Regional UAS Conference to Focus on Springfield Research

SPRINGFIELD — It’s not too soon to plan for the next UAS (unmanned aerial systems) regional event. It’s just over a month away.

The UAS Midwest 2019 conference will be August 7 at the Clark State Community College Hollenbeck Bayley Conference Center. Registration and more information can be found at https://daytonregion.com/ddc/events/uas-midwest-2019

The focus of this year’s gathering will be on Springfield and how companies can tap into the BVLOS — Beyond Visual Line of Sight drone testing — operations there.

Earlier this year, researchers won federal authorization for drone and UAS testing beyond a pilot’s line of direct sight. The Ohio Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) have started testing key aviation technology at the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport.

Being allowed to fly drones beyond an operator’s visual line of sight greatly expands the kinds of research that can be performed in Southwestern Ohio.

Shortly before the official FAA announcement in April, Loren Thompson, a nationally consulted defense industry analyst and chief operating officer of the Arlington, Va.-based Lexington Institute, said the Dayton-Springfield region may be the only region in the nation with FAA authorization for BVLOS research.

“This is the latest step in Dayton’s continued emergence as an aerospace innovation center,” he said at the time. “Unmanned aircraft are the wave of the future in aerospace, and now the Dayton area will have a major flight testing facility.”