The Federal Aviation Administration has chosen the states of Alaska, Oregon and Hawaii to operate one of six test sites for unmanned aircraft systems. Three specific areas in Oregon are already designated for use in the new test sites. They include the Warm Springs Reservation in the Central Oregon Cascade Range; the Pacific Ocean off Tillamook and areas near Pendleton in Eastern Oregon.
Last week the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) selected six sites across the country for testing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). To safely integrate UAS into the national airspace, Congress required the designation of research test sites. Earlier this year, the FAA opened a rigorous application process to states and regions interested in securing a federal test site that solicited 25 applications from 24 states.
Led by Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO), Oregon State University (OSU) and companies within the industry, Oregon teamed with Hawaii and the University of Alaska as the lead applicant.
“This appears to be a great day for Oregon,” said Roger Lee, executive director of EDCO. “This is the news we’ve been hoping for and next step will be to confirm that all elements of our joint application with Alaska remain intact. Given the four years invested by EDCO and a small army of volunteers from the aviation/aerospace industry, it’s a sweet victory and culmination of literally thousands of hours of work.”
“With the inclusion of sites in Alaska and Hawaii, we believed we had a really good chance of being selected by the FAA because of the diverse geography in our plan,” said Collins Hemingway who led the UAS initiative for EDCO from the start, continues to play a critical role as the interim executive director for a newly created industry development group made possible by a grant from the Oregon Innovation Council. “We’ve eagerly awaited their decision.”
Central Oregon Included in FAA
Unmanned Aerial Systems Test Sites
The test site, led by the University of Alaska and including Oregon State University, will be collectively known as the Pan-Pacific Test Site. It will offer unique terrain and scientific capabilities to help develop the future of unmanned aerial vehicles for civilian uses, in everything from crop monitoring to search-and-rescue or fighting forest fires.
The initiative is also a critical step forward for Oregon to be a major player in the evolution of this new industry, with the advances in science, manufacturing and employment opportunities that it offers.
“This will help put OSU and the state of Oregon on the map for the future of unmanned aerial systems,” said Rick Spinrad, vice president for research at OSU. “As one of only six test sites in the nation, we’ll be able to fly UAVs more freely and actively, get our students involved in an evolving industry, and help Oregon take advantage of research, development and manufacturing that will be needed.”
The FAA was given a mandate by Congress to integrate civilian use of unmanned aerial vehicles into the nation’s skies by 2015, and the six test sites just announced will explore airspace use, safety, certification, technological development, environmental and human factors and many other issues.
The FAA made its decision on the sites after considering 25 proposals from 24 states.
The Pan-Pacific Test Site will combine OSU’s historic strengths in remote sensing, platform development and other fields with extensive flying experience and Department of Defense collaboration at the University of Alaska and in Hawaii. The three states also offer an extraordinary range of terrain in which to test new systems: mountains, rivers, valleys, high desert, Arctic tundra, volcanoes, many types of forest and agricultural areas and tropical islands.
A range of air operations are already under way near Pendleton, and the Tillamook site will offer interesting marine and coastal research options. In cooperation with their tribal council, work done at the Warm Springs Reservation site will provide a range of alpine, river, forest and agricultural areas in which to test various types of devices.
Unmanned aerial systems in civilian use are expected to become a multi-billion dollar industry while opening new opportunities in scientific research and student education. OSU has worked closely with such collaborators as Economic Development for Central Oregon, the U.S. Department of Defense, OSU-Cascades Campus, the state of Oregon, Oregon Congressional leaders, private industry and others to help get the state involved.
It’s envisioned that a multitude of devices in the future will fly, walk, swim or crawl to perform valuable or dangerous tasks at very modest expense. Largely because they will be so much cheaper, routine uses in agriculture are planned, environmental monitoring could be improved, forest or crop diseases could be spotted early and fire fighting or search-and-rescue might be enhanced.
Oregon already has a large aviation industry in such fields as helicopters, small aircraft, aviation components and other technology. Along with the state’s exceptional range of terrain in which to test new devices, this makes it a natural location in which to help unmanned aerial systems grow.
Further development of the industry, officials say, will require technological advances, regulatory work to ensure privacy rights, improved manufacturing to lower costs and many other steps.
Other locations for test sites announced today included universities or facilities in Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia.
Key volunteers in the effort to secure the sites include:
John Lynch of Outback Manufacturing, who in addition to serving on the then newly created AUVSI Cascades Chapter board of directors promoted the idea for possible diversification of the region’s aviation/aerospace sector back in 2009.
Collins Hemingway, who led the UAS initiative for EDCO from the start, continues to play a critical role as the interim Executive Director for a newly created industry development group made possible by a grant from the Oregon Innovation Council.
Eric Simpkins, now doing business development for Near Space Corporation, was responsible for assembling all the required elements for Oregon’s portion of the successful FAA application.
Rick Spinrad, Vice President of Research for OSU, played a pivotal role in working with the University of Alaska and helping to underwrite the successful application.
Jeff Anspach, with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, was another important advocate for the initiative.
Senator Ron Wyden, helped champion Oregon’s entry into the test-site race and proposed an increase in the number of FAA test sites authorized by federal legislation, which improved Oregon’s chances of being selected.
Other partners vital to this initiative include the team of industry experts at Paradigm ISR, Joe Gibbs of NWUAV, and the Northwest chapter of the industry trade association, AUVSI – Cascade Chapter.
The Oregon UAS team has pursued commercial (non-military) uses of unmanned aerial systems that range from agriculture, forestry, land and wildlife management applications, to scientific research and environmental monitoring as an industry development and job creation strategy.
Oregon is already a national success story with the growth of UAV leader Insitu and a dozen other spin-off companies and suppliers that have clustered along the Columbia River Gorge near Hood River. Today, that industry supports nearly 1,200 well-paying jobs in Oregon and Washington ranging from software to robotics to sensors. An additional 80 companies outside the Columbia Gorge area in Oregon are also engaged in various components of the UAS industry.
