Expert Opinions: New US FAA rule on UAVs

Q: What is the single most important take-away from the new Federal Aviation Administration rule on UAVs?

Al Simon, Marketing Manager, Navigation Products, Rockwell Collins

A: This regulation brings some stability to industry looking to invest in UAS operations and should stimulate technology development that benefits all classes of UAS. This first step should also allow the FAA to turn their attention to the more compelling parts of the market such as Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations and integration into the non-segregated airspace like Class A and Class E.

Mitch Narins, Principal, Strategic Synergies

A: UAV proliferation and safe operation is and will be a continuing challenge. Two of the many concerns I have are: the means that state and local governments will be able to be involved in UAS operations, specifically with privacy issues, as I am sure that the FAA does not want to deal with local complaints; and the FAA’s continued acceptance of GPS/GNSS sole means for positioning, navigation, and timing information and, in the case of UAS, potentially to support command and control links.

Eric Gakstatter
Contributing Editor, GIS & UAV, Geospatial Solutions

A: The new UAV FAA Part 107 rules, effective August 29, 2016, opened up the entire United States to the world of UAVs for business use. Part 107 rules significantly lower the barrier to operating UAVs for business by no longer requiring the traditional FAA pilot certificate to operate a UAV for business. The response to the new rules echo the hyper-demand for UAVs for business use. In the first 15 days, more than 5,000 people took the Part 107 test.