Drones, otherwise known as UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems), are a huge topic right now all over the world. The technology of un-maned aircraft has taken long strides in the last decade and has put much of this machinery in the hands of the common man for personal and commercial use. If you look up you might even see a drone hovering above somewhere near you. As many technologies, the development of drones and the accessibility of them does seem to be causing some issues in the Aviation industry, as well as helping in the development of the Aviation industry. This two sided coin is an interesting topic to say the least.

Drones have been used by many militarizes for years. Observation and patrolling are two of the most commonly uses for drones in the military and have even gotten some countries in trouble in the past. But now these “eyes in the skies” have become popular for uses in other industries, such as construction companies,  allowing these companies to collect data that would otherwise take much more time and manpower. Other industries such as the police can use drones to search for missing people from an Arial view without having to use a helicopter. And let’s not forget how drones are used as a “game” for kids just to have fun. The excitement of flying a drone doesn’t seem to escape anyone but this developing product continues to develop some key areas of uses in Aviation.

Drones have caused some issues in the past and as they become more commonly used they continue to create issues for police and airplanes by getting in their way. The standard rules, such as how high you can fly a drone or restricted areas, were created to help prevent these issues, but sure enough some still slip through the cracks. Regardless of these issues more industries are finding exceptional use for these drones. Helping people during disasters, the ability to reach people, maybe even take them food when they are still unreachable, search for missing people; there are so many amazing uses for these UAS’! Drones are only becoming more and more affordable and is going to impact our world in great ways, but like everything else, needs restrictions and rules to make sure they are impacting our world in the right ways and not the wrong ways. The development of how to regulate hobby drones is another issue and we’ll discuss that next week!

Sources:

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-ed-0920-drones-20150917-story.html

https://www.quora.com/How-does-the-developement-of-drones-affect-naval-aviation

http://www.equipmentworld.com/drones/

http://ktla.com/2015/06/25/illegal-4-foot-drone-shut-down-aerial-firefight-over-lake-fire-forest-service/