A revision made to the University of Idaho Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Administrative Policy Manual (APM) will allow for less regulation on the commercial use of drones.
During Tuesday’s Faculty Senate meeting, senators heard from Clients Coordinator for the Office of Research Assurances Dan LaHann about the revision updates to the manual.
The revisions made to the APM were put in place to recognize the changes the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) made, which reduced the requirements to fly unmanned aerial vehicles commercially, LaHann said.
“Basically this legislation allows for commercial use of small unmanned systems,” LaHann said. “And basically how you can go about doing that legally.”
Previously, LaHann said within a section of the unrevised APM, UI had a waiver which required at least a sports piolets license in order to fly a drone.
“Which is kind of like saying you need to have medical doctorate in order to give an aspirin to somebody who has a headache,” LaHann said.
LaHann said the new legislation recognizes the need for people to be aware of how to fly national airspace. The FAA have made it a requirement that the person flying the drone, or somebody under their direct supervision must have the “Part 107” airman’s certificate.
“It only takes about 20 to 30 hours of study time to do it and go get your certificate down at the Pullman airport,” LaHann said.
LaHann, who will have his airman’s certificate by the end of the school year, said several UI faculty members have already gone out to obtain their certificates.
“We’ll have quite a few people on campus who can help with this aspect of flying drones of supervising somebody to fly a drone,” LaHann said.
Another component that helped was the fact that previously, with the Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act wavier, individuals could only fly in specific and limited areas, LaHann said.
The new “Part 107” airman’s certificate opens up all uncontrolled airspace. For Moscow residents, LaHann said it opens up nearly everything west of the Kibbie Dome.
“You can still fly in controlled airspace, you just have to have a waiver,” LaHann said.
To help with waivers, at the end of the month, LaHann said he will give a presentation on how to get approval to fly a drone for UI purposes.
LaHann said much of the reason behind UI flying drones is done for research. He said the university has individuals who are interested in flying them into Lewiston to study cattle trails. There are also people in Parma who use drones to check crops.
“A lot of it is agricultural based, but it’s not just that,” LaHann said. “We have some people in computer science who are interested in perhaps programming a drone as part of their training.”
However, the reasons behind drone use is not limited to this. LaHann said he is excited to help researchers and faculty members.
Faculty Senate Chair Liz Brandt also expressed her support for the APM revision.
“I think that this is a good change,” Brandt said. “It makes it a lot easier for researchers here who would be interested in using this technology to be able to do so.”
Savannah Cardon can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @savannahlcardon