The opening day of the UVS International RPAS 2014 conference in Brussels on 23 June 2014 will be dedicated to National RPAS community views on current commercial RPAS operations and will feature 10 presentations from 10 different countries.
The ten presenters have been asked to outline the current state of operations in their individual countries and examine what they think needs improving:
Austrian Experiences with the First National VLOS Regulation Implemented in 2014 | Raoul Fortner, AAI – UAS WG, Austria
Founder within AAI of the UAS-Working Group (AAI-UAS-WG), Raoul is responsible for the professional support and networking of the Austrian UAS community, and is especially engaged in projects for civil UAS operations (e.g. «Austrian UcM») and UAS rulemaking. He will discuss the first Austrian UAS (VLOS) regulation (in force since 1st January 2014) and his views on it in the European and international context. He will outline experiences with this regulation and the CAA (Austrocontrol) up to now and examine the outlook towards the future.
Activities & Legal Situation in Belgium | Koen Meuleman, BeUAS, Belgium
BeUAS comprises 52 companies from different kind of industries in aviation manufacturers, operators, but also universities and insurance agencies are amongst the members. One of the major BeUAS targets was the creation of a solid and comprehensive legislation in Belgium. In the first part of 2014 we will see the results from our “behind the scene” work in the first complete legislation for RPAS in Belgium
Operations in France & What Needs improving | Benjamin Benharrosh, FPDC, France
France is one of the first countries to have a clear regulation relative to the civilian use of RPAS. More than 500 companies operate RPAS in France thanks to this regulation and to the big companies that are leading large-scale experimentation using this new technology for their needs. An evolution of the national regulation is coming in the next few months, which should allow the French Industry to be among the world leaders in this sector.
Operations in Germany: Current Status & The Way Forward | Bernhard von Bothmer, UAV-DACH, Germany
Bernhard has the chairman of the German speaking UAV DACH association since October 2000. His presentation supplies an organizational and activity update, an overview of the German regulatory basis & its current implementation practice; and the way forward.
Operations in Italy – What Needs Improving | Paolo Marras, ASSORPAS, Italy
Paolo is the President of ASSORPAS, the Italian Light RPAS association, which was born with the aim to give a unique voice to the whole Light RPAS market sector in Italy. He will give an introduction of ASSORPAS, the Italian Light RPAS association: its members and its activities. He will review the Italian RPAS state-of-the-art, regulation just in force & market and give a detailed snapshot of the regulations and outcome in Italy, considering the present RPAS Italian Market and Operations on the field situation as well as ASSORPAS’ national and international strategy for the RPAS future.
Operations in The Netherlands – What Needs Improving | Rob van Nieuwland, DARPAS, The Netherlands
Rob initiated and founded, DARPAS, the Dutch Association for RPAS operators and constructors, in November 2012. He is the current president of DARPAS and interfaces with other aerospace communities in The Netherlands, the Dutch government and politicians; and serves as a DARPAS spokesman to the media.
Operations in Norway – What Needs Improving | Gunnar Rokseth, UAS Norway, Norway
Gunnar was educated as economist from the BI Norwegian Business School and has worked many years with business development. He stands behind a commercial initiative to implement highly advanced long-range fixed wing RPAS in Norwegian and international airspace for civilian purposes. He is also President of UAS Norway.
Operations in Spain – What Needs Improving | Manuel Onate, AERPAS, Spain
Manuel is currently acting as President of the Spanish RPAS Trade Association, AERPAS. Spain does not yet have regulation in place for the operation of RPAS although the Spanish CAA, AESA, is about to finalize the first draft of the legislation. AERPAS has been collaborating with the regulatory process since May 2013 and is currently working with AESA in the definition of an interim procedure until the regulation is passed into law sometime during 2015.
Current Status in UK & What Needs Improving | Angus Benson-Blair, ARPAS, UK
Angus is ARPAS UK’s European Legislation representative and spent 18 years as an officer in the British Army. The UK has had regulation in place for RPAS since 2002. This regulation has been instrumental in allowing the birth of a new industry. However, the numbers of operators in the UK are not accelerating as quickly as in other regulated European countries. He will discuss what regulation changes are required therefore, to increase the uptake in operators whilst maintaining public safety.
Operations in Denmark-What Needs Improving | Christian Berg, UAS Denmark, Denmark
Christian is the managing director of Hans Christian Andersen Airport in Denmark. RPAS operations (VLOS) are generally legal in Denmark under the model aircraft regulation, also for commercial purposes. Exemptions are issued to an increasing number of professional operators that need further operational possibilities – flying closer to roads, inhabited areas etc. A national technology review, ordered by the Danish Parliament, exploring the potential of RPAS applications was finalized in May 2014 and will be presented together with expectations for near future consequences, as will the most prominent examples of Danish research activities, e.g. within agriculture and arctic research.