the public to Review the key concepts and potential approaches that it is contemplating for future exemption. This is an important step, and public input opened on the 25th of May. More information about what the FAA is planning and how to leave your comments can be found via the link in the description.

DJI Air 3

The second story is a leaky one. Yes, we’re talking about the DJI Air 3 leaks. DealsDrone has leaked some images of what appears to be the new DJI product, more than likely the successor to the Air 2S. We’re going to assume that it has a one-inch sensor, based on what DJI has been doing recently and based on the images that you see playing in the background here. The drone may have omnidirectional obstacle avoidance. In addition, the batteries appear to be more like the batteries on the Mavic series than they are from the Mini 3 Series, which could mean some pretty good flight time. We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Korean Air

Finally, Korean Air is using drones for something really cool. Stay tuned for more updates in the future, and we know you get excited when we see some of these.

The final story this week is an intriguing use of drones by Korean Air. They are utilizing swarm-style drones to canvas and inspect their airplanes. For the moment, the drones are being operated inside the hangar, but the goal is to eventually deploy them on the ramp as well. The data collected by these drones supplements the manual inspections that are conducted. Moreover, they’re used to detect any dents, cracks, or other deformations, utilizing Artificial Intelligence, which is quite impressive. It’s a novel concept and it’s encouraging to see large industries harnessing Drohnen-Technologie in such beneficial ways, potentially enhancing aviation safety.

Pilot Institute gets a waiver

One last exciting tidbit to share this week: the FAA has approved our BVLOS waiver, designed for range testing on a variety of different drones. We’ll be able to conduct safe and Rechtliches range tests for several different drones to see how far they can fly from the controller. Be on the lookout for these videos. Now that we have the approval, we’re going to be planning our entire mission. We might even do a BTS (behind the scenes) to demonstrate how we plan these missions to ensure safety and compliance with the waiver we’ve just received. I’m excited to see what comes next.

We’ll catch up next week. Have a great weekend!