Traffic lights speed us up.
They removed the men with red flags in front of cars and we got more cars.
(deepai.org)
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‘More Honoured in the Breach than the Observance’ appears to be the strategy that is being employed by the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle industry when it comes to flying in our skies.
Landowners rights to their air space is well established but appears to get largely ignored when it comes to below commercial air space. This is slowing adoption down and leading to highly adversarial positions. Landowners existing airs rights need to be respected while also finding solutions to accelerate the efficient and suitable deployment of UAV technologies.
“Sadly, the industry’s efforts to weaken airspace rights laws to make way for commercial drones have stalled the development of private airspace sharing systems” - Troy A. Rule “Drones, Airspace, and the Sharing Economy,” Mercatus Working Paper, Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Arlington, VA, May 2022.
To draw a comparison, Airbnb ($64billion) enabled those who wanted to make extra income from their air mattress and later their spare room to do so. Who would have welcomed a complete stranger into their home to sleep in the spare room, wash in their bathroom and eat from their fridge before Airbnb?
They put in place a system that allowed property owners to trust the stranger in the house and to gain income from it. They solved an under appreciated problem - people want more income and other people wanted a different place to stay to what was on offer. The property owner is happy and the stranger visiting the beautiful sites of your local city is happy too.
Whatever the opinions about Airbnb, using existing assets in a more sensible, efficient and beneficial way is good. Sitting on assets and not using them is unhelpful to those who want to use them and to those that want them used. This is as true for spare rooms as it is for air rights.
A Reddit user from 13 years ago shows us how utilising sleeping assets can play out.
Who would welcome strangers drones over their highways and backyards without an incentive?
Shooting Down Drones
(Getty: Carle de Souza)
The increasing prevalence of drone technology has led to a rise in incidents of individuals resorting to force to protect their privacy and property rights. Travis Duane Winters shot down a drone with a shotgun in Butterfield, Minnesota, resulting in him facing charges.
There have been a growing number of cases of individuals taking action against drones. In 2015, a Kentucky judge dropped charges against a man who shot down a drone flying over his house, citing invasion of privacy as justification for the use of force.
Anti-Drone technology is growing as fast as any sub section of the industry. Its applications are wide a varied, from stopping drugs into prisons to preventing assassination attempts on Presidents to protecting valuable infrastructure against bad actors. See this article from ABC.
Drone Sec, a drone intelligence company have reported that in 2021 there was a 140% increase in residential incidents and 100% increase in government & critical infrastructure incidents.
Sen. Charlie Scott Says Shoot The Drones
Landowners who feel violated by drones should be allowed to shoot them down, says at least one Wyoming state lawmaker. “I thought maybe a shotgun would be an appropriate legal weapon to take a drone with,”
Senate File 34, which deals with drone trespass. A bill, which passed its first reading in the Wyoming Senate, should include a provision allowing landowners to “take” trespassing drones, Scott said. In rural areas where it would be safe to do so, that should include shooting them down, he said. Sen. Lynn Hutchings, agreed that would be “practical.”
“What can we do? The drones can fly away?” she said, there should be a provision so that the landowner “can net it or shoot it down” Other provisions could include exceptions for people operating drones for safety purposes, such as inspecting power lines, she said.
(deepai.org)
In other states, similar regulations say drones can’t be used for ‘unauthorised’ surveillance or to interfere with a person’s reasonable expectations of privacy. This is all starting to sounds very messy, bureaucratic and slow. Let us remove the men with red flags, there is another way.
How do the ‘good guys’ stand out from the ‘bad guys’ and how do the public know who’s who? Do people throw their hands in the air and simply say no to progress and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles?
The FAA now require all UAVs to transmit their serial number and to register. The next step is to make sure our friends in Minnesota, Kentucky and elsewhere who’s feet are firmly planted on the ground are represented and to help stop the UAV companies tilting at windmills.
Counting The Cost Of UAV Flights
German firm Lilium anticipates its six-passenger eVTOL aircraft will cost $2.25 per passenger mile by 2026, based on 4.5 out of six seats being filled, with 25 flights per day traveling an average of 60 miles for 10 hours per day. Jaunt Air Mobility estimates the cost per passenger will be similar to an Uber Black car service. Vertical Aerospace expects the equivalent to $1 per passenger mile. Acher aims to offer $3.30 per seat mile. Volocopter, meanwhile, expects its service to be roughly the price of a premium taxi.
LCI To Add Elroy Air eVTOL Aircraft
Leasing group LCI has agreed to add up to 40 of Elroy Air’s Chaparral autonomous eVTOL aircraft to its lease portfolio. The Ireland-based company has paid an undisclosed deposit to acquire 20 examples of the vehicle, with options for another 20.
LCI sees the hybrid-electric Chaparral—which will have a payload of around 500 pounds and a range of 300 nm—being used for cargo delivery, as well as applications including disaster relief, firefighting, and humanitarian operations. The design features a cargo pod installed beneath the fuselage.
The start-up says it now has a backlog of orders for 900 aircraft with a combined value of more than $2 billion. Elroy Air is already working with FedEx. FedEx plans to begin flight testing with Chaparral in 2023.
Chinese ‘Flying Car’ Takes to the Skies at Night
Chinese automaker XPeng eVTOL had a successful test flight of its X2 prototype at night. The part-time car and part-time rotorcraft, which was announced in September 2021 at the IAA Mobility event in Munich, was unveiled in October 2022 at the GITEX event in Dubai. Weighing just 560kg and capable of lifting up to 441lb, the X2 can fly for 35 minutes at speeds of up to 80mph and has a range of 40 miles. It also features a parachute system for safety in case of motor failure and aviation-grade lights for night-time flights.
eVTOL Travel In Greece
Aria Hotels, one of the hospitality subsidiaries of the Libra Group, will offer a new traveling experience in Greece.
Beginning around 2026 and in partnership with LCI Aviation, Aria Hotels will provide holiday-goers vacationing in and around its fifty properties across Greece with access to electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) to traverse Greece and its exceptional islands.
LCI, recently signed a deal with BETA Technologies (BETA), the developer of a fully integrated electric aviation system, to acquire up to 125 of the company’s eVTOL aircraft. Under the terms of the agreement, LCI will initially acquire fifty aircraft with an option for a total of up to 125. The eVTOL aircraft is currently under development at BETA’s facility in Burlington, Vermont.
The eVTOL produces zero operational emissions with a maximum range of 250 nautical miles and is designed to carry five passengers and a pilot or 1,400 lbs (635 kgs) of payload.
The Drone Industry Needs People
In the summer of 2022, drone delivery took off in Scotland as Skyports joined forces with local authorities to test the concept for island schools. The innovative company, in partnership with Swoop Aero, utilized eVTOL technology to transport meals from Oban Airport to Lochnell Primary School. While the hardware and air traffic management solutions have been widely discussed, the topic of air rights and the necessary workforce development for this burgeoning industry have received far less attention.
Skyports recently launched a large-scale Hub Operator Program. Those hired will serve as ground support for drone pilots, performing essential checklists for safe operations, providing situational awareness during flights, and ensuring safe drone landings and departures. Of course, all of this will be done after a period of extensive specialized training. One of the key features of these new positions is mobility, as support experts will need to travel frequently from one flight hub to another.
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