“This really sets up the Ohio UAS ecosystem,” said Thomas J. Rambo, Altavian chief operating officer.
The collaboration flew its first commercial mission April 28 when an Altavian small drone flew over the Seneca Lake area in eastern Ohio to capture geographic data of a natural gas wellhead leased on publicly owned land, said Jeff Lovin, Woolpert senior vice president. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources hired the partnership for the survey, officials said.
Sinclair provided two staff members and a ground-based UAS operations truck for the flight, the first of what officials hope will be additional missions for the state and “tens of thousands of dollars” in business through the new partnership, said Deborah Norris, Sinclair vice president of workforce development and corporate services.
“The significance to Sinclair is that we are flying commercially within the state of Ohio,” she said.
The partnership gives “turn key” services needed in the UAS industry, she said.
Last December, the Federal Aviation Administration granted Beavercreek-based Woolpert a waiver to fly drones commercially while the federal agency hammers out rules for commercial use of drones in civilian airspace. The late April flight marked the first time Woolpert has used the exemption, granted under Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, to fly a mission in Ohio.
The flight was a “proof of concept” demonstration that could potentially led to more, Lovin said.
“It’s an enabling project,” Rambo said. “This is one of the first true commercial UAS projects that has occurred.”
The companies and the Ohio UAS Center have worked with Sinclair, but this is the first time an agreement brings all four together for commercial ventures, officials said.
“The purpose of this agreement is to demonstrate in the state of Ohio we can provide this service through these four organizations working together,” Norris said.
Part of the goal is to help build the industry in Ohio, she said.
“We want it to be something that is affordable and gives people a lot of value for what we are doing,” she added. At Sinclair, the money will be reinvested in the UAS program in the midst of a $5 million renovation of a campus building in downtown Dayton. Sinclair also will build a new indoor flight range.
Andrew Shepherd, director of UAS programs at Sinclair, said few companies have started flying drones under the FAA exemptions, but the partnership is an exception. As of Tuesday, the FAA has granted about 250 waivers nationwide to fly UAVs commercially.
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