A guidebook for airport UAS threats, watching your neighbors, AUVSI XCELLENCE awards, legal issues for the construction industry, drone projects that impact healthcare, the KARGO and Hammerhead cargo drones, a drone mystery, and the Boeing Loyal Wingman production site.

UAV News

The National Safe Skies Alliance published a 44-page guidebook titled, “” [PDF]. Funded by the FAA, the guidebook is designed to help airport operators plan for threats, assess them, respond to them, and recover from threats from UAS operating in unauthorized airspace. was contracted to develop the document which includes examples and case studies.

A Hamilton, Ohio resident said a man was using a drone to look in windows, fly over children playing in their yards, and chase a woman down a street. He took video footage, but the police couldn’t do anything because no law was being broken. So he approached the City Council and they proposed a new local ordinance that would prohibit the use of drones to commit voyeurism.

Press release:

The Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International () announced the winners of the XCELLENCE Humanitarian and Public Safety Awards. 

In the Humanitarian Project/Program category:

• UNICEF African Drone & Data Academy (ADDA).
• ALTI UAS flying in Misool, Indonesia.
• MissionGO for the Longest UAS Human Organ Delivery Flight.

In the Public Safety Project/Program category:

• Department of Homeland Security FEMA (Region IV)
• Easy Aerial, for their Smart Air Force Aerial Monitoring System.
• The International Emergency Drone Organization for the Best Drone Practices Report for Fire & Rescue services

Drones have many applications in the construction industry, but drone usage raises a number of legal concerns: privacy, safety, proper insurance coverage, and the duty to maintain video and still photo records. Also, there are civil and criminal penalties associated with using drones.

1. Transporting blood samples. has been transporting blood 26 kilometers in Germany.
2. Delivering COVID-19 vaccines. is trialing vaccine delivery within a 12 km range in India with temperature-controlled containers.
3. Disease control. In the Philippines and Malaysia, the is using drones equipped with thermal cameras to follow macaques and monitor the transmission of malaria from animals to humans. 

Kaman Corporation has launched the medium-lift expeditionary logistics UAV. The KARGO UAV self-deploys beyond 500 nautical miles, carries up to 800 pounds of payload, has built-in autonomy with sense and avoid, and can deliver payloads with pinpoint accuracy. It’s designed for easy transport and deployment. Each KARGO UAV fits in a standard cargo container and can transition from full-stow to flight-ready in minutes with only two personnel.

Video:

The Airlogix eV20 is an autonomous eVTOL delivery drone. Empty weight: 132 pounds / 60 kg, maximum take-off weight: 176 pounds / 80 kg, payload: 44 pounds/ 20 kg, range: 62 miles. It flies in either quadcopter mode or fixed-wing mode. Airlogix says this “eVTOL aircraft [is] for middle-mile commercial and humanitarian delivery of urgent or regular supplies.”

Video:

Last February, a drone outmaneuvered and outran police aircraft over Tucson. Through a Freedom of Information Act request, Drive’s War Zone reporter Brett Tingley uncovered new information. Eye-witness accounts suggest that it was “quadcopter like” and had “propellers reflecting the city light.” It was estimated to be 3 to 5ft wide.

UAV Video of the Week

Drone footage showed lava from Spain’s La Palma volcano swallowing a swimming pool and houses on its way to the coast on Monday.

Feedback

Listener Stephen pointed out that a production site in Australia has been selected for the Loyal Wingman.

The Airpower Teaming System (ATS) will be produced at the Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport, in Queensland. The first flight of the ATS was last February. It was developed by Boeing Australia in partnership with the Royal Australian Air Force.

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