FAA Grants UAS Exemptions

FAA Grants UAS Exemptions

Merging industries

Maximization

I can’t help noticing signs along the road now. Today I saw several video wall displays, one was a used car dealer that had an American flag flying digitally on his billboard out in front of the business. There is a Toyota dealer in Pensacola off of 29 that has an ad for the service department and for the Tundra then another ten second ad for the 4Runner one for a Prius going through their whole inventory. Then there was a Ford dealer North of Mobile, Alabama that showcased their service department the Ford Focus and their trucks the same way. There are others that flip ads everyone ten seconds, everything from GIECO Auto insurance, health insurance, auto leasing, assisted living facilities, churches to my favorite, barbeque restaurants. It seems kind of random.

Primary Media has created a Facebook page showcasing the companies they are advertising on their billboards. I think they are onto something here! Tommy Jennings of The Image of Magazine was telling me how he is looking for video content for businesses advertises in the print magazine and he loves the aerial video from the small UAS/Drones. I gave him the contact information for the local UAS/Drone professionals in his area. I recommended XFly for training and systems so he could get his own imagery and video for his clients the way he conceives it.

The convergence of UAS/Drone technology and imagery and LED lighting and video wall advertising is amazing. I haven’t even scratched the surface of the potential. There is so much more that can be done, better and more efficiently. With Stampede Global Media absorbing the Unmanned Vehicle University, T.J. Diaz from XFly UAV and XFly Films with in New Business Development for XFly Films and DX2 Broadcast. They say “Birds of a feather flock together”.  I haven’t even gotten all of these players talking yet but I am sure after this blog, I can make it happen. There is about to be a technological revolution once these industries really start to jell and this blog is getting that party started.

Jesse Ventura tried to pick a fight with me

My name is Reuben Lowing, I am a former US Navy SEAL and in 2006 at the West Coast SEAL Team Reunion I introduced myself to Jesse Ventura and I mentioned that I was involved with Politics locally as the Vice Chairman and precinct operations chair of the 79th caucus of the San Diego Republican Party. At that minute Jesse Ventura began bashing the Republican Party, President George W. Bush and all Republicans. We started talking about Prop 8 and he told me a story of his gay friend who’s partner was dying and he couldn't say his last good bye because they weren't considered married. Then he went on to talk about how John Kerry should be president. By this time we had moved away from the party and I was getting tired of his brow beating and I told him “I remember when John Kerry testified before congress and labeled our Veteran's as rapist and baby killers. John Kerry’s protesters spit on my uncle when he came back from Vietnam and that incident still effects him today. I hate John Kerry!” At this point I felt that it might get physical and I have a lot of experience boxing but Jesse was about a foot taller than me so I noticed that he was wearing Teva sandals and I was wearing my desert combat boots. My plan if he started anything I would stomp on his instep with my boots and right as I had that thought, he put his hand out and said “I don't mean anything personal, I just wanted you to see how nasty it can get in politics.” We shook hands and walked back to the tent.

A couple of days later a buddy from SEAL Team one told me about Chris Kyle knocking him out, I believe Jesse Ventura was looking for a fight with someone at the reunion that year. If my testimony can help in the law suit for HarperCollins and Tanya Kyle please feel free to contact me.

I live in Lewisville Texas and I can be reached at (619)313-1073 or reuben.lowing@outlook.com

Brandon Schulman your country needs you

Dealing with a con artist

After reading the article on the WND website stating that the Obama executive order instructing the Department of Homeland Security to not execute deportation orders was not signed and filed. Right away it made me think of the law suit filed against the FAA for grounding Gene Robinson and Lawsuit was thrown out because the FAA did not properly serve the cease and desist order, sending an e-mail which the judge said “E-mails are not subject to judicial review” and threw out the law suit on a technicality. Letting the FAA off of the hook. I see that if the president did not actually sign or file his executive order, he is baiting the congress to shut down the government and the states like Texas are being set up to have their lawsuits thrown out.

Brandon Schulman, you might want to call Greg Abbott’s, John Beohner and Darrell Issa’s offices and offer to advise them about paying attention to little details like if the order was properly executed and if e-mails are subject to judicial review.

Famous people I've meet and how I meet them

Famous people I’ve meet

Colonel Sanders, I shook his hand in the Cherry Festival parade when I was nine.

Durwood Hershey, The outdoor sport write for the Detroit Free Press was on my paper route and he taught me to fly fish.

Cheryl Wheeler Duncan Woman’s world champion kickboxer and stunt woman. We trained together at the same boxing gym.

Roy Jones Sr. World renowned boxing trainer and my mentor.

Roy Jones Jr. Hall of fame multi-weight division champion. Sparring partner and best friend.

 

 

Arthur William IBF Cruiserweight Champion. We were sparring partners.

Bo Jackson We meet him at the sunshine State games in Gainesville Florida. He was running track for Auburn University.

Antonio Tarver He fought Roy Jones Jr. in the Sunshine State games in 1983

Derrick “Smoke” Gainer WBA Featherweight champion. Sparring Partner.

Murrad Muhammad Boxing promoter, we meet at the Roy Jones Jr. vs Clinton Woods fight.

Lemuel Nelson Contender for Junior Lightweight championship. We were sparring partners.

Kelsey Banks 1988 Olympian, we fought each other in 1982.

Earnie Shavers Former Heavyweight contender. I got his autograph when he fought in Pensacola in 1983.

Rudy Beocsh Longest serving Navy SEAL, he was master Chief of Command at SEAL Team Two and I would see him around the compound and he would always talk to me.

Julian Wheeler He is the former WBC Continental Americas Super Featherweight, USBA Lightweight, and IBC Light Welterweight champion. We were sparring partner on the Boxing team.

Sean Fletcher USA Boxing champion three years in a row and contender fighting for world championships three times.

Sugar Ray Leonard 1976 Olympic boxer and all-time great professional boxer. I trained at his camp  with Roy Jones Junior in 1987. 

Eugene Speed NABF Super Featherweight champion. We were sparring partners.

Michael Bent WBO World Heavyweight Champion. We trained together at Sugar Ray Leonard’s camp.

Michael Trainer Sugar Ray Lenard’s boxing attorney.                                     

Tony Suggs Virginia State Light Welterweight Champion and USA Boxing Nation Champion, we fought in 1987.

Danny “Little Red” Lopez Hall of fame Featherweight champion. We meet at the boxing hall of fame banquet in 1988 and I introduced him to Roy Jones Jr.

Carlos Palomino Hall of fame welterweight champion. We meet at the boxing hall of fame banquet and I introduced him to Roy Jones Jr. and I used to run into him at amateur boxing events in LA.

 Henry Tillman Olympic Heavyweight Gold Medalist and contender for the heavyweight title. We meet at the boxing hall of fame banquet in 1988.

Martin Sheen Actor, I ran into him in Paraguay in 1990 and he was there with Green Peace. 

 Dick Cheney US Vice president. We meet at the Naval Special Warfare Unit in Panama during Operation “Just Cause”.

Emmitt Smith Emmitt Smith, I used to watch him play high school football at Escambia and ran into him at Roy Jones Jr.’s first pro fight.

Carlos Hathcock Famous Marine sniper who wrote the book “One shot, one kill. Marine sniper” Was one of my instructors in Sniper school.

Victor Cordova WBA Super middleweight champion. We meet in Panama at an amateur boxing show.

Guillermo Endara President of Panama, I jumped out of his plane while he was in it.

James “Bone Crusher” Smith Former WBA Heavyweight Champion, we trained together in Fort Bragg in 1991.

Jack Kemp US Senator and Vice Presidential candidate. We meet at the Roy Jones Jr. vs Julio Gonzales fight. I ran into him again a few year later in the San Diego airport. 

Fred Levin Known for rewriting Florida’s Medicaid Third-Party Recovery Act allowing the state of Florida to sue the Tobacco Industry. He was Roy Jones Jr. promoter and legal consultant. I call him every time I go to Pensacola.

George Foreman Two time heavyweight champion of the world. We meet in Portland when Roy Jones Jr. fought Clinton Woods and ringside in Dallas 2013.

Bob Arum We meet in the casino prior to the McKline vs Klitskho fight and sitting ringside in Dallas.

Tyrone Woods Meet at the Far East Rock.

Glenn Dougherty Meet at the Far East Rock

Kevin Ward Professional baseball player and thoroughbred breeder. Kevin and Craig Lefferts Set me up to give chapel services for the Braves and the Padres in 1995.

Craig Lefferts Major league relief pitcher. We meet when he and Kevin Ward had me give chapel services to the Braves and the Padres in 1995.

Trevor Hoffman Famous relief pitcher of the San Diego Padres. Craig Lefferts introduced us.

Dexter Yeager First Amway Diamond, we meet in Mobil Alabama at a convention.

Herd Mitchell Actor who played the boxing commissioner in the movie "Ali" but he also played Dean Whitter, the Saturn Guy, the goofy manager in Staples commercials, the "Blue and the Grey". He invited me to have an Italian gourmet dinner at his house. We meet several times and talked on the phone often. 

Tony Gwynn Hall of fame slugger, I meet him many times when I worked security for the Padres in 1996.

Orlin Norris WBA World Cruiserweight champion, we managed a fighter together.

Terry Norris Great all time welterweight and Junior Middleweight champions. He likes to clown on me.

Jesse Ventura Pro wrestler, actor and Governor of Minnesota. I meet him at the SEAL Team reunion in 2006 and we got into a heated argument over politic.

Merqui Sosa Former Light heavyweight champion, we meet at Kelsey Banks’ gym while my son Devin trained there.

Andy MacDowell Actress and model, meet her at the J. Paul Getti Museum around 1999 and she autographed Devin’s drawing.

Dennis Quaid Actor, he was with Andy MacDowell at the Getti Museum.

Tim Bradley Jr. Welterweight Champion, we meet in Palm Springs with his PR manager Tommy Jennings.

 

Tom Hopkins Famous sales trainer.

Ted Batkin Chairman of the California Citrus Research board for 20 years, I consult with him on agriculture and drone applications.

Gene Robinson Sued the FAA to be allowed to use small drones for search and rescue. I have visited him several times at his facility just north of Austin.

Mitt Romney Two time Republican Presidential candidate, I meet him in San Diego when he ran in 2008. I ran into him again last week at the Las Vegas airport.

Melissa Rycroft Is a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader, Melissa is studying to be an engineer. I got to sit next to her on the plane leaving Dallas to Salt Lake.

Erica Is a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader with a degree in communications and she has a strong faith and would like to do evangelical speaking. We sat next to each other on the plane from Dallas to Salt Lake. I do not know her last name.

Family Pools for Healthcare

Using banks to administer family pools for healthcare

Back in 2008 I had a discussion with another former Navy SEAL who consulted with Thelma Drake the Republican congressman from Virginia and he devised the solution utilizing microloans in Iraqi for small businesses in Iraq to operate and expand because the trickle down wasn't working because the government leaders were pocketing the money the US was giving them. I was informing him on the loan modifications and he was conceptualizing a mortgage backed security bringing in investors to help home owners stay in their homes. During this process he spelled out to me his concept of creating a family pool administered by banks for healthcare. Banks would create accounts for healthcare costs funded by the increased in the minimum wage. Employers would pay into each employee's family healthcare account equal to about $3.60 per hour. There would social pressure through the family to live healthier. Undocumented aliens that go into the emergency room would give their information and be assigned to their family pool to cover their medical costs.

This former Navy SEAL buddy of mine will be presenting this concept to congress next week. His timing with the issues with immigration and healthcare is perfect. What nobody seems to be addressing is that 70 million baby-boomers are leaving the work force and we need more younger people to take those jobs or those jobs will be outsourced to china, India or Mexico but by utilizing these family pools, it doesn't matter where you are working. Doctors would like this solution much better than the current healthcare system where they have to wait for the government to pay them or possibly never get paid. This solution would be similar to PPOs, they would just have to except the family pool account cards, from the banks.  

Now that was a fight!

Ode to Tim

I am writing this to an acquaintance from school back in Michigan. We weren’t friends, we played on the soccer team together and I remember keeping an eye on him because he was a hothead and I saw him give a serious beat-down of a bully who used to terrorize me from the third grade. My mother who was a teacher used to talk about him and how creative and smart he was. I noticed Tim on Facebook and I sent him a message giving him my number and asked him to call me. We talked and he let me know that he has been fighting cancer for over 13 years. I noticed today that he posted on Facebook that he will be under hospice care. I have mixed feelings about Tim’s situation. There have been times since my divorce where I have asked God to take my soul to a place without the strife and burdens that weight me down but the thought of leaving before getting to know someone better or before I knew my boys had their lives on track and traction moving forward in their lives pulled me back and gave me the gumption to continue. I don’t know how it would be if I were in Tim’s place. I envy his fierce attitude to continue to fight. That is how I will remember him.

Tim, if you are reading this the fact that you have been fighting this cancer for 13+ years and it is amazing how you are still willing to fight if it would give you more time. That kind of endurance and tenacity is remarkable. It is not like you lost the fight, if this were in the boxing ring you would have gotten off the matt more times and lasted more rounds than Rocky. This life is just training for eternity and you’re ready for eternity.

Good bye.

Golden Corral pulls bait and switch on veterans

Golden Corral advertised "Free buffet for veterans on 'Veterans Day" and when we arrived this sign was on the door! Some idiot in management figured that vets would go ahead and pay full price and not show up on Monday the 17th and save the franchise money. Well they need to pay. Vets need to storm Golden Corral next Monday the 17th and make them pay so they remember what day Veterans day is on.

2014 Blue Angel Airshow with Sky Warrior LLC

 

 

 

 

 



It's the progression

They mean well

Remember when I first got into the mortgage business and interest rates were at 7.5% and Allen Greenspan was trying to curb inflation and curtail over simulated enthusiasm for the dot-com industry. Rates went all the way up to 9% when the market stalled and rates came back down. Then they hit rock bottom again after 9/11. Then in 2006 and 2007 for 14 months he raised interest rate a quarter point every month attempting to push home owners into 30 years fixed rate mortgages but they couldn’t because property values slowed and these borrowers couldn’t show income or credit scores high enough to refinance out of the option ARM loans that were about to recast increasing their payments significantly. Who would have thought these home owners would just walk away? It was a stroke of genius for these mortgage companies to invest in default insurance? You would have thought they wanted these home owners to default so they would recovered not just the principle balance but 30 years interest. Who could have known that selling these mortgages into the secondary market would have increase the odds of these mortgages going into default, causing a 30 day late which would have played hell with underwriters for those homeowners who wanted to have the security of a 30 fixed mortgage.

 It’ll all come out in the wash

 The FAA slowing down the commercialization the UAS/Drone industry has some people thinking that it’s for the benefit of the established military contractors but the DOD recently put out an RFI and didn’t include these companies. If the DOD doesn’t want them, how well do you think the commercial markets will take to them or better yet, how well do you think it will be welcomed by the commercial world?

Enterprising

I wrote about how DJI and 3D Robotics were priced just right for the commercial market and just like the Japanese car manufactures poised to saturate the market and then introduce their higher quality, more expensive products. Not trying to be prophetic but 3D Robotics is about to introduce their Enterprise line of commercial unmanned systems. SkyWard is part of this progression. There are a lot of people excited about their new line with the airframes to go with their unique, open architecture operating systems that are able to integrate with smart phones and tablets. This is going to take dot-com business to a whole new level.

The Ag Formula

The full package

Everyone is the rage over precision agriculture, using spectral imagery to determine everything from productions estimates down to determining the sugar content in grapes that are ripe for picking to distinguishing healthy plants from unhealthy plants by measuring the chlorophyll content of the leaves and spectral reflectance determining wilt which is an indicator of diseased plants. It is possible to measure the moisture, carbon and salinity content in the soil. The same technology can detect the type and species of weeds. This is where the magic happens. It is a known practice to figure out the mineral content in the soil by the type of weeds that grow in it. This is great for saving time flying over a farm or orchard but then what do you do?

Treatment

So what does a UAS/Drone pilot do once he does all of the heavy lifting flying his expensive technology to collect valuable data. Who makes the real money? The Ag Consultant and Crop Scientists charge 5c per acre and another 5c per acre for soil analysis. To make $50,000 per year you would have to have 500,000 acres under contract for both Ag Consulting services and soil analysis. Oh but they also get a piece of the fertilizer and pesticides they subscribe. What is interesting is that there are issues that are caused by these commercial fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. NPK fertilizer causes hard pack amongst other things which prevents water from penetrating the soil, instead running off causing erosion and then is causes plankton and algae to super go, die quickly and that sucks the oxygen out of the water causing dead-zones in the oceans and lakes. Then they recommended not tilling the soil and just punching the seeds into the ground which will reduce erosion. What they did was recommend spraying the fertilizers on the surface. The problem with that is, it rained and all of that fertilizer ran off into the lakes and streams creating algae blooms leaving hundreds of thousands of people around the Great Lakes in Ohio, Minnesota and California. Then in Panama and Columbia they had an herbicide run off and contaminate the water supplies with chemicals that carcinogenetic and cause birth defects. I would bet that it is worth more than 10c per acre to solve these issues.

The ECO-Agri Formula that GUTC uses to kill palm weevils by disrupting the molecular structure of the bug’s exoskeleton allowing water to penetrate and rupture their internals and gum up the villi that they use to breath. The same process of separating the molecules on residual NPK, breaking them up and making usable for the natural microbes to digest. These microbes attach themselves to the roots of plants and for the purpose of converting nitrogen in the air soil making usable for the plants. The nitrogen in chemical fertilizers isn’t the proper type that the natural Microbes like. Then there are super microbes that digest hydrocarbons like oil sludge and the byproduct is a carbon based liquid that is milky clear and smells like ammonia and it is loaded with vitamins and nutrients, the type that the natural microbes love. It makes the plants more robust and resistant to infestations. It doesn’t kill bugs. The whole balanced solution of determining the right mix of treating the soil by reducing potassium other minerals and chemicals that cause certain weeds to grow, knowing where to increase the irrigation, add fertilizer, the right type of fertilizer or treat the soil. I know more than most but I know people who know more than I and her name is Lena Vander Stap and she loves this stuff.

Tune in

It’s another round

In 2004 I produced a treatment for an interactive boxing TV show, the same week of the premier of the “Apprentice” then the very next week press releases came out for “The Next Great Champ” and “The Contender”. So we had to put our show on hold to see how these shows performed. They stunk but it was a boon for boxing. There was a demand to fight the boxers who appeared on the shows. Now there are shows recruiting show UAS/Drone pilots. There is the show I am seeking talent for with XFly Films and there is another network out of Europe and I have been hearing from the talent I am lining up that they are getting calls from another reality show looking for content.

No matter how well they do in the ratings is going to be a boon for the industry. First it will erase the sigma of the evil killing and spying drones and shift the focus to the art and science in the whole process. I can see kids glued to the TV like I was to Jacques Cousteau, taking their DJI toy quad-rotors and attempting to duplicate applications they see depicted on these shows. The media is inadvertently stimulating curiosity for this technology and what is going to happen is these Drone reality shows are going to hone the focus toward beneficial applications and foster curiosity which is going to lead to more innovation. National Geographic spurred a generation of engineers. These types of programs will do the same thing and when the audience sees amazing cinematography, innovations and research in science happening. Young people are going to learn more about physics, entomology, agriculture and how we are effecting the earth both good and bad like we’ve never seen. When the viewers see it all from a bird’s eye view it is going to have an effect.

When Joe Hupy from the University of Wisconsin shows the smog over Milwaukee compared to the pristine air over Lake Michigan. When crop scientist and ag-consultants see the impact of NPK run off and how the spectral reflectivity of plants comparing those from farms using chemical fertilizers to those using microbial technologies. I can see an interest in higher math such as trigonometry when they see surveyors and civil engineers using drones. There will be a technology boom the likes which have not been imagined.

Does it do the shopping and ballance the check book too?

 Even the DOD knows it’s a free market

I was speaking with one of my contacts who makes aerial cameras and sensors who told me the DOD put out a Request for Information (RFI) for new UAV/Drone technologies and they didn’t open it up to the old guard, Northrup Grumman, In-Situ, AeroVironment and Lockheed Martin. He told me that the submission from new manufacturers was overwhelming. They are tired of overpaying for substandard product. That should be a warning to the FAA who is trying to force the same overpriced systems onto the commercial market. They won’t stand for it and a judge won’t allow it. As one judge has already stated “The FAA doesn’t have the authority to regulate commerce”. When you here the phrase “In the interest of public safety” thrown around by the FAA, that pertains to commercial airliners carrying passengers. UAS/Drones don’t carry passengers “Yet”!

I know that Patrick Egan of SUAS News is pushing for an exemption for UAS under 4lbs. I think that is going to be good for the industry. I would like to see it up to 55lbs. Basically that would mean these smaller systems wouldn’t require the operator to have a license, once the FAA decides what kind of license is needed. These overpriced technologies can’t be pushed down the public’s throat. They can buy off politicians but the commercial market is all about efficiency and economics. The public will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for technologies but they have to be worth the price. One of my SEAL Team buddies reminded me the other day about a story I was telling in the locker room about my now ex-wife wanted me to buy her a Kirby vacuum cleaner for $2,400 and I said “For $2,400 I better be able to drive it to work!” I saw a Bentley going through the McDonald’s drive through tonight that cost about $250,000. It looked nice but I am sure it has many more features that other nice cars like a Ford “Fusion” but get the jobs done. If the FAA is going to certify systems that are priced in the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, they better certify systems priced significantly less with the same capabilities and those manufactures who are trying to use their inside connections to push their high priced products onto the market, they better do the grocery shopping and balance the checkbook too!       

Don't be bullied

As the image comes clearer

Being 5’4.5” tall I learned to deal with bullies. All it takes is standing up to them. Even if they think they can beat you, they won’t risk the possibility of taking a few punches themselves. That is how it is with the government and dealing with their agencies. I was mistaken when I said that if you are currently conducting commercial UAS/Drone operations that all the FAA can do is fine you. They don’t have the jurisdiction to do that unless you are actually within the approach ways of an airfield, runway or on the airfield of runway itself. They can get the municipality, parks department, port or the Bureau of Land Management to charge you. Don’t take my work for it, ask an attorney?

Now with that said. It you hold a pilot’s license you have exposure. It is like buying and selling real-estate. You don’t need a real-estate license to buy and sell real-estate but you cannot do it for a fee without a license. Then you are required to provide full disclosure on all transactions. I think being licensed to fly a UAS/Drone isn’t a bad idea but requiring a pilot’s license is not really applicable because you do not need to know how to fly a plane. I believe that having the FAA ground school should be a requirement and then specific manufactures training. This would give the FAA a regulatory authority, a lever, something they could take away if you are being unsafe, violating someone’s privacy without a warrant and it would generate revenues for the FAA but if they require a license, they need to allow you to conduct your business.

Until the FAA does adopt a process I would recommend that all UAS/Drone professionals have an attorney draw up an attorney opinion letter which states that they have done the research and found out what I discovered and then if they decide to still serve you with a written cease and desist and you take them to court the judge isn’t going to rule on your guilt or innocence but they are going to rule on whether there is even a law to be broken and if the FAA has the jurisdiction to do anything except suspend or revoke you pilot’s license, if you have one. That is where precedence will be set. Even these knuckleheads who were flying in New York City or in the State and National Parks should appeal if they are charged by the FAA because unless they were flying within a runway approach they don’t have jurisdiction. Just like the way the FAA got the law suit thrown out in the appeal with Texas Equusearch on a technicality because they served the cease and desist via e-mail. The FAA has no authority unless you are holding a pilot’s license or operating on an airport, runway or within the commercial traffic patterns or approaches. Like I said don’t take my word for it, look it up https://www.faa.gov/.../III.B.pdf or talk to an attorney. Don’t call the FAA, which would be like asking a bully if he could beat you up or not. He’s not going to say you can, it would take away his control and it would embolden you.        

Keep ahead of the curve

UAS/Drones are not just for fun anymore

I was utterly amazed not only by how many UAV/Drone pilots there are out there but how many of them have more business then they can keep up with. I ask them all “How are you able to work with the FAA restriction of commercial operations?” I know a couple operators that actually where requested by the mayor or city council to use the UAS/Drone to take aerial video or photography of their municipality. They have regular work with their residing cities. One does just as they are asked and the other fills out the appropriate paperwork, submits it to the city officials and they get the approval or authorization and indemnify him and he flies the mission. Almost all of them notify the air traffic controllers at the local airport notify of their operation and they tell them if it is okay of if there is too much traffic and they need to reschedule.

I didn’t know how they were getting away with this ease of operation until I had a conversation with a former attorney and law enforcement officer and a pilot and lifelong RC pilot and out of the blue he explained that the FAA doesn’t have jurisdiction within municipal boundaries and the attorney/police officer explained that police and sheriffs won’t enforce FAA policies. So I looked it up and in the FAA policies and procedures actually says “Outside of airport approach ways FAA policies do not supersede municipal code.” Now they are talking about airfield operations and activities but it is not stated exactly that way. So if there is an ordinance that says you cannot fly your RC plane or UAS/Drone over public property, outside of your real property you can be arrested or cited but if your city or town doesn’t have an ordinance than you will be okay unless you violate someone’s privacy or crash it and cause destruction of public property.  Oh and when the city request your services, you are golden. If the FAA gets wind of your operations they can issue a cease and desist and fine you so I would make sure you are indemnified and get a good attorney to represent you and take your chances with a judge who might set policy or uphold the fine and the municipality picks up the tab.

Old vs new

The problem is the technology is developing so fast that once the so called authorities find a system or technology that they believe they can work with someone else comes along with something better and more cost effective. There are so many examples of bureaucratic obsolesce. The Super Bat Gene Robinson was required to use to in the most recent search and rescue operation instead of the Spectra, his usual system. The Super Bat has a 10 hour duration of flight while the Spectra only has a four hour duration of flight but the Super Bat costs 15 times as much.

Other examples are the Puma and the Scan Eagle. These systems were grandfathered by the FAA due to their combat hours logged. There should be a cost/capabilities ratio instead of just how much can slip past the public but there is in the free market. The price point that is acceptable for the private market, i.e. Farmers, surveyors and any private small business owner for an airframe is $5,000. They will pay more for a sensor. The price per airframe is correlated by the payload capacity, the higher the sensor payload the higher the price. Right now the weight of the most top end multi-spectral camera is seven pounds but there is research being done to create a multi-spectral and photogrammetry camera under a pound and a half. That would fit is a Cyclops priced at $5,400.

San Diego Gas and Electric was granted an exemption for power-line inspections and they adopted the PSI Tactical 's"Instant Eye Quad-Rotor" for research an development. Compare that to compare that to  the Swiss company IBOTIX quad-rotor solution?

So now where is the value? It is in the operators. GUTC through my association with XFly Films and my relationship with pioneers in the industry who have data on UAS professionals throughout the US and around the world with a range of knowledge and expertise. The old model of business would be to find a pilot with a system of systems to fly multi-spectral or photogrammetry and line up business and charge $3,000 to $4,000 per day and charge for data analysis.

GUTC has relationships with technology providers ranging from airframe systems to sensors with data analytic and processing capabilities within the hardware of the camera and cloud services to upload data to be analyzed and algorithms created to allow for in-hardware processing. Those hobby or cinematography only pilots can learn to fly these more sophisticated operations from SAR, agriculture and geospatial.     

We don't need to lay down

It’s Global Secular Reshuffling

After reading the article on SUAS News from Ed Pilkington “Whats keeping americas private drone industry grounded?” immediately the words of then candidate Obama to “Joe the Plummer”, ”I think when you spread the wealth around, it is good for everyone” Now as I see it our government, the FAA is hamstringing entrepreneurs not only in the manufacturing sector of the UAS/Drone industry but the small businessman who like myself could be much better off financially if there wasn’t a policy restricting the commercial use of UAS/Drone technologies. What is interesting to me is how all of those law abiding industry professionals are so adamant on defending the draconian rules of the FAA, as if by promoting and honoring the nonsensical policy that allows for the recreational use of this technology but not the commercial use by a trained professional using the same technology.

Retain an attorney

There has been no legislation passed by congress restricting the commercial use of UAS/Drone technologies. When a judge is considering a case with such a disparity in the law where the same technology is allowed by a farmer, a surveyor or architect’s child to play with but that same farmer can’t use is to look at his crops or to earn a living to feed that same child, he is not going to find in favor of the father. If everyone who owns a UAS/Drone that wants to earn income to pay their bills, holds them self out for aerial photography, precision agriculture, photogrammetry jobs and they get written permission from the owner of the property and an attorney opinion letter specific to the operation being conducted and go to work. When the FAA comes around and tries to give you a verbal “Cease and Desist order” hand them the letter. Then if they come back with a written cease and desist letter, give it to your attorney and not only have him sue the FAA on your behave but have him file a class action law suit and not only name civilian UAS/Drone pilots and professionals but military veterans. Do this so when signatures need to be gathered you have a larger pool to draw from. Then we can cut the artificial leash shackling this industry in the USA!     

Exemption for movies and film

Is it a light at the end of the tunnel?

Friday the FAA granted an exemption to six UAV/Drone production companies authorizing their use to movies and film. When you look at the FAA web-site and download the documents they only specify one system out of the six, listing the other five under fictitious names. Astraeus Aerial, Aerial MOB, LLC, HeliVideo Productions, LLC, Pictorvision Inc, RC Pro Productions Consulting, LLC dba Vortex Aerial, and Snaproll Media, LLC. There wasn’t any certification process for selection only the discretion of the FAA.  The Motion Picture association of America sought the consulting services of Chris Dodd the former Connecticut Senator to influence the FAA to allow these six production companies to utilize UAS/Drone technology commercially. The one caveat that had any semblance of logic was the requirement for the UAS/Drone operators must hold a private pilot’s license.

Reaction

The reaction that got my attention the most is from Patrick Egan the face of SSUASNews and RCAPA who until today has voiced his opinion that the fix is in for the military contract manufacturers. This exemption for these six UAS/Drone production companies did not include a single system from Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, AeroVironment or Insitu. I talked with Gus Calderon of ISISCopter whose claim to fame was the flying dress used in the Lady Gaga music video and he liked the requirement for UAS/Drone operators to hold a private pilot’s license, since he holds a commercial pilot’s license. He wasn’t too keen just these six UAS/Drone production companies being authorized based solely on that appears to favoritism from the FAA. T.J. Diaz of XFlyFilms whose system was used in the production of the “Expendables III” movies stated that “It’s the wild west in the motion picture industry”! His reasoning is based upon the FAA not being specific on systems or air worthiness other than the producers asking for them in their requests. As Brendan Schulman would say “This is problematic”. I believe this is a good thing for the commercial UAS/Drone industry but it troubles me to think that the FAA makes decisions without thinking them through and considering the impact or legal liability. I think this action is a move in the right direction but consequences because their action were not well thought out is going to be decided by a judge.

Recommendation

I would like to promote David Copenhaver and his professional capacities with NexGenNow. For over a year and a half David has been hammering his company’s capabilities. His system is what Gene Robinson uses to stream imagery live for search and rescue operations but he has been part of a situational awareness solution that is all encompassing. Picture this “A UAS/Drone pilot with a private pilot’s license gets a work order for a survey job on a new housing development, specifying the scope of work, time and location for the job. He logs onto a web-site that has his license information as part of his membership registration. He types in the geographic area of the job, goes to a drop down window to select the UAS/Drone system he is certified on and the sensor or camera system that will be used, then he uploads the work order via PDF. After de-confliction of the time and airspace he is e-mailed a COA via PDF which he downloads and keeps in his pocket. While conducting the operation a satellite will have the parameters of the operation and he will get an online alert when the satellite detects an airplane or helicopter approaching the UAS/Drone operation area so he can be aware and take appropriate action, i.e. land the UAS/Drone or just be aware of where the plane and UAS/Drone are located.” This capability is available right now and not only would it solve the airspace concerns of airplane pilots. It would be a revenue generating system and regulatory tool for the FAA.

Disruptive technology

The perceived problem with this common sense solution is that it were adopted for the commercial airline industry to would have an impact of cost savings and man-hours for air traffic control. Sure it would add to safety and save money but that means less work for air traffic controllers. That is a common reaction to the discussion of the use of UAS/Drone commercialization. The ripple effect of the existing systems and applications but what needs to be weighed is the increase of jobs and revenues that can be realized for industries and workers that are not available now.

GUTC UAS/Drone professional registration

GUTC has developed a UAS/Drone professional database for the different projects both domestically and internationally. To better manage the professionals interested in employment on these projects please submit the information on your self and your company's capabilities through the GUTC registration page: http://www.globalutc.com/signup.htm 

Hazard Yet Forward

Phrase analysis

After the fall out of the 2008 market crash I heard a retired economist and sociology professor state “We are going through a process of Global Economic Reshuffling. All of the systems and processes we have grown accustom and counted on for decades aren’t working anymore and everyone is scrambling to find the new path to prosperity. There is going to be economic equalization until we dump the old failed methods and systems and develop and adopt new and reliable solutions”. This made me think about Social Security and the over use of NPK in agriculture. Now recently I have heard the phrase “Root Cause Failure Analysis” applied to data collection, storage and distribution. I was just listing to the challenges with ISIS or ISIL and Iran. ISIS/ISIL are Sunni and Iran is Shiite, mortal enemies. But Saudi Arabia is Sunni, why should they have a concern of ISIS/ISIL? For the same reason the Assad regime is at war with them, those regimes are monarchies with their origins from figured heads propped up by the West, USA and Great Brittan. To find the Root Cause of this issue you need to go back before Muhammad and Ishmael. The current challenge with ISIS/ISIL goes back to the rise of Saddam Hussain a Sunni who being the minority is Iraq but maintaining control through a brutal dictator. With the ouster of Saddam and the election of Nouri al-Maliki a Shiite who bullied the Sunnis. They sided with Al-Qaida to fight against Assad and now we have ISIS/ISIL. The result of a failed system.

Going back to Social Security and the economy, the Fed chairman Ben Bernanke has chosen to keep the Fad rate less than 1%. This is the rate banks use to lend each other money overnight. It also effect the rates on your bank accounts (Checking, savings and CDs). In 2009 an advisor to the Fed explained to a group of advisors in San Diego that this was to push investment into the stock market and when investor money grew enough they would start hiring. I was explaining to my 17 year old son Collin that in November 2011 the DOW hit a record 14,000 and now it is 17,279.74. I asked him if he could understand “Why the economy seems to be lagging so much”? In asking him that question it occurred to me that with all of the baby-boomers reaching retirement age and more people will be taking money out of Social Security than those who will be working and putting in to it. I explained to him that the government is going to want those who are still working to make more money and have their savings grow so they can afford to pay enough in taxes to support those who are no longer working. A doomed solution to solve another failed system.

Now when I apply this “Root Cause Failure Analysis” to the UAS/Drone industry I see the FAA seems to be beholden to the established defense contractors. Which are protecting their bottom line by limiting the technology for commercial use by anyone other than what these companies are manufacturing? As Brendan Schulman would say on an interview “It is problematic” for the FAA to grant a COA for the systems developed by these manufactures strictly because they were flown by the military in combat when there are new commercial systems with the same capabilities for payload and duration of flight from 277% to 7,000% less cost. These failed models cannot stand up to economic pressure. It didn’t work in the financial markets when Charles Schwab introduced the discount brokerage idea. It isn’t working in agriculture with algae blooms and dead zones around the world causing water shortages due to the over use of chemical based fertilizers like NPK and herbicides like Atrazine, it is not going to work with the UAS/Drone industry with thousands of jobs that can be created for baby-boomers, gen-X and Millennials.

Congressmen and Senators will be hearing from this industry just like the silent majority was heard from in the early 1980s which pulled us out of a similar economic time. I will end with a cry that has been passed through my family for ages “Hazard Yet Forward”!

Why UAS/Drones?

Where is the demand?

Why use an unmanned aerial system? Safety would be the first reason, examples like firefighting, nuclear power plant inspections and oil platform safety inspections. Then there is economy of effort, search and rescue operations are the first thing that come to mind. The ease of launching and recovering these systems is so easy, then there is the cost savings. The least expensive cost for a helicopter is $1,700 per hour and $180 per hour for a Cessna. You can get an experienced UAS/Drone pilot for under $100 per hour. The technology is getting more affordable by the minute.

 Where is the business?

Agriculture is the most obvious. In precision agriculture the savings is being surgical in application of water, fertilizer and pesticides. The ability to gather imagery from under the leaves of trees and plants cannot be accomplished by any manned air craft or satellite.  The next most obvious application for unmanned aerial systems in geospatial, LiDAR and photogrammetry measuring everything from property corners to algae and moss growing on a century’s old church. If a surveyor can dominate their market by learning to use a handheld GSP and a robotic surveyor scope, what could he do with a quad-rotor and a Pix4D system?

These are all great opportunities for UAS/Drone professionals but where is the economic benefit for a city, county or state? If this technology can accelerate the process of “Root cause failure analysis” for everything from infestations like HLB the citrus greening disease, Laurel wilt, pine wilt, oak wilt the emerald ash bore weevil. Going back to agriculture which is the cause of dead zones in the rivers, streams, lakes and oceans but also the algae blooms which cause a crisis in drinking water in Ohio, Minnesota and California, not to mention Panama and Columbia. You don’t think contaminated drinking water has a negative effect for regions with these issues? UAS/Drone technology can find the affected areas that caused these issues and do it more efficiently and cost effectively than manned aircraft or satellites. Optimally combining these technologies measuredly. Using the right tool for the job.

A satellite can detect a region where plants are effected of infested but not a specific plant of tree. A manned aircraft is much more effective in surveying a 200 square mile area than a UAS/Drone but when you want to get greater than accuracy than 2 cm an UAS/Drone is going to do that for you. It is going to be a lot easier and cost effective to put up a quad-rotor for your specific construction site than to call for a fly over every day.

Certain industries like movies and film have an obvious need and benefit for the UAS/Drone technologies. Marketing for everything from amusement parks, state and national parks, real-estate developments and single family homes with a nice back yard or a pool. The quality of imagery and detail can’t be duplicated with a plane, helicopter or boom camera.

Safety

Safety is the lever that justifies the draconian restrictions of the FAA. It is the blanket excuse for freezing the commercial UAS/Drone operations. So when there is benefit of safety for the use of UAS/Drone use it is critical to emphasize the safety benefit above anything else. Operations below 4,000 feet are too low to make a correction to prevent a crash with a helicopter or bail out in a manned aircraft. Then there is the impact deferential between a manned helicopter or airplane and a small UAS/Drone. This not only has to be considered when planning on UAS/Drone operations but give it the first and highest emphasis.

UAS/Drone pilots needed

GUTC is looking for experienced UAS/Drone pilots in Kansas and Missouri to fly architectural and construction projects earning $500 to $700 per day depending on experience, 20 to 30 shoots per month. Please contact Reuben Lowing (619) 313-1073.  

Stepping it up

In the short two weeks as New Business Director for XFly Film. I have run across a disproportionate number of UAS professionals doing cinematography, filming weddings, real-estate, local television newscasts and commercials. I have found these UAS pilots have a desire to do more and provide more services to increase their profits. GUTC has experience in seeking out applications where UAS/Drone technology is beneficial either in cost savings, safety or filling the void that cannot be filled with a surveyor or researcher on the ground and to low or small an area to make sense using a manned aircraft or helicopter.

GUTC has the resources to advise these UAS professionals to be more than paid hobbyists. We are working with the leaders in airframe and sensor technology as well as with experts in integration and data management and processing. GUTC also has relationships with the end users who are looking for professionals with capabilities with a wide range of expertise. GUTC is actively looking for projects and professionals to put together and make business happen. We have access to the most current technologies in the industries for the UAS professionals and end-users.

I am looking for you

Commercial UAS/Drone usage is illegal, really?

I have added up the UAS/Drone professionals I have direct contact with is 25 and I am connected with over a thousand on Twitter. How is this? The FAA has granted COA for the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department in Arizona to fly the Tremble/Gate-wing XU5 to fly over the county dump. The University of North Carolina has 13 current COAs. I have not heard of any UAS pilot being harassed by the FAA when they have had authorization from the city or county, parks department, port or the property owner who tasked them to perform operations. Do they do these flights for free? Does the Mesa county Sheriff do his flying over the dump for free, after working hours and weekends? Does it mean that you have to be granted a COA in order to be paid to fly a UAS? Does the FAA have to write up a certificate of authorization for pilots to fly manned aircraft? Do these pilots need authorization to fly over private property or from the government official who has authority over public property? It seems that the only people who are restricted are those who are trying to follow the rules to the letter.

Where are you? 

I was at the grand opening of the CALUAS test center in Inyokern California and I saw a gentleman intently focused on a presentation on precision agriculture. I asked him “What is it that interests you about this technology?” He went on to tell me about a women he knew that as a researcher of bats, specifically the White Nose Bat Disease. Her husband was a pilot, she would catch a bat and tag it with a beacon and turn it loose and her husband would track it to the cave and she would go there and do her research. Now her husband had passed away and this gentleman believed that these UAS/Drones could do the job her husband used to do. I am looking for someone in Michigan or near the Austin Texas areas, because these are where the leading research colleges and universities are that study the white nose bat disease. Because it would be unlikely to get permission from property owners the UAS/Drone to get a COA.

Then I have read several articles about safety inspectors using quad-rotors to inspect oil platforms in the artic off of the cost of Canada and the Nordic countries. I have heard that they are using them in the Gulf of Mexico but nobody has come forward. The big excuse for not allowing the commercial use of UAS/Drones is safety but using a quad-rotor for safety inspections rather than having someone who is not a trained climber be a safety issue not to allow it’s use?

I am aggressively looking for the use of UAS/Drones for these applications.

Surveys "R" us

Life beyond Pix4D

There is a company in Rochester New York that I only thought of for multi-spectral cameras, high quality multi-spectral cameras specifically designed for small unmanned systems. On a conference call and I found out some things I didn’t know. They are able to micronize these camera systems from 4.5 or 3.5lbs to 1/5lbs with better accuracy than all of the other multi-spectral systems out there. Then they started talking about photogrammetry systems out there. Then they mentioned their ability to process the data within their hardware instead of the cloud. This company is Fluxdata.

 

LiDAR

I posted an article about Peru is using UAS/Drones on ruins and then I see one of my contacts commented “Someone needs to send me there”. I looked up his profile and saw some of his work and I called him off of his web-site and it was already in my phone. He has another web-site promoting his LiDAR. I was just talking with my business partner who commented that we didn’t have any connection in the North Eastern United States and it just so happens this UAS professional and his company is in Providence Road Island, Andy Trench and his companies are XactMaps and Zoomvideo.

California Land Surveyors get smart on Drones

NexGen presentation to California Land Surveyors Association

Last night David Copenhaver of NexGenNow briefed the California Land Surveyors Association in San Diego last night and according to Steve Heise the organization Vice President it was a big hit! The representative from CalTrans stated “I am overwhelmed with all of the possibilities”. There were those in the crowd that who had concerns that this disruptive technology would jeopardize their livelihood by replacing them and their jobs. David pointed out the increased demand for the new data that would be available because of the UAS technology. It was a big hit. I arranged for this presentation by connecting David Copenhaver and Steve Heise a long time personal friend of mine.  

Industry Ambassador

Valued consultants

After realizing the process where a government entity has to sponsor a COA for any legitimate UAS/Drone operations I was looking for sources to help Dr. Jiri Hulcr from the University of Florida to fund his research on the Laurel wilt disease spread by the ambrosia beetle in the everglades and avocado orchards. I discovered that the Florida avocado Growers Association has lots of money and they turned me onto the National Parks Service and they are doing all kinds of research and collecting all kinds of data. Then I found out that they know nothing about Dr. Jiri Hulcr so I made an e-mail introduction to Dr. Jiri Hulcr. In order for Dr. Jiri Hulcr to obtain a COA and obtain funding we are going to have to convince the National Parks Service and possibly the Florida Avocado Growers Association the benefits collecting data with UAS/Drone technology. The data pertaining to cost for technology, pilot and sensors is a huge appeal for the use of UAS for these type of operations.

Finding panthers

I connected George Sigler from Sky Warrior Inc. and Ryan English of Skymotion Media to talk about George’s desires to incorporate UAS training with his courses for basic FAA ground school where he has been training navy pilots and NFOs since the end of Vietnam. He has a huge database of NFOs who hold their civilian pilots license but they won’t qualify for their commercial pilot’s license due less than perfect eyesight but they won’t have any problem flying a UAS/Drone. Then George started talking about how he gets requests to fly in the Everglades by the Florida Department of Fish and Wildlife and different colleges and universities. Then he started talking about one of his jobs is to track panthers in the everglades. They have radio collars, if a cat doesn’t show movement for a period of 18 hours it is an indicator of either the cat is dead or injured and they track young cats to put collars on them and using tracking dogs. After growing up hunting raccoons in Michigan I know that using a UAS/Drone with IR capabilities would be of benefit for these types of operations and save a lot of stress on the panthers.

Good content

These applications make for interesting content for the proposed UAS/Drone reality TV show. I am looking for similar application pertaining to the Amphibious Predatory Migrator with alligators and pythons crawling out of the Everglades into residential neighborhoods. I am also looking to connect with those operators who are inspecting oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.   

They have Nationalized the UAS/Drone industry

They have nationalized the UAS/Drone industry

Right away after being asked to find content for a UAS/Drone reality show I have noticed that some people are having no problem getting authorization and others are not. I heard James Williams the Manager of the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Office  say “You can fly, it’s not illegal, you just have to follow the guidelines”  Then everyone is asking “What are these guidelines?” What I discovered it that those who submit for Certificates of Authorization and get approved are doing it on behalf of a government agency. If you want to get it funded either there has to be money from which ever government agency is sponsoring the COA or the private/commercial entity that desires the research has to fund it through which ever government agency that is sponsoring the COA. That in essence is Nationalization.