County OKs Six-Month Pact with UAS Firm

CREST HAVEN – American Aerospace Advisors, Inc. and Cape May County entered a six-month agreement Oct. 14 for “expert and consultative services to integrate UAS (unmanned aerial system) products and services” for $5,000.
According to the resolution freeholders approved, the Bridgeport, Pa. firm is “active in research and testing efforts currently overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration to examine the challenges of integrating commercial UAS (drones) into national airspace and to develop protocols for this developing industry.”
The funds will be charged to the county’s budget line item for economic development. Freeholder Will Morey oversees that activity, and has reported to the board of various UAS events and seminars he or members of his department have attended.
The county’s intent is that UAS-related business will expand, and potentially create jobs based at the Cape May County Airport, which is managed and operated by the Delaware River and Bay Authority.
David Yoel, founded AAAI in 2002. He is, according to the firm’s website, an applied physicist with a 30-year-plus career as an inventor, systems engineer, field engineer, production manager, sales executive, general manager and entrepreneur.
Until 2008, the company provided consulting services to companies in space, unmanned systems and industrial manufacturing.
Since then, the company has increasingly focused on creating unmanned aircraft systems and services for civil and commercial applications.
The firm “is dedicated to creating Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for civilian government and industrial customers worldwide. With roots in the space program and industrial manufacturing, we build safe, reliable and effective systems at disruptively low capital and operating costs, the website states.
“Focused on medium altitude, long endurance civilian and industrial missions, AAAI sees a bright future for UAS in a wide variety of civilian applications including disaster response, precision agriculture, environmental sciences, inspection of utility corridors, and airborne remote sensing, among many others,” it continues.
The firms subscribes to the Unmanned Aircraft System Operations Industry “Code of Conduct:”
Safety
We will not operate UAS in a manner that presents undue risk to persons or property on the surface or in the air.
We will ensure UAS will be piloted by individuals who are properly trained and competent to operate the vehicle or its systems.
We will ensure UAS flights will be conducted only after a thorough assessment of risks associated with the activity. This risks assessment will include, but is not limited to:
Weather conditions relative to the performance capability of the system
Identification of normally anticipated failure modes (lost link, power plant failures, loss of control, etc) and consequences of the failures
Crew fitness for flight operations
Overlying airspace, compliance with aviation regulations as appropriate to the operation, and off-nominal procedures
Communication, command, control, and payload frequency spectrum requirements
Reliability, performance, and airworthiness to established standards
Professionalism
We will comply with all federal, state, and local laws, ordinances, covenants, and restrictions as they relate to UAS operations.
We will operate our systems as responsible members of the aviation community.
We will be responsive to the needs of the public.
We will cooperate fully with federal, state, and local authorities in response to emergency deployments, mishap investigations, and media relations.
We will establish contingency plans for all anticipated off-nominal events and share them openly with all appropriate authorities.
Respect
We will respect the rights of other users of the airspace.
We will respect the privacy of individuals.
We will respect the concerns of the public as they relate to unmanned aircraft operations.
We will support improving public awareness and education on the operation of UAS.