Wed, Dec 11, 2019
Also: Pensacola NAS Tragedy, DHS May Require Pix, UAL Leadership Shift, NASA Parker Solar Probe
While no actual physical or visual evidence has been confirmed at this point, a drone is being blamed for the damage to a news helicopter in Southern California. The crew of the KABC Air7 HD news gathering helicopter made an emergency landing Thursday after ‘something’ struck the helicopter's tail. Despite the current lack of substantiation, nonetheless, the crew believes their aircraft was hit by a drone. The new helo was flying at an altitude of about 1,100 feet when the crew heard a "pop," then a loud bang. Reporter Chris Cristi told KABC that at the time, they did not know what had hit them. Having become something of a juggernaut in the light aircraft powerplant arena, especially withe recent introduction of the 141HP Rotax 915iS, Rotax is reaching out to its customer base again, in ord
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Wed, Dec 11, 2019
Also: Helios Visions, DoJ v Drones, $100,000 AMA Grant, Airborne Drone Programming Upgrades
Two thieves broke into Atlanta Hobby Shop in Forsyth, GA on November 30 and made off with about $81,000 in high-end drones, according to the owner of the store. The entire incident only took about four minutes. Atlanta Hobby owner Cliff Whitney said the thieves apparently were familiar with the store. They broke in, went immediately to the light switch, and knew right were to go for the highest-dollar items. The thieves wore concealing clothing, but the entire incident was captured on the store's security cameras. The thieves also stole toys from the "Toys for Tots" box in which the store was collecting donations for Christmas. Fusion Flight has been developing a turbine-powered VTOL drone that it compares to a "scaled-down version of the Harrier Jump-Jet". The AB5 JetQuad is a new type of aircraft, accordi
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Wed, Dec 11, 2019
Also: Drone Aviation-ComSovereign, Public Safety UAS Training, Disaster Management, NCDOT Drone Program
EHang has announced its strategic partnership with property developer Heli Chuangxin Real Estate Co. to build out a UAM demonstration project in Guangzhou. This is a major milestone as EHang prepares for the launch of commercial operations of its much-anticipated autonomous flying taxis. Heli Chuangxin and EHang have committed themselves to building the world's first commercial in-city sightseeing UAM route. On November 30, two passenger-grade AAVs of the two-seater EHang 216 model performed simultaneous flight demos, vertically taking off from and landing at Heli Tiande Centre in Guangzhou on the Centre's opening day. The world’s first ISO approved drone standards have been announced by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) following a 12-month period of consultation wi
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Wed, Dec 11, 2019
Stakeholders Will Make Recommendations To The Agency On Test Requirements
To advance public safety of the largest segment of drone operations, the FAA has announced the organizations selected to advise the agency in developing test administration requirements for the recreational Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) aeronautical knowledge and safety test.
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Wed, Dec 11, 2019
EASA Holds High Level Conference On Drones
The vision of a world where drones are used for emergency services, local transportation or parcel delivery in our cities, can only become a reality providing safety standards are met and solutions found to issues such as noise and privacy, this year’s EASA High Level Conference on Drones concluded.
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Wed, Dec 11, 2019
Says Demand For Inflight Weather Services Has Diminished Since Its Inception
The FAA has posted a notice in the Federal Register announcing its intention to discontinue the Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service (HIWAS) on January 8, 2020.
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Wed, Dec 11, 2019
Harbour Air And magniX Say Flight Is The First Step In Becoming The World's First All-Electric Commercial Fleet
Harbour Air, North America's largest seaplane airline and magniX, the company powering the electric aviation revolution, have announced the successful flight of the world's first all-electric commercial aircraft. The successful flight of the ePlane, a six-passenger DHC-2 de Havilland Beaver powered by a 750-horsepower (560 kW) magni500 propulsion system, took place on the Fraser River at Harbour Air Seaplanes terminal in Richmond (YVR South) Tuesday morning.
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Wed, Dec 11, 2019
Give Team $1 Million Cash Prize For Fastest Autonomous Racing Drone
Lockheed Martin and The Drone Racing League (DRL), the global, professional drone racing circuit, have announced the winning AlphaPilot team of the 2019 Artificial Intelligence Robotic Racing (AIRR) Circuit, the premier autonomous drone racing series that accelerates AI innovation through futuristic sports competition. During Friday night's AIRR Championship, Team MAVLab, the drone research lab of the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands, won the coveted $1 million cash prize, sponsored by Lockheed Martin.
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Wed, Dec 11, 2019
Demonstrate Its SkyDome Network Defense Platform Later This Month
Fortem Technologies, the leading provider of airspace defense solutions for a drone world, has been selected by NATO to demonstrate its SkyDome Network defense platform. Fortem was identified for the program for its drone detection, classification and ThreatAware platform, and for its autonomous drone interceptor - DroneHunter.
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Wed, Dec 11, 2019
Authorities Say It Is Likely The C-130 Went Down
A Chilean Air Force C-130 with 38 people on board is presumed to have gone down en route to Antarctica, according to FACh officials.
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