From the Cockpit with David Heath of the Penn. Drone Association

After a decade of speculation, the cargo drone segment exploded in the past year under a tacit agreement with regulators that drones will soon be certified and adapted as a vastly cheaper alternative to current cargo platforms. Across all categories of drone — last-mile, middle-mile and unmanned, fixed-wing aircraft — one major hurdle remains before industrywide adoption can take place: the safe integration of unmanned aircraft into the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS). [caption id="attachment_56860799" align="alignright" width="450"] David Heath, director of the Pennsylvania Drone Association. (Photo/Pennsylvania Drone Association)[/caption] David Heath, director of the Pennsylvania Drone Association, works with drone developers and regulatory officials at the local, state and national levels to advance drone development in the state through infrastructure development and regulatory compliance. He is also a principal with aviation ecosystem consultancy BBP Solutions, which supports integration against the broader backdrop of aviation, from businesses to local and state governments. Cargo Facts caught up with Heath recently to discuss the challenges of integrating cargo drones into the NAS. What follows is an edited version of the conversation. Cargo Facts : How can a community ready itself for drone integration? David Heath: We have to first define “drone.” Are we talking about small, unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) or are we talking about large, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft? It’s two different approaches, but they can also be similar. One is developing that relationship between the airport and the surrounding community. And that can be through simple networking events, activities at the airport, as well as just overall education programs about what their local airport does, whether or not it’s workforce development, in a flight school … anything along there is just elevating aviation in general. The second component is really from a regulatory political standpoint, where traditionally, local governments and even a lot of state governments really see aviation as a federal issue, which is good and bad at the same time. Good because we’re talking about preemption and who’s in charge of the airspace, but bad because they have a lot of information that they have to catch up on. Another aspect is how people react to drones and how you get the community to embrace them. How do people see a drone and know that it is serving a purpose? Community acceptance is one of the biggest challenges. What level of infrastructure and what technologies are needed within that community? The way we have been successful is really garnering a multistage approach. CF : What more can be done to facilitate the integration? DH: The FAA hasn’t come out and segregated the airspace for sUAS. The true integration is going to be leveraging the existing system. In order to integrate, drones have to operate like traditional manned aircraft. That is the whole premise behind a lot of the things that that we are doing. How do we create a system that is typically set up around airports or even the entire NAS? What we’re doing is we’re shrinking the NAS down around a community. Quite honestly, the biggest component is data sharing. The Geospatial Information System (GIS) department in your community has a lot of valuable data to the drone industry. It wasn’t needed for traditional aviation — you’d only need it around airports, but now ground configuration data and micro-weather data is something that’s extremely valuable. And those sensors exist already. But how do we get the data for it? Creating that public infrastructure is something that is extremely valuable and there are a lot of companies that work on that, but I think it is a truly a public asset. That’s something that communities can do to take a step forward. CF : What can the drone manufacturers themselves do to integrate? DH : It’s truly about building the best use case and designing around a use case. What are you building that aircraft for? What duty are you planning to operate? It’s very strongly about defining that case and, ultimately, who the operator is going to be in the current day and age. Right now, a public entity can do a lot more than a private entity, but the private entity can still do it, as long as they’re partnered with a public entity. There’s a lot more leeway if it’s a public operation, but the golden question is: Who’s making money? You have to find your niche and not try to perform everything. But there are companies that do everything and, absolutely, that’s how they roll. And that’s how they’re going to go and do things, as they believe their way is the best way. I think collaboration and unification in a common direction are the biggest keys to success. CF : How close are we to cargo drones becoming commonplace nationwide? DH: Moving cargo is obviously going to be a lot easier from a regulatory standpoint than moving people. Advanced air mobility technically exists today. It’s in helicopters, but the cost of jet fuel and maintenance on that aircraft is so much higher. So, the companies need to prove all of these cost savings by not expending fuel and being rechargeable and having an electric or hybrid system. Right now, we’re not really moving cargo on helicopters along short distances. It’s all about the dollars and cents at the end of the day. The technology exists today to do it and we could do it. But will it make money? With the demand in e-commerce and the massive rises that we’re seeing at all of our airports right now in cargo and large aircraft, what is going to be that smaller network? What does that fleet look like to serve the demand of a community? And is it going to be multifaceted? For instance, Walmart’s doing last-mile delivery — how can that be leveraged by, say, 911 dispatch so you have a drone that’s serving multiple purposes rather than just one? It’s kind of like how most commercial airlines are moving passengers, but moving cargo underneath as well. They’re serving the cargo community and the general public. So how can we leverage as many possibilities as possible? Cargo makes the most sense, as long as all of the predictions on the cost per nautical mile pan out. This Q&A originally appeared in the December 2022 issue of Cargo Facts. Cargo Facts EMEA, the essential event for stakeholders in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, will take place live Feb. 6-8 in Dubai. Register today to take advantage of early-bird pricing.

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