By the end of the year, the Federal Aviation Administration says it will pick six sites to test unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The Dayton region hopes to be on the list and has taken another step to set itself apart.
On Monday Sinclair Community College announced:
- It has a Certificate of Authorization (CoA) to fly UAS at the Wilmington Air Park
- It has signed a letter of intent with Altavian to serve as the UAS manufacturer's National Training Partner
- It has signed a teaming agreement with Woolpert, a geospatial mapping company
Sinclair has spent $1.4 million in UAS training and getting the government's approval to fly. The community college says it is the first community college in Ohio to get a CoA and had the first UAS simulation lab for commercial applications.
Dozens of area government and business leaders came to watch UAS demonstrations like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDQokVSSe5k&sns=em
One piece of the puzzle
The Dayton region and the State of Ohio are trying to position themselves to become the destination of choice for UAS research, development, manufacturing, training and education. The Sinclair announcement is the latest step the region is taking to convince the federal government it should be named a national test bed. The area is pitching itself to include:
- Wilmington Air Park
- National Center for Medical Readiness
- Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport
- Brush Creek MOA
- Buckeye MOA
- Indiana Atterbury Range
- Muscalatuck Urban Training Center
- Indiana Jefferson Range
Sinclair estimates the UAS industry could be worth $94 billion by 2020.
