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WP: Drone Panel Remains Split (print edition headline)
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Mark The Droner
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Flight distance : 2917 ft
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The following article was in yesterday morning's print edition of The Washington Post, page A16:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/l ... _term=.e0dd4542d9a7

Federal advisers met Wednesday to try to advance U.S. drone policy, with some offering concrete suggestions for opening the nation’s skies and others decrying months of dysfunction and mismanagement they say has tainted the advisory process and some of the materials being presented.


The meeting of the Drone Advisory Committee — whose charge is to advise the Federal Aviation Administration on the burgeoning industry — comes two weeks after President Trump signed a memorandum intended to broadly expand how drones are used in the United States using a new pilot program.


San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee (D), in a sharply worded letter distributed to the group headed by Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich, cited the “lack of transparency and poor management” of one of the committee’s subgroups.


...


After a top Lee aide read parts of the letter, Brendan Schulman, a lobbyist with Chinese drone manufacturer DJI who co-chairs Task Group 1, rejected the mayor’s critique. Schulman describes his leadership role as constructive and inclusive. “The mayor’s letter couldn’t be more wrong about the task group process,” Schulman said in a statement. “We have been welcoming of broad participation from the beginning.”


...


Elwell said Task Group 1 will be reconstituted and given a new job away from policy and politics. Instead, it will be asked to provide “the technical and operational recommendations we need to implement the pilot program” Trump administration officials announced last month.


Under the pilot, states and localities, teamed with industry, can apply to do things with drones that are not generally allowed under FAA rules. Those include flying at night, over people or out of the range of what the operator can see.


Elwell said the pilot “will create a mechanism for the private sector and state, local and tribal governments to make experience-based and data-driven contributions to integrating drones.”


An FAA official said Wednesday that 633 entities — among them cities, counties, academic institutions and emergency responders — have indicated they plan to apply for the pilot program.


Task Group 1 members have included Amazon, which is pursuing drone package delivery; Facebook, which is developing drones as part of an Internet service; American Airlines; which has assorted aviation industry interests; and representatives of state and local governments.


...


A second Drone Advisory Committee panel, Task Group 2, pushed forward Wednesday with its recommendations that the FAA create a program easing the way for companies to fly drones far beyond a controller’s “line of sight.”





2017-11-10
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Cetacean
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Flight distance : 2528264 ft
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Aloha Mark,

     Mahalo for the article!  I was wondering how things were going.

Aloha and Drone On!
2017-11-10
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