DAYTON — College, corporate and Air Force officials got together on a snowy day in January 2010 to discuss ways to create a national education and training organization for unmanned aircraft in Dayton.

The participants included representatives of the Dayton Development Coalition, Air Force Research Laboratory, U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, engineering and aerial mapping company Woolpert Inc., unmanned aircraft builder Co-Operative Engineering Services Inc., the University of Dayton, Wright State University and the host, Sinclair Community College.

More than a year later, leaders of that group are fine-tuning a proposal to ask the Federal Aviation Administration to designate airspace that could be used for educational and training flights of small unmanned aerial vehicles at low altitudes. It would support an envisioned training program of classroom courses, online offerings, flight simulators and hands-on flying, said Deborah Norris, Sinclair’s vice president for workforce development and corporate services.

The FAA, charged with ensuring aviation safety, said a “certificate of authorization” required for such an area could be processed within two months and be in effect for up to a year.

Supporters anticipate a growing job market in future years for people who could fly UAVs equipped with electronic viewing and environmental monitoring sensors for police and fire departments, agricultural and mapping interests, search-and-rescue units and others, as well as defense contractors involved in military research and development.

Separately, the Dayton Development Coalition is working with officials at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, members of Congress and others on a proposal to ask the FAA to establish a larger restricted airspace for flying UAVs and sensor payloads in research and development for the Air Force.

Establishment of such a restricted area involves a federal rule-making process that could take one to three years, the FAA said.

Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman of Ohio are sponsoring an amendment, to legislation that would authorize FAA airport and aviation safety programs, to give the Air Force and NASA roles in designating sites for a pilot project that would be created by 2012 to integrate UAVs into the nation’s airspace. It would require the FAA to report to Congress on progress toward meeting the Air Force’s needs for airspace for UAV and systems test flights.

The amendment doesn’t specify locations for the designated airspace. Turner, R-Centerville, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has said the Air Force is considering Wilmington Air Park, home of the former DHL freight hub, and the Buckeye and Brush Creek military operating/flying area in rural Highland and Adams counties.

The location of the proposed smaller airspace for educational flights is also under discussion.

The timing of the requests to the FAA hasn’t been determined.

It could take a few years before FAA approval and use of any large-scale, UAV-designated airspace could occur, Gessel said. A smaller site for training flights of smaller UAVs could take less time to receive FAA approval, officials said.

The efforts would build on the region’s strengths as home to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, military UAV programs managed there and supporting defense contractors; aerospace and manufacturing know-how, and expertise in composite materials used to make UAVs, officials said.

“We wanted this training to align with our regional strengths, around UAVs,” Norris said of the training site component. “It helps us immensely to fit into that strategy.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.