Penn State UAS Ops Blog

• Aviation Sayings for Drones
• Living on the Edge- Aviation Passion and Safety Mindfulness
• Penn State Club Places Second in International Drone Competition

In celebration of the inaugural National Drone Safety Awareness Week (November 4-10), we are offering a series of drone-related events throughout the week. Please help us spread the word by distributing the message to your college and campus locations. Note the Monday events are being held via Zoom so all campus locations can participate.

 Monday, November 4, 2019, 3:00 – 4:20

Lightning Talks (via Zoom)

• 3:00 pm Capturing Artistic Drone Footage, Sam Newhouse, WPSU Videographer
• 3:15 pm Recreational Flying, How to Have Fun Safely, Justin Valenti, Doctoral Candidate, Aerospace Engineering
• 3:30 pm How Drones are Used in Police and Public Safety, Officer Trevor Stauffer
• 3:45 pm Flying Drones at Penn State, Jenn Stewart, Unmanned Aircraft Operations Manager
• 4:00 pm How Drones are Used in Agriculture, H.J. Sommer III, Ph.D., Professor, Fellow ASME
• 4:15 pm Wrap-up

RSVP at: https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1UnBjPj7bxiGR8x

• Zoom Sessions only
• https://psu.zoom.us/j/947904194
• Or Telephone:
• +1 646 876 9923 (US Toll)
• +1 669 900 6833 (US Toll)
• Meeting ID: 947 904 194

 

Tuesday, November 5, 2019, 2:30 – 4:00, 102 Kern Building

Safety is (Y)Our Responsibility

Open House: Enjoy a few light refreshments and learn more about how Penn State practices safe flying with Unmanned Aircraft (UA). Meet the UA Operations team who processes all requests to fly at Penn State and our team of standardization pilots who conduct qualification flight checks with pilots. Stop by to say hi and to learn how to make a request to fly at Penn State, how to practice safe flying techniques, how qualification flight checks are conducted and how safety briefings are conducted post-accident or incident. Anyone is welcome to attend, even if you have already gone through a standardization check, are thinking of becoming a Penn State pilot or are only seeking safe flying practices for your own personal reasons. RSVP at: https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1UnBjPj7bxiGR8x

 

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

We’ll be featuring a number of drone-related articles that can be read here, on our blog: https://sites.psu.edu/uasopsblog/. If you are interested in submitting a drone-related article, contact uas-orp@psu.edu.

 

Thursday, November 7, 2019, 4:30 – 6:00, Federal Tap House

Keep it Simple, Keep it Safe

Drone Safety Tap Hour at the Federal Tap House

Join a group of drone enthusiasts in discussing all things “drone”. Refreshments can be purchased on your own at the Federal Tap House in State College. RSVP at: https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1UnBjPj7bxiGR8x. Look for the table in the main bar area, which will be identified with a table tent labeled “PSU Drone Compliance”.

 

Hope to see you at these events!

Unmanned Aircraft (UA) operations in controlled airspace requires authorization from the FAA. In the past, a blanket waiver was available at University Park and some other campus locations for those who had approved requests to fly. There is now a new, more streamlined option available to request approval to operate in the KUNV and other controlled airspace.

What is the new option? 

The Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) automates the application and approval process for airspace authorizations. Although LAANC has existed for a number of years, it was not available at all air traffic facilities. LAANC has been expanding and is now available at approximately 500 airports, including KUNV, as well as a number of airports that are close to other campus locations.

What does this mean?

The currently approved University Park airspace waiver will expire on September 30, 2019. Since KUNV is part of a LAANC participating facility, the option to apply for a blanket waiver no longer exists. As a result, each pilot will need to use LAANC to request to fly in controlled airspace. LAANC approvals are currently good for a 12-hour period, but any flight that occurs after that period will require a new request to be made. LAANC authorizations can be made up to 90 days in advance.

Where can I find more information? 

• See the following LAANC Requests UA Standard Operating Procedure.
• FAA UAS Data Exchange

Questions can be directed to uas-orp@psu.edu.

We are pleased to announce that the progress of the new electronic system to process requests to fly Unmanned Aircraft Systems is going well. Here is a quick update of where we are in the process.

• Usability testing took place the week of July 8, 2019.
• The pilot phase, which will include a number of volunteers who will enter their requests into the new system, is scheduled to take place early to mid-August 2019.
• A full release is planned for mid-September 2019.

In the meantime: Continue to use our online form to submit a UA request to fly: https://www.research.psu.edu/node/2790.

If you are interested in piloting the new system, please email uas-orp@psu.edu.

Thank you

Although Penn State does not currently allow recreational flying on their property or affiliated property, we wanted to share changes that have been put into place for recreational flying.  Some of the highlights include the need for hobbyist to pass a test and obtain authorization prior to flying in controlled airspace. A full list of changes can be found on the FAA news and updates site.

We’re excited to share that Penn State has recently purchased an electronic system to process requests to fly Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The UAS team worked with stakeholders to identify the best system, and we are just a few months away from rolling the system out to the community.

Features of the system:

• Capture in one system most information needed to process requests (including attachments)
• Manage aircraft details (registration and associated flight requests)
• Manage pilot details (Part 107 cert #, contact info and qualifications)
• Search for coordinates and identify surrounding airspace restrictions (map is powered by Airmap)
• Create post-flight reports (report take-off or landing damages, equipment malfunctions, lost link events, or accidents, incidents or events of interest)

Pilot phase: We are looking for volunteers to pilot the system over the next few months. If you are interested in piloting (no pun intended!), please email uas-orp@psu.edu.

In the meantime: Continue to use our online form to submit a UA request to fly: https://www.research.psu.edu/node/2790.

Additional notifications about the system will follow in the coming weeks and months.

Thank you.

We are excited to share a few updates with you about the UA program.

1. UA Website: now has a new look and feel, which should help with the overall navigation in finding what you need (https://www.research.psu.edu/UasOperations).
2. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): have been created and others will soon follow. We hope you find these useful as you go through the process to fly.
3. Flight Manual: has been slimmed down and now only includes information to help you fly safely – the flight planning, onsite pre-flight and post-operations checklists are also still available within the manual. Information that was eliminated from the manual (registration, insurance and training) is now included in the list of SOPs.
4. Mis-hap Plan: was renamed to “Accidents, Incidents and Events of Interest SOP”

Feedback on any of the above components are welcomed (uas-orp@psu.edu).

The new dates for the FAA UAS Symposium have been announced and will be held June 3-5. For additional information, visit their website.

The FAA UAS Symposium 2019 recently announced the original date for the event (February 12-14) is being postponed due to the government shutdown (http://faauas.auvsi.net/home). The government shutdown will likely affect other UA operations such as applying for waivers. If you have any questions or concerns, please email uas-orp@psu.edu.

Please remember that unmanned aircraft (UA or drones) that are being operated at Penn State or on Penn State affiliated property for Penn State activities must go through the proper approval process. This includes, but is not limited to UAs that are being operated:

• indoors
• outdoors
• educational use
• research use
• hobby use

Regardless of the size of the UA, a request to fly still needs to be submitted (https://www.research.psu.edu/node/2790).

If you know of someone or a class or group that is operating a UA in your area, please check in with them and ask if they are aware of the approval process so we can continue to get the word out. You can also check in with uas-orp@psu.edu to see if there is an approval on file.

Thank you and Happy New Year!