Praxis Aerospace Concepts

New York, December 20, 2018: The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) announced today the publication of the Standardization Roadmap for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Version 1.0). The roadmap was developed by the Institute’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Standardization Collaborative (UASSC), a group established to coordinate and accelerate the development of the standards and conformity assessment programs needed to facilitate the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS aka “drones”) into the national airspace system of the United States. Over 300 individuals from some 175 public- and private-sector organizations actively supported the document’s development, including representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), additional U.S. federal government agencies, standards developing organizations (SDOs), industry, academia, and others.

This roadmap represents the culmination of the UASSC’s work over the last 15 months to identify existing standards and standards in development, assess gaps, and make recommendations for priority areas where there is a perceived need for additional standardization including pre-standardization research and development (R&D). Topical areas covered include airworthiness; flight operations; personnel training, qualifications, and certification; and specific operations for critical infrastructure inspections, commercial services, and public safety.

Praxis Aerospace Concepts International, Incorporated (PACI) is pleased to announce our participation in the UASSC, both as a corporation and in concert with our CEO’s work within ASTM.

Read more about the Standardization Roadmap for UAS in the full press release from ANSI here. 

As the program rolls out, more details will be available on the ANSI UASSC page.

Boeing and its subsidiaries Jeppesen and Aviall have joined with Robotic Skies, a leading commercial unmanned aircraft system (UAS) support services provider, to develop and deliver industry-leading supply chain management and optimization, analytics, and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services for the commercial and civil UAS markets. 

Read the press release here

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has provided guidance  for agency personnel who handle possible drone violations to refer all cases involving interference with first responders to the FAA Chief Counsel’s office for possible enforcement action.

Read more about this policy here.

In this year’s Rankings Report, Business Faculties’ 14th annual entry, they’ve taken the first crack at Unmanned Aerial Systems (a.k.a. drones).

During the past five years, UAS test facilities (stretching from New York and Virginia in the East all the way to Alaska) have been quietly going about their work preparing for the lift off of what is conservatively expected to become a $100-billion industry by the end of this decade. See “Nevada developing global renown for drone research ” for more information.

In recent months the FAA began expanding its horizons for the emerging drone industry—literally, by permitting the use of drones that will be controlled by operators who can no longer see them with their eyes (as in “over the horizon”). See “PACI Approved for Commercial BVLOS UAS Operations” for more information.

FAA also has expanded the test program to include the integration of drones into the airspace of a select group of urban centers. See “KDOT Selected for UAS Integration Pilot Program” for more information on PACI’s participation in the UASIPP.

(Business Facilities’) rankings radar has detected that New York is leading the first Drone Leaders formation, followed closely by second-ranked Nevada. See “PACI Achieves Milestone at the NY UAS Test Site” for more information on PACI’s partnership with NY.

Read the full article from the Business Facilities’ July/August 2018 here .

Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao May 9 selected the Kansas Department of Transportation to participate in the department’s new Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program.

This program will pair the Federal Aviation Administration, KDOT and private sector participants to collect invaluable data on how to safely integrate drones in the national airspace, and help state, local and tribal governments partner with private sector drone operators and manufacturers to expedite drone integration nationwide.

Under the program, KDOT plans to deploy UAS to support beyond visual line of sight operations in rural communities. It seeks to leverage a statewide, unmanned traffic management system to facilitate precision agriculture operations.

Praxis Aerospace Concepts International Incorporated (PACI) is pleased to announce our participation with the Kansas UAS IPP team supporting with a  wide variety of services and experience to participants interested in safe integration of Unmanned Systems.

Read the full article from the High Plains Journal here . Additional coverage from AUVSI may be found here.

UAV Industries, a leading commercial drone pilot training and operations company, has announced the launch of its accredited Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Training Course, open to all drone pilots in possession of a valid Remote Pilot Licence (RPL). First to market in Africa, the B-VLOS training course is endorsed by both the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SA CAA) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

PACI and PACInc instructors traveled to Capetown, South Africa last year to attend UAVI’s intensive training program. As the only US company with both SA CAA Remote Pilot Instructors with BVLOS endorsements, and a Part 107 BVLOS waiver for Training, PACI congratulates UAVI’s success and welcomes the opportunity to partner even more in the future. 

Read the article from SUASNews online here.