[UAS] Hobbyists and UAS usage within the UA domain

[Rahr, Matt - (rahr)]

Hey Gang,

You may have seen Mike McKisson’s article today in UANow (email) and UA News - https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/eye-sky-drone-help-students-tell-border-story, titled Eye in the Sky: Drone to Help Students Tell Border Story.


Mike, Cody and I had lunch about a week ago before this article was released, where we stressed the importance of getting his UAS operators cleared as hobbyists. Mike followed up with the FAA office in Scottsdale and received a letter confirming his usage as recreational. Hobbyists/Recreational usage does not require a COA, which allows him the freedom to quickly capture video for his project without filing additional paperwork.

That said, Risk Management reached out to Mike this morning and wanted to know more about the project. Mike explained that the FAA was contacted and approved the project without a COA. However, Risk Management wants to get more engaged to draft policy at a campus level. It will be important that a campus-based policy does not further limit usage beyond what is defined by the FAA.

I’ll let you know of any updates.

Thanks,
Matt

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