Drones
Skyfire trains first responders
A former CNN producer has teamed up with a certificated flight instructor to create an Atlanta-based company called SkyFire Consulting, among the first to offer formal drone training for police and firefighters.
Matt Sloane left the news network known for pioneering the use of drones in broadcast journalism, and was asked soon after to give a training session to police public information officer trainees, offering them a producer’s perspective on the news business.
“I had literally just gotten a Phantom 2 the day before,” Sloane recalled, referring to the popular, small quadcopter made by DJI that helped create a consumer unmanned aircraft systems industry. After the program, four fire chiefs approached Sloane asking for help integrating unmanned aircraft into their emergency response arsenal. Sloane contacted his friend Ben Kroll, a CFI and Cirrus instructor.
“We started the company the next day,” Sloane recalled. “By August we were at our first fire department.”
While SkyFire is a DJI enterprise dealer and offers turnkey packages for police and fire agencies that include equipment and training, Sloane said the focus is on training. He brought his personal experience working in emergency medical services to the mix with Kroll’s aviation expertise, and said they started the company to be an alternative to hobby retailers who know little or nothing about emergency services.
Kroll said understanding the basics of airspace, aeronautical decision making, and the safety culture that manned aviation has long since embraced, is important to first responders who wish to make effective use of drones.
“We are in this for the long haul, and think we’re making a difference,” Sloane said.
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Industry News: Strategic alliance
Jeppesen, ForeFlight form partnership
By Dave Hirschman
In a pairing reminiscent of The Odd Couple, startup software innovator ForeFlight and charting pioneer Jeppesen have formed an alliance they say will expand both companies’ market share in general, business, airline, and military aviation.
ForeFlight Mobile dominates the general aviation market, and its customers will, for the first time, have the option of downloading and displaying professional pilot-favored Jeppesen terminal and en route charts. Meanwhile, Jeppesen’s FliteDeck Pro app is popular among corporate flight departments and airlines, and it will get enhanced mapping, ease of use, and weather powered by ForeFlight software running in the background.
“The number-one thing our customers have been asking for is Jepp charts,” said Tyson Weihs, ForeFlight co-founder and CEO. “This gives them that, and a lot more.”
The companies declined to discuss the terms of their deal, but Weihs said about 20 percent of ForeFlight’s workforce is focused on combining its app with Jeppesen’s worldwide aviation data.
The alliance won’t change subscription prices. ForeFlight will continue to charge $99.99 a year (Basic Plus) and $199.99 a year (Pro Plus), and Jeppesen will still charge $199 annually for those wanting to use Jeppesen charts. ForeFlight customers with Jeppesen subscriptions will be able to download Jeppesen charts at the touch of an icon. Those who already have a Jeppesen subscription for their panel-mount systems can install the charts at no additional cost on ForeFlight.
The two companies have been competitors, but representatives of both firms said they’ve held on-again, off-again discussions for years about possible areas of cooperation. ForeFlight’s 2016 push into global mapping and international flight planning—a traditional Jeppesen strength—convinced them to come to terms. “We can’t all do everything,” Weihs said. “There are more problems than any of us can solve on our own. It makes sense to cooperate.”
Reggie Arsenault, a Jeppesen manager for GA products, said the alliance promises to create a “consistent cockpit” for GA, business aviation, and airline pilots no matter what they fly. “Corporate or airline pilots who fly recreationally will have access to the same information whether they’re flying for work or for fun,” he said.
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EVENTS
Winning weekend at SAFECON 2017
More than 380 college aviation students descended on Don Scott Field at the Ohio State University to compete in the annual National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) National Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference (Safecon) May 9 to 14, 2017. The flight students represented 27 schools and aviation colleges from across the United States. Flight teams competed in 23 flight and ground events.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, Arizona, won the national championship trophy and Liberty University of Lynchburg, Virginia, won the Grover C. Loening Trophy for outstanding all-around college aviation program. Nick Moore, a rising senior at Embry Riddle-Prescott, won the top pilot honor.
Students are judged on their expertise in a number of aviation-related tasks. The 90-plus judges are representatives from competing schools; most are alumni who competed in Safecon.
This was the eleventh year that OSU has hosted the Safecon event. It coincides with the university’s 100-year anniversary of its aviation program and the seventy-fifth anniversary of Don Scott Field.
“NIFA competitors, along with their coaches and advisers, are absolutely some of the finest aviation professionals that I have ever had the pleasure to associate with during my career,” said Richard G. Smith III, NIFA executive director.
NIFA was formed for the purposes of developing and advancing aviation education; to promote, encourage, and foster safety in aviation; to promote and foster communications and cooperation between aviation students, educators, educational institutions, and the aviation industry; and to provide an arena for collegiate aviation competition.
Pilots preparing for solar eclipse
Aviators from Portland, Oregon, to Charleston, South Carolina, are making plans to fly to airfields within the arc of a total solar eclipse August 21 for a prime vantage point. The phenomenon sweeps across the United States for the first time in 100 years, and general aviation pilots are in a position to make maximum use of their mobility. Pilots can quickly fly to a more favorable location if the forecast calls for less than a perfect view.
The arc across the continuum will take about two and a half hours, the longest since World War I. The last such occurrence was June 18, 1918.
During a total solar eclipse the moon completely hides the sun in its shadow because the moon is “close enough to Earth to completely cover the sun” and the sun’s “faint corona is then safely revealed to the naked eye,” according to NASA.
Oregon’s Independence State Airport in Salem will be the first airport to witness the eclipse’s longest duration. Pacific Northwest aviation enthusiasts have several viewing options, including an Eclipse Weekend at the Oregon State Capitol, an Eclipse Festival at Coria Estates, and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry’s viewing party at the Oregon State Fairgrounds. The turf field at South Carolina’s Triple Tree Airport in Woodruff has excellent camping facilities and will be a gathering area for pilots based in the Southeast.
Other hot spots include Idaho Falls, Idaho; Jackson, Wyoming, near the heart of the Teton Range; North Platte, Nebraska’s Sand Hills; St. Joseph, Missouri, which will experience some of the eclipse’s longest durations; Carbondale, Illinois, with five viewing parties; Nashville, Tennessee’s Music City Solar Eclipse; and the Eastern Seaboard just north of Charleston, South Carolina, where the solar event exits the mainland.
AOPA points out a few of the total solar eclipse’s hot spots—centers of viewing activity or areas where nature provides the perfect photographic backdrop—for the once-in-a-lifetime event on its website.
