A drone based on dragonfly wings, a drone community for women pilots, DJI demands a retraction, Uber wants to deliver food by drone, BVLOS testing in Alaska, a parachute system for flights over people, and a drone-equipped search and rescue vehicle.

UAV NewsSkeeter drone inspired by dragonfly’s turbulence-resistant wings

Skeeter is a small scale drone based on the dragonfly and developed by Animal Dynamics in conjunction with the Ministry of Defence’s R&D lab in the UK. Research is focused on building and testing vehicles that use flapping wings for propulsion. Initial use envisioned is for short-range surveillance platform and situational awareness.

This online community expands visibility for female drone pilots

Women Who Drone is an online community for female drone pilots, photographers, and videographers. Their “mission is to help close the gender gap in the UAV industry by training women and girls how to fly drones and advance their drone piloting career.” They “do this by educating and inspiring women and girls to join the UAV industry by providing online lessons and workshops, news and reviews, career opportunities and a supportive group of women around the world.” The organization is currently crowdfunding the effort.

DJI Demands Withdrawal of ‘Misleading’ Drone Strike Video

Everybody has seen the video of the Phantom 2 slamming into leading edge of a Mooney M20. Now DJI wants the University of Dayton Research Institute to pull the video. DJI VP of Policy & Legal Affairs Brendan M. Schulman says the simulated drone strike was “staged” to “create a scenario inconceivable in real life.” DJI argues that the closing speed is unrealistic.

Addendum: See the following article for a rebuttal of the DJI claims:

An Aeronautical Lesson for DJI’s lawyer, Brendan Schulman

Uber Plans To Launch Food-Delivery Drones

The Wall Street Journal reports that Uber plans to launch a food delivery service using drones by 2021. Uber had a job posting for an operations manager to handle delivery drones but later removed it from its website.

Alaska Partners OK’d for BVLOS Drone Testing

The FAA gave approval to the University of Alaska Fairbanks and its partners to routinely test drones beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS). The UAF Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI) and its collaborators are conducting missions near Deadhorse, Alaska. The first flights are monitoring parts of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

ParaZero Announces the First Ever FAA Waiver for Flight Over People with a Parachute System

ParaZero Israel Ltd announced that the first FAA Part 107 waiver for flight over people with a parachute system was granted to Botlink. Botlink installed ParaZero’s SafeAir System on a DJI Phantom 4 under the UAS Integration Pilot Program lead by the North Dakota Department of Transportation.

Land Rover Equipped with Drone Joins Red Cross

The Austrian Red Cross disaster response team is using a Land Rover Discovery search and rescue vehicle. Designed by Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations under “Project Hero,” the vehicle includes a drone that can take off and land while the Discovery is moving. The octocopter features a long-range thermal imaging camera that can detect a person as far away as 440 meters

Mentioned

Congress Passes Bill That Lets the U.S. Govt Shoot Down Drones

• H.R.302 – FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018
• DIVISION H—PREVENTING EMERGING THREATS
• Sec. 1602. Protection of certain facilities and assets from unmanned aircraft 
• Sec. 1603. Protecting against unmanned aircraft.