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Robert Blair is getting ready to plant his spring crops -- and he is getting ready to fly. For his 100-year-old Idaho farm, planting wheat is what the Blair family has done for generations. Putting up commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to scout those crops from above is decidedly a new and 21st century undertaking.

Blair and his partners operate at the very dawn of a new industry -- scouting commercial crops by way of unmanned aircraft aerial vehicles. The partnership is named Empire Unmanned (www.empireunmanned.com). Based in Hayden, Idaho, it was awarded in January the first U.S. exemption to fly unmanned systems for the purpose of making aerial photographic measurements and performing scouting over flights for precision agriculture. It was a significant "get," because with it Empire could legally charge for its work. That was step one.

Step two was to secure permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct aerial work in specific locations. Federal rules require that an operator with an exemption must apply for a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) to work in a specific block of airspace. That process could take up to 60 days, and more. At the beginning of March, Empire was faced with securing 33 COAs just to scout Blair's 1,300-acre farm, not counting the potentially dozens more for work elsewhere. Empire had nine COAs in hand by month's end.

Then, the FAA announced a new and helpful policy change. Those operations with exemptions -- there are nearly 70 of them, including Empire, in many industries -- are now allowed to work in uncontrolled airspace (200 feet and below) anywhere in the U.S. That is half the altitude permitted under Empire's exemption, but it gives the new company a green light to sign up acres for its scouting services.

"Last week, we didn't know where we could fly," Blair said. "Now, we're scrambling to do the marketing, to sign up acres." While Empire Unmanned could work anywhere in the U.S., its business model will keep the initial work close to its operational home in Idaho and in counties in nearby Oregon and Washington.

Under the new policy, the FAA has granted COAs for flights at or below 200 feet to any operator with an exemption for aircraft that weigh less than 55 pounds, that operate during daytime Visual Flight Rules (VFR) conditions, operate within visual line of sight of the pilots, and stay up to five nautical miles away from airports or heliports.

The "blanket" COA, as the FAA calls it, allows flights anywhere in the U.S. except restricted airspace and other areas, such as major cities, where the agency prohibits unmanned operations. The agency expects the new policy will allow companies and individuals who want to use unmanned craft within these limitations to start flying much more quickly than before.

For new exemption holders, the FAA will issue a COA at the time the exemption is approved. Anyone who wants to fly outside the blanket parameters must obtain a separate COA specific to the airspace required for that operation.

Empire will fly three fixed-wing, 1.5-pound eBee AG UAVs. They are manufactured by senseFly Ltd, a Swiss company based in Cheseaux-Lausanne (www.sensefly.com). The company develops, assembles and markets mini-UAVs and related software for applications such as mapping mining sites, quarries, forests, construction sites and crops. The foam and carbon construction, battery-operated eBee is a hand-launched aerial vehicle. It has a 38-inch wingspan with a flight time of up to 45 minutes. It can fly up to 56 miles per hour.

Empire Unmanned will provide full-color aerial crop imagery, images in the full color; the red, blue and green color spectrums; and in the near-infrared spectrum. The images are exportable to precision software packages to create an information layer that assists producers in making crop management decisions. The cameras produce an image with a ground sampling distance down to 0.79 inches per pixel.

Empire Unmanned President and chief pilot Brad Ward, and two other pilots, have been trained on the aircraft and the software to operate them. "I am excited about this venture," Ward said. "With training complete, we can now offer our services to customers."

Currently, the FAA still requires that pilots must have a private pilot certificate and current medical certificate.

While Blair has been frustrated with the slowness of the permitting process, he does understand the environment in which the FAA operates, especially its overriding mission to oversee safe operations everywhere within the U.S. airspace.

But Blair is encouraged by the FAA's new willingness knock down some roadblocks, even as it considers a final draft of rules the agency will use to regulate the commercial unmanned aircraft industry in the U.S. The FAA said final rules may not complete for a year or more.

But today, Empire is taking to the air. "We can get insurance, we can talk to investors, we will look for new innovations," Blair said. "We now have a new commercial industry. This is an exciting time for agriculture."

You can follow the FAA's action on unmanned aircraft at www.faa.gov/uas.

(AG)

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