Greetings from the Pacific Northwest

[Satdiver]

Hello all,

My name is Todd. I'm one of the sUAS Program Managers and remote pilots for the Portland District, US Army Corps of Engineers. Our program uses both a SenseFly eBee Plus and Albris sUAS to survey our district's dams, navigation and water control structures, as well as other habitat and reservoirs we are responsible for.

Small UAS use in our agency is fairly new, as our program is only about three years old. On a national level, sUAS within USACE is gaining rapid acceptance due to its quick deployment capability, safety factors and lower cost as compared to traditional manned aviation.

Being a DOD agency, originally our minimum training requirements were in-line with the Department of the Army sUAS. As our national program has grown and is becoming more standardized, our new training requirement is to be FAA Part 107 certified. That is what has led me here!

I've recently completed my Part 107 and we hope to soon be able to fly within the 107 rules. Flying within Part 107 will be much simpler for us versus what we have to do currently so I have been scouring this forum to learn as much as I can from you all.

Thank you for the opportunity!

Todd

 

[Moosewax]

Welcome Todd!

Is your department getting affected by the recent DOD memo that bans COTS (commercial off the shelf) drones?

 

[Satdiver]

Welcome Todd!

Is your department getting affected by the recent DOD memo that bans COTS (commercial off the shelf) drones?

Yes it has, but it isn't a ban on COTs UAS. It was a grounding of COTs UAS due to cyber security concerns.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Welcome Todd and thanks for your introduction. Congratulations on your 107.

 

[Moosewax]

Yes it has, but it isn't a ban on COTs UAS. It was a grounding of COTs UAS due to cyber security concerns.

I work for an engineering company and we have had to pass on using our UAS for aerial survey of utilities on military bases until this memo shakes out. Hopefully it gets worked out soon :/

 

[Satdiver]

Welcome Todd and thanks for your introduction. Congratulations on your 107.

Thanks Florida Drone Supply. I'm originally form Vero Beach Florida, and most of my family still lives in the area. Whereabouts are you located?

 

[Satdiver]

I work for an engineering company and we have had to pass on using our UAS for aerial survey of utilities on military bases until this memo shakes out. Hopefully it gets worked out soon :/

Yeah, the COTs UAS grounding has had impacts across all agencies of the DA (Dept of Army). From my opinion, the grounding has been a good thing in a few ways. It has brought to light both the pros and cons of sUAS. It has overwhelmingly shown the benefits to sUAS to those at the top!

Our national program, still being in it's infancy, needed support, direction and standardization from the top down. I'm not saying anyone was operating in any manner other than extremely safe and within the requirements, but there just wasn't the program consistency that is needed with operations such as these.

It is being worked through and I'm sure there will be extra steps or vigilance we may have to deal with in the future. We are currently able to fly under a short-term waiver; just not sure how long "short-tem" is....

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Thanks Florida Drone Supply. I'm originally form Vero Beach Florida, and most of my family still lives in the area. Whereabouts are you located?

Our store is in Ft Myers, I live on Sanibel island.

 

[Satdiver]

Our store is in Ft Myers, I live on Sanibel island.

Nice area; I'll have to check it out next time I'm back home for a visit!

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to the forum Satdiver .

 

[Satdiver]

Welcome to the forum Satdiver .View attachment 621

Thank you dirkclod.

 

[R.Perry]

Welcome from California, very interesting.

 

[Advexure]

Welcome to CDP, @Satdiver, and thanks for the introduction.

It will definitely be interesting to see how the DOD memo plays out. US software companies that already contract with the DOD are going to find themselves working with the UAS sector that much more and quicker.

See you around the forum and best of luck with your program up there.

 

[BigAl07]

Hello Todd and welcome to the Commercial Drone Pilots forum. We are glad to have you on board. I'm confident you'll find lots of helpful and enlightening information throughout this forum.

If you haven't already done so, consider adding your LOCATION to your forum profile to help us know where you are when you post suggestions or ask for assistance. It helps a lot more than you might think especially because this is an international forum with members from all parts of the world. Here's a direct link to yours:

https://commercialdronepilots.com/account/personal-details

Allen

 

[Satdiver]

Welcome to CDP, @Satdiver, and thanks for the introduction.

It will definitely be interesting to see how the DOD memo plays out. US software companies that already contract with the DOD are going to find themselves working with the UAS sector that much more and quicker.

See you around the forum and best of luck with your program up there.

Thanks Advexure.

Hello Todd and welcome to the Commercial Drone Pilots forum. We are glad to have you on board. I'm confident you'll find lots of helpful and enlightening information throughout this forum.

If you haven't already done so, consider adding your LOCATION to your forum profile to help us know where you are when you post suggestions or ask for assistance. It helps a lot more than you might think especially because this is an international forum with members from all parts of the world. Here's a direct link to yours:

https://commercialdronepilots.com/account/personal-details

Allen

Thanks Allen.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the CommercialDronePilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in the commercial drone field.
Enjoy!

 

[Bob L]

Welcome Satdiver! I was stationed at McChord AFB in another life in the last century! Beautiful area!

 

[Edward S Horvath]

Welcome. We are in the PNW as well.

 

[eColumbia99]

We have a drone meetup once a month on Sunday evenings in Vancouver WA if you are interested and are able to attend. It would be great if you could share what you are developing with the US Army Corps: Vancouver Drone PHS - Professional/Hobby/Sport

 

[Edward S Horvath]

We come through Vancouver every other week.