The release of a major new rule governing the operation of small unmanned aircraft systems (or drones) this week by the FAA opens business opportunities for professional drones. With the new rule, firefighters can use small drones to monitor firefighting efforts, farmers can use small drones to evaluate crop health and target fertilizer and pesticide use, power utilities can use small drones to inspect power lines, and real estate agents can use small drones for aerial photography and videos.
“The new FAA rule will spark a brand-new aviation revolution by enabling application of drone technology to many industries. The long term effect of today’s rule will be to increase safety and productivity and create whole new businesses,” said Paul Gelhausen, owner of AVID LLC, a Yorktown-based small-unmanned aircraft system design and manufacturing firm. Economists have projected that new drone businesses will generate $82 Billion in economic growth by 2025.
The rule sets forward guidelines for drone operation with maintaining safety of flight as the utmost priority. This initial rule limits operations to be away from “non-participants” and to stay 5 miles away from airports. The rule also sets up training requirements for pilots and safety requirements for the aircraft.
This new rule is a great boost to manufacturers of small professional drones such as AVID LLC in Yorktown. Until now, the lack of a rule has stymied the growth of civil and industrial use of professional drones. “This rule makes it easier for us to test and demonstrate AVID’s new unmanned aircraft designs safely and with full FAA compliance, and opens a wide range of new sales opportunities, “said Mr. Gelhausen.
ABOUT AVID, LLC
AVID LLC is a Yorktown, Virginia based engineering and manufacturing company dedicated to making UAVs smarter and safer. AVID was founded in 2002 to develop multidisciplinary aircraft design software for the U.S. government. Since then, the company’s business has expanded into the development of innovative new aircraft technologies, and the design/manufacturing of small unmanned aircraft that can efficiently and safely perform sophisticated military and industrial tasks at low cost.
AVID’s products include EDF-8, an electric ducted-fan UAV engineered and designed to navigate indoors, outdoors, and in tight spaces. In addition to providing much better performance than similarly sized hobby drones, the duct provides safety by shrouding the high-efficiency fan. Visit http://www.avidaerospace.com for more information.