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Airborne 05.22.17: Court Nukes FAA Model Drone Regs, Lancair Moves, Virgin Orbit


Also: Dutch King, DA-42NG, US Civil Aircraft Shipments, ADS-B Out, Facial Recognition, Av Threats, Air Travel Growth The hobby drone industry just got a bit shook up... The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. has ruled that the FAA violated the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 when it required the registration of model aircraft, including drones, that are flown strictly for recreational purposes, and has vacated the Registration Rule for those aircraft. Maryland attorney John Taylor challenged the registration requirement based on Section 336, saying that the rule was unlawful as applied to model aircraft. The last two weeks of April have seen the Lancair Uvalde hangar complex bustling with activity. All hands have been hard at work unloading trucks, building storage racks and stowing a variety of molds, tools and fixtures essential for Lancair's return to kit manufacturing. In the weeks ahead, the team will inventory, refurbish and begin installing the manufacturing equipment in their new 5-hangar complex at Garner Field Airport (KUVA) in Uvalde, Texas. Virgin Group has announced Virgin Orbit, a company with a business model of launching small satellites into orbit using a horizontal launch system. Virgin Orbit says it is in the final stages of testing and preparation for LauncherOne, a two-stage, expendable, LOX/RP-1 rocket that launches from a dedicated 747-400 carrier aircraft, called Cosmic Girl. Cosmic Girl will carry LauncherOne to at an altitude of approximately 35,000 feet before release. Starting each mission with an airplane rather than a traditional launch pad offers performance benefits in terms of payload capacity, but more importantly, air-launch offers flexibility. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!


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