Kansas leads the nation with UAS flight

The Kansas State University Polytechnic Applied Aviation Research program performs the first UAS
beyond line of sight flight. The modified "K-State Aero" was flown with FCC certified radios on board.

The first beyond the line of sight Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) flight in Kansas was flown on Monday north of the town of Gypsum in a joint effort by the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) and more than 30 university and corporate partners. This was also the second flight in the nation to take place under the U.S. DOT’s UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP).

The first flight was scheduled to take place yesterday, however, with rain and storms predicted, it was conducted on Monday. Weather did allow Tuesday’s flight to also take place at the news conference, and Kansas State University Polytechnic took the lead on both flights. More flights will continue this week with AirMap, Pulse Aerospace and Iris Automation.

UAS technicians use computers to assist with flying the UAS.

“We’re proud of what we’re doing in Kansas to create new jobs, improve flight safety and advance agriculture,” said Bob Brock, KDOT Director of Aviation and UAS. “Our flights mark the beginning of a new generation of Kansas innovation.” 

KDOT was selected in May as one of only 10 organizations in the nation to lead the UAS IPP, an initiative aimed at shaping the future of drones. The flights this week, and future flights, will test aircraft capability and reliability for continued beyond line of sight operations while collecting data to expand advanced UAS operations nationwide.

A UAS flies low to the ground during the event.

Over the next two years, various Kansas IPP team partners will conduct tests over transmission lines, farms, roads and other infrastructure well clear of Kansas citizens. This program will also assist the U.S. DOT and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in shaping new rules to expand safe UAS integration into the National Airspace System and create new opportunities for the state and UAS industry.

“Kansas has been a valuable aviation partner for decades and the launch of the IPP is another opportunity for us to work with all of the professionals here in Kansas as we take the next steps that will pave the way toward full integration of unmanned aircraft into the national airspace,” said Dennis King, FAA Program Manager for Kansas UAS IPP.

A Close up of one of the UAS that participated in the flights.

The Kansas IPP team’s partners will focus on integrating UAS operations into Kansas industries involved in infrastructure inspection and precision agriculture. Partnerships with the FAA and Kansas IPP team members will continue to foster expansion of UAS operations for the state and the nation. 

More information about the FAA UAS IPP can be found at: https://www.faa.gov/uas/programs_partnerships/uas_integration_pilot_program/

Aviation Art Contest now accepting entries

The KDOT Division of Aviation officials are encouraging young artists take their talents to new heights by participating in the 2018 International Aviation Art Contest, "Flight Into the Future.”

The contest, for which there is no entry fee, is for artists ages 6 to 17 years of age and is intended to encourage creative kids to imagine what the future of aviation will be.

What new innovations and ideas will shape the aviation of the future? From hang gliders and parachutists, to drone pilots and citizen astronauts, the only limit to the future of flight is the imagination of builders, dreamers and pilots of today. It’s time to tap into your own imagination, grab your favorite set of crayons, markers, pencils, or paints and create a poster for this year’s Fédération Aéronautique Internationale’s theme, Flight into the Future. Show us your vision of what can happen when people work together and follow their passion for flight

Artists will compete in age groups:

• Those born between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2011
• Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2007
•  And Jan. 1, 2000, and Dec. 31, 2003

The top three state winners from each age group will have their work entered in the national competition. The three winners in each group at the national level will then have their entries considered in international competition.
State winners will receive a certificate and state recognition; national winners will receive certificates, ribbons and a framed reproduction of their artwork; and international winners will receive certificates and medals.

The deadline for entries, which cannot be computer-generated and must be submitted in 11¾-by-16½-inch format, is Jan. 19, 2018.

For more information and contest rules, go here.

Reaching new heights: Twenty pilots receive Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award

Six hundred months, 18,250 days…they both equal 50 years. That is the amount of time that pilots are required to fly before they can receive the most prestigious award that the Federal Aviation Administration issues ---  the Wright Brothers Master Pilot award. 

Last Saturday, 20 pilots from across the state gathered to receive the award from the FAA, which recognized their contributions to building and maintaining the safest aviation system in the world. For more than 50 years the pilots recognized and promoted safe air travel and operations.  This ceremony was the single largest collection of pilots that the FAA has recognized in the country. 

Pilots present  received their Wright Brothers Master Pilot Awards on the South lawn of Larksfield Place in Wichita.

To receive this award, the nominees must have flown accident free, exhibited professionalism, skill and a high degree of aviation expertise for at least 50 years as an active pilot.  The date of nominees’ first solo flight is the effective start date to receive the award. Having any airman certificate revoked would disqualify the nominees and they needed to have three letters of recommendation from peer pilots to be considered. Their piloting history was also a major factor.

Captain Doug Moler, a recipient of the award and the organizer of the event, said that, like most pilots, he was fascinated with flying early on in life.

“When I was a child, my dad would take the family out to the old municipal airport in the family car to watch airplanes come and go,” Moler said in his pilot biography. “This was great fun and unforgettable good times. As I got older, I began riding my bicycle out the old terminal every time I got the chance. It was quite a ride, about five miles each way, but well worth it.”

Moler said that when he turned 15 he rode in his first airplane, a Cessna 172.

“I wanted nothing more than to fly more and more, but it seemed as though I didn’t have a lot of help and guidance along the way,” Moler said.

When Moler turned 20 he began flight school and by 1965 he had learned to fly solo.

“The greatest day in my training was on March 10, 1965 when I flew my first solo,” Moler said. “Three takeoffs and landings to a full stop on runway 19 and I was in heaven! Soon I was out practicing all the maneuvers and flying cross-country. On August 21, 1965, I became a private pilot and flew every chance I got.”

Moler said he has had a successful piloting career and continues to stay active in the aviation community through several organizations and groups. He and his wife attend three or four fly-ins a year and share their love of aviation with their friends.

“I feel gifted by the Lord that I have been able to spend most of my working life doing something I dearly love and that I got paid well for it,” Moler said. “That’s something I thank God for everyday!”

Past award recipients and supporters were also in attendance at the ceremony. Spouses were given a pin for their support and dedication as well.