I've been hearing about a new UAV company called Whisper Aerospace that's focused on the low end of the nascent domestic commercial sector. Founders include our own Patrick Egen and Lucien Miller, the electrical engineer who does the terrific Power Systems Corner on the All Things That Fly podcast and runs Inno8tiveDesigns.
The company is still in stealth mode, but here's what they are saying about their plans:
"Whisper Aerospace is a new company founded by a group of individuals with a very diverse range of technical skills, all working to create and bring to market the first Commercial/Civilian UAVs that will be able to fly in the NAS (National Airspace System). Our UAVs will feature reasonable payload capacity and operational performance, thereby offering clients considerable flexibility in solving their needs for an airborne platform that is not hampered by the relatively low performance and restricted operational capabilities of current systems. Multiple communications protocols and power sources will be available inside our standardized payload modules in order to make it easier to integrate client hardware. Our ground control systems will be very user-friendly and offer a wide range of options and customizable features."
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I have moved on to the military side of things and so, haven’t really had time to keep up with the folks from the Whisper project. That’s not to say that I’ve given up on these types of projects (only smaller), just gotta get the old foot in the door.
First off, I don’t make any income from the RCAPA (or whisper), it actually costs me money.
They had someone on from AUVSI and I don’t hear you whinging about that??? Fred Marks wasn’t on the ARC representing anyone but FMA in the beginning. In fact, they wanted to boot Fred off (or impose disciplinary action) when he shared information with the Farm Bureau. I stepped in and defended Fred on this and other occasions as well as the AMA and non-AMA positions. I don’t want to get too far into the weeds about what I think the modeler is going to get here. Interesting you brought up FPV. Just how do you think the AMA rule 550 came about, do you think it just came out of thin air??? After a bunch of what is going on here now 5 to 10 people took the reins and wrote up a damn fine proposal. We got that done in record time! Is it great? No, but it’s better than being banned altogether. I suggested that the UK brigade do the same and I’d see if I could get something rolling with BMFA, but it was laughed at and I was maligned. Do I take it personal? No, I realize most folks are just frustrated. I’m frustrated by a system that arbitrarily takes away peoples freedoms for no good reason. Am I going to quit and let Bruce and the boys at the UAPO down, heck no! (Read my blog if you want an unvarnished account of the ARC)
Since I’m on the rant…
I personally like the DIY Drones concept, but can’t endorse anything that would make the current integration situation worse. I know… how can it get any worse than this? It could get a lot worse to the point where we lose all of our freedom with this hobby. There was no one there but Fred and myself pulling for the non-AMA member. For example, there was talk of restricting model aviation to between 25 and 30 miles away from class “B” airports. The only place you could fly in SF was out on the beach in the Sunset!!! To most of these folks we are just playing with toys.
We are as Ira likes to say, “The mouse on the dance floor!”
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