Let the games begin: Tiny aircraft, big dreams
Building the next generation of pilots
By Jim Moore
The iconic New York City skyline was the backdrop for the second national championships in drone racing—and the first broadcast by sports giant ESPN—on the first weekend in August. Dozens of competitors; hundreds of spectators; a potential audience of thousands, watching then or later via internet, took it all in. The grassroots—and, so far, chaotic—sport, organized to varying degrees by different groups across the country, distilled this year to one national championship event billing itself as such, with $50,000 in total prize money on the line.
Barely two years after organized drone races began to materialize around the country, the sport has found a home on a national television network (at least as far as online streaming), and is drawing a growing number of sponsors and pilots who can get themselves fitted out to race for about $1,000, give or take a few hundred, starting from scratch. FPV or first-person view flying is a relatively cheap way to experienc
e flight from a firsthand perspective, and organizers expect it will spark a wider interest in aviation as well.
“I’m building your next generation of pilots,” said Scot Refsland, chairman of the Drone Sports Association, which organized the event.
DSA also is putting together the World Drone Racing Championships slated for October at Kualoa Ranch, Hawaii. Don’t confuse that with the World Drone Prix held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which awarded $250,000 of a $1 million total purse to British teen Luke Bannister in March—the
largest prize to date for a sport that generally does not yet make enough prize or sponsor money available for its top-ranked pilots to quit their day job. Several remote pilots said they hope it eventually will be possible to earn a living at this. And DSA is not alone: There are several leagues and organizations that have put together individual events, or series, and the drone racing world remains every bit as chaotic, for now, as the races themselves.
Two pilots in the national championship field also hold jobs as professional pilots working for airline or corporate employers: Kevin Dougherty, who has built an online following posting freestyle aerobatic videos on YouTube as “StingersSwarm,” and Tyler Darby, who said racing his flying wing helped rekindle his love of aviation after years of workaday flying had taken off some of that shine.
Meanwhile, if you’re wondering who won, Zachry “A_Nub” Thayer of Laguna Niguel, California, is the 2016 U.S. National Drone Racing Champion.
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So you want to be a drone pilot?
AOPA has assembled resources and guidance to make it easy to obtain a remote pilot certificate with a small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) rating. The certificate is necessary to conduct commercial operations with a small UAS under the new FAR Part 107, effective August 29. Recreational and hobbyist operators will not be required to obtain a remote pilot certificate, as long as they comply with the special rule for model aircraft. For those without a pilot certificate, some study will probably be necessary, and a date at an FAA authorized testing center is required, while pilots with a pilot certificate already in hand (other than a student pilot certificate) and a current flight review can accomplish the tasks quickly. The FAA published in June the final rule governing operation of unmanned aircraft weighing less than 55 pounds, including new airman standards for remote pilots. With Part 107, the agency has released several important documents offering guidance on the knowledge test and certification requirements. AOPA has prepared a handy checklist to guide applicants through the process.
FAA News
Huerta says reform is on track
Third class medical, aircraft certification, safety on administrator’s mind
By Dave Hirschman
The FAA will move quickly to implement third class medical reform, streamline aircraft certification standards, and allow more modern safety equipment into general aviation aircraft, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said at EAA Airventure in late July.
Huerta said the agency is on track to finalize third class medical regulations within 180 days, as directed by Congress, and implement them in one year. “I’ve assembled a dedicated team,” he said. “We’re going to meet the deadline that Congress laid out.”
The FAA’s years-long effort to streamline aircraft certification standards will be complete by the end of 2016, Huerta said. That process, known as the Part 23 rewrite, replaces decades-old procedural standards with new, risk-based assessments.
“The new framework defines safety outcomes,” Huerta said. “There’s more than one way to deliver on safety.” The “transformational” new approach is designed to encourage flexibility and innovation among aircraft manufacturers.
For the legacy GA fleet, the FAA’s recent approvals of Garmin’s G5 electronic flight instrument and Dynon’s D10A attitude indicator are likely to pave the way for other non-TSOed avionics in Standard category airplanes. Huerta said these “potentially lifesaving technologies,” which until now have been limited to Experimental aircraft, are available at “lower cost and offer higher levels of safety” than the mechanical instruments they replace.
Huerta became FAA administrator in 2013, and this was his fifth appearance at AirVenture. Previous sessions often have been testy with pilots questioning Huerta’s commitment to third class medical reform, aircraft modernization, and other issues important to GA pilots.
The atmosphere was more welcoming this year, and many questioners praised the administrator for the FAA’s willingness to adopt changes they’ve long sought. They also praised the FAA’s new compliance philosophy that emphasizes nonpunitive education and counseling to pilots who make airspace or other blunders, rather than certificate revocations or suspensions.
Huerta prodded aircraft owners to install Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out equipment before the January 1, 2020, deadline and take advantage of the FAA’s $500 rebate program; he reiterated that the installation deadline is firm and will not budge.
“There’s no better time to get off the sidelines and start enjoying the benefits of ADS-B,” Huerta said.
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Industry News
Icon update
Progress report on the A5
By Dave Hirschman
Icon Aircraft has begun training pilots at its factory-authorized flight school in Vacaville, California, and plans to expand to Florida in late 2016 and Texas in 2017.
During a wide-ranging interview at EAA AirVenture, company founder Kirk Hawkins said the company has about 1,850 deposits for its amphibious, two-seat A5 Light Sport aircraft, and that number has held steady despite a recently announced one-year production delay. “We’ve had some order cancellation conversations,” Hawkins said. “We’ve also had an equal number of new people coming in.”
Despite the delayed start of high-rate production, Icon plans to add about 20 aircraft to its training fleet in 2017. Customers with existing A5 orders will have first access to flight training in them. Hawkins said the company and its financial backers are “100-percent focused on getting the A5 into production. They believe in the mission,” he said. “They understand the market. They’re putting more money into making sure we get there.”
Hawkins said Icon realized several years ago that it had to develop flight training as one of the company’s core competencies in order to instill the safety-oriented culture it seeks to create among its pilots. Icon has designed its own curriculum in which new flight students start on the water and then move to land-based airports once they’ve mastered essential hand-flying and maneuvering skills.
Icon training programs range from four-hour A5 transition courses for current seaplane pilots to 30 hours for student pilots seeking Sport Pilot certificates.
Icon also is looking to hire flight instructors who have experience flying at low altitudes, over various terrain, and in coastal and mountainous areas where A5s are likely to fly regularly. “We’re looking for talented instructors who really love flying and want to bring people in and inspire them,” Hawkins said. “Our program will be disciplined, structured, and standardized.”
Although Icon has fallen far behind its initial production estimates, the company is determined to become one of the world’s largest single-engine piston aircraft producers. And it must have a ready supply of pilots trained and qualified to fly them. “Our pilot factory must meet or exceed the production rate of our airplane factory,” Hawkins said.
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New Mooney International CEO named
Vivek Saxena, an aerospace executive who spent most of his career at Pratt & Whitney, has been named president and CEO of Mooney International.
Saxena has been an aerospace consultant since 2014. Before that, he spent 16 years at Pratt & Whitney in a variety of management roles. He has a doctorate from Cambridge University, a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota, and graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology.
He replaces Jerry Chen, who brought the legendary aircraft manufacturer out of its self-imposed “hibernation;” restarted M20 production in Kerrville, Texas; and began FAA certification of a new line of diesel-powered, composite M10 aircraft in Chino, California.
“We now have the critical components of success in place,” Saxena said. “A compelling brand, a world-class team, strong investor commitment, and a new product pipeline. These are amazing times at Mooney, and I’m proud to say there are even greater things to come.”
A Mooney spokesman described the leadership change as a “planned transition,” and said Chen will stay on as a special advisor.
Mooney is in the final stages of certifying its Acclaim and Ovation Ultra models, which include left-side doors and a keypad data entry system for their G1000 avionics suites. Flight testing of the first M10 is underway at the company’s California research and development facility.
—Dave Hirschman
Party with AOPA and Red Bull at Indy
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the site for the finale of the 2016 Red Bull Air Race season, and AOPA members are invited to join in the excitement. To be held at the Panasonic Pagoda—a nine-tier, glass viewing structure at the track’s start/finish line—the AOPA/RBAR party begins at 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 1, after the qualifying races. Sunday, October 2, is the final race day, which crowns the 2016 overall Red Bull Air Race champion. A live band, food, and cash bar is just $20 for AOPA members ($30 for non-members). Visit the website. Under the Attend Evening Party link, enter promo code AOPA16.
Contest
Captain Jepp Challenge underway
Sharpen your aviation knowledge and become a safer pilot through the quarterly Captain Jepp Challenge—as a bonus, you’ll be entered in monthly drawings for $250 MyGoFlight gift cards and the grand prize drawing for a trip for two to EAA AirVenture in 2017 (two-night stay and airfare included).
Visit the Captain Jepp Challenge website (https://gleam.io/5tp29/captain-jepp-challenge) to register and see the various ways to enter the challenge. Take a qualifying AOPA Air Safety Institute educational online course; or videos; attend a safety seminar or AOPA Regional Fly-In; or participate in Jeppesen Chart Clinic Confidential webinars—all count as entries in this quarterly challenge. Each activity earns pilots an additional entry, with a total of 11 entries possible for the challenge.
Elrey Borge Jeppesen, whose pilot certificate was signed by Orville Wright in 1929, sought to improve aviation safety while he was an airmail pilot. So, he started designing charts for himself. “He drew diagrams and climbed smokestacks and other obstacles on his days off, and measured their height with a sensitive altimeter. All this information went into Jeppesen’s little black book. Other pilots heard about it and wanted copies. Jepp provided them,” Ralph Butcher wrote in “Instrument Approach Charts: Jeppesen Charts,” chronicling the rise of the now-ubiquitous charts.
“The Captain Jepp Challenge combines the legacy of Capt. Elrey B. Jeppesen, providing flight-critical navigation information with the philosophy of continuously elevating aviator skills,” said Reggie Arsenault, Jeppesen director of general aviation client management. “We are creating an environment that encourages commitment to enhancing flight safety and rewards pilots for sharpening their knowledge.”
AOPA is a sponsor of the program. —Alyssa J. Miller
