The first test flights of unmanned aircraft at Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport are laying the groundwork for Clark County to be one of the only research hubs of its kind in the nation.
The U.S. Air Force and the state of Ohio plan to invest $5 million in research equipment by the end of the year in hopes the airport will be approved by the FAA for engineers to fly the unmanned aircraft beyond their line of sight, something that can’t be done anywhere else in the nation right now.
The new technology could lead to changes in national security and defense operations on top of commercial enterprises using unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly called drones, to deliver goods to people’s doorsteps.
The aircraft don’t have a human pilot on board — instead it’s controlled from an operator on the ground who’s currently required to keep the vehicles within sight.
The Air Force Research Laboratory in conjunction with the Wright State Research Institute will install the new technology at the Springfield airport before the end of the year, said Art Huber, director of operations at the AFRL.
“This will be ground breaking,” he said.
If the Federal Aviation Administration approves, the Springfield airport testing grounds would be the first site in the country to fly the aircraft beyond’s the pilot sight in the national airspace, Huber said. Read more
Source: www.bizjournal.com
