Drone news: FCC vs DJI, 8 Day UAS flight, AgEagle buys sensefly, Arizona Drone Fest

This week in drone news, the FCC has released a document
discussing DJI as a security concern and the commissioner has
called for a ban, an 8-day flight by an unmanned aircraft,
AgEagle is purchasing senseFly from Parrot, and Arizona DroneFest
2021.  


Parrot Anafi Thermal Deep dive:
https://pilotinstitute.com/course/parrot-anafi-thermal-deep-dive/


FCC Commissioner calls for DJI ban 


The FCC commissioner called for the process of adding DJI to the
FCC’s covered list. This would prohibit the use of federal money
from being used to purchase DJI equipment.  “The FCC also
has a proceeding underway examining whether to continue approving
equipment from entities on the Covered List for use in the US,
regardless of whether federal dollars are involved”  The
covered list is a list of companies whose products contain or
pose an “unacceptable security risk” The FCC Commissioner also
stated that additional consideration was required to “determine
if other entities warrant closer scrutiny” 


https://twitter.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1450496145516544001/photo/1 


8-Day UAS flight 


Vanilla UAV has claimed the world record with an 8 day, 50-minute
flight without refueling. Over 8 days, the aircraft flew a total
of 10,600 NM before landing This is a fixed-wing UAS designed
primarily for the military.  The Vanilla is not an sUAS but
is instead in the group 3 category - between 25 and 599kg. The
Vanilla UAV has a payload of 68kg or 150lbs. 


https://www.flightglobal.com/military-uavs/vanilla-uav-claims-world-record-eight-day-flight-without-refuelling/145774.article 


AgEagle to Aquire Sensefly


 AgEagle Aerial Systems is purchasing senseFly from Parrot.
senseFly is most widely known for the creation of the ebee (fixed
wing  Parrot stated that this sale was necessary to their
future plans of focusing on quadcopter/multi-rotor aircraft.
 “Moving forward, Parrot will focus its expertise and
resources on the growth of its professional quadcopter drone
equipment and drone data analysis software activities. The
transaction will provide additional cash and lower operational
expends to drive Parrot’s growth and industry standing. With the
expanded capabilities of the ANAFI line of professional drones
and of the Pix4D software suites, Parrot will continue to address
its core market segments: 3D Mapping, Surveying and Inspection,
Agriculture, and Defense and Security.” 


https://www.suasnews.com/2021/10/ageagle-to-acquire-sensefly-from-parrot/ 


Come visit us at AZ DroneFest! 


This Saturday we’ll be at Grand Canyon University at the Arizona
Drone Fest! Come by the booth, stop in for Greg’s talk on
regulations @10am, meet the team, and get your registration
stickers printed, fly the drone sim!  General admission is
free!  We hope to see you there!