www.PSFmagazine.com | October-November 2016 | 33 32 | October-November 2016 | Powered Sport Flying The Future's So Bright, You Won’t Have to Be a Pilot This summer at AirVenture, I possibly spent more time indoors than outdoors. That is alarming once you realize that other than the Red Barn, there is no ‘indoors’ in the ultralight/light sport/rotorcraft area, otherwise known as the ‘Fun Zone’ (but better known as ‘Down on the Farm’). That means that not only was I indoors, I was also away from my happy place. Sacrifices were being made. Presidential duties for the usua bring their share of meetings. Meetings with the faa, meetings with other member organizations, meetings with individuals and sometimes just meetings (or forums) that are sat in on. The good news is that the meetings with the faa went very well. usua and lama continue to press for the things that members want and (even better) top executives within the faa seem open to making some of those things happen. With regulations being difficult to change, creative solutions are being explored, at least for the time being. But the purpose of this column is to report on some general trends that may seem a little distant from sport aviation, but which I believe will impact our sport greatly. I spent time at a nasa forum. Now an ultralight pilot going to a nasa forum may seem a little like a goat herder going to an international agribusiness symposium, and perhaps it was. Executives running the Department of Agriculture probably don’t know how to herd goats, either… But there I was, listening to some very nice guys from nasa who aren’t pilots, but who have some very big ideas for the future of aviation. It may not surprise you to find out that their future really doesn’t involve pilots. Their ideas, which are noble, are to open up the skies for commuters, using automated flying drones. Electric flying drones to be precise. I went there to learn more about electric flight, and I did. (The good news is that the technology is moving along rapidly.) But as a bonus I found out that the overall plan is to convert pilots to operators and operators into passengers. Any pilots left (at least in this version of the nasa future) will be like elevator operators in very fancy hotels; existing to dress up in hundred-year-old costumes and mash a button. “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your button masher speaking.” (The somewhat scary news is that the technology for that is also moving along rapidly.) Well, fine. Sounds boring, but what does that have to do with sport aviation? The answer, so far as I can tell, is nothing. Because from what I can see, sport aviation isn’t in any of these future plans. That is because there is already a move afoot to divide up airspace, kind of like radio bandwidth. We have already seen that push by Amazon who wants to use unmanned drones to get packages delivered that last, expensive mile to the doorstep. The airspace they want to do all of this in is what drone operators commonly describe as “the unused airspace from the ground to 400 feet agl.” The idea is to create a restricted airspace for drones from the ground to 400 ft agl. And from 400 ft to 500 ft no one flies in order to provide a safety barrier between unmanned and manned flight. And the faa’s plan is to have regulations in place to address commercial drones by 2019. What this means for ultralight pilots, balloon pilots, ag sprayers, and even civilian aero modelers, I’m not sure. At the usua office, we get calls from people complaining about ultralights occasionally flying over their homes. How will they like constant drone traffic 100 feet above their yard? For that matter, where do the drones with passengers on board fit in to all this? Where do aviation organizations fit in? What happens when you take the ‘P’ out of the aopa? Perhaps technology will advance enough that drones will be able to avoid low-flying aircraft (and birds!). Perhaps there will be designated airparks for ultralight aircraft like they ‘enjoy’ in China. Maybe even paraglider pilots are going to have to equip themselves with ads-b out, so they can be sensed and avoided by drones. The only thing that seems certain is that the future is coming. We will get some good (electric flight and faster package deliveries) and we will get some bad (restricted use of the airspace). That’s because big money is pushing this. One thing we have learned for certain in 2016 is that there is a pay-to-play mentality in Washington DC. Ultralights will have a hard time competing. Depressing. Maybe I should have stayed down on the farm.
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