The Ag Technologies Solutions Group, in Greenville, Illinois, has a vision for simplifying drone pilot training, Part 107 certification, and demystifying drone operations.  ATSG has created a hands-on workshop on navigating the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) policies surrounding piloting unmanned agricultural drones.  Biomass Rules has been privileged to join them in this training adventure.  In addition to providing clarity on the FAA regulations, this program takes the edge off of moving in 2-dimensionally across a farm field, to flying ag inputs over fields in 3-dimensional airspace.

The evolution of agricultural drones, or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), is happening very rapidly.  Ten years ago, flying an unmanned aircraft for business was illegal, only became legal to fly about 5 years ago.  In some ways the rules, certifications, and registrations, are not unlike operating other ground vehicles.  But it is a new language that can make the familiar seem a bit intimidating.

This map of Bond County, Illinois is from the Visual Flight Rule (VFR) sectional charts.  The USDA, NASS, Cropland Data Layer map of Bond County posted last week was so well received, it seemed prudent to add another flavor of spatial data.

The significant advantages of variable rate, real-time, care of farm crops are driving the excitement about agricultural drones.  The FAA, Part 107, small UAS certification is necessary to fly a drone for commercial purposes, even if one is simply helping out a friend or family member in an unpaid favor.

In this VFR sectional chart today, the large magenta circle is the outer boundary of the Class E Airspace surrounding the Greenville Airport, which does not have a full-time control tower.

Reading these maps is only a matter of learning the legend.  The inner, lighter colored boundary indicates the airspace floor of 700 feet.  The outer darker boundary indicates the airspace ceiling 1,200 feet above ground level.   Part 107, sUAS pilot certification allow drones to be piloted to a height of 400 feet above ground level and must maintain a constant visual line of sight.

One might assume if you are working in a farmer’s field, no one will notice.  Not true.  Commercial drones today come with an ID identifier signal.  When the drone is flying it is letting the authorities know it is flying.  Greenville, Illinois has a federal prison.  Even in rural America, folks are paying attention to who is flying in the rural airspace.

The white – not green – shading on the western edge of this VFR sectional chart of Bond County is the boundary for the Class B Airspace, large, international airport in St. Louis, Missouri.  Even though Greenville is 45 miles east of Missouri, that airport airspace reaches rural Bond County.

Currently the 1-day class on certification, maintenance, and drone operation is being offered in Greenville, Illinois (45 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri on I-70).  If you are interested in getting into the drone business, call the Ag Technology Solutions Group at 618-704-3055.  Or, at https://agtechgroup.com/contact-us/.

This program creates a straight-forward path to ag drone ownership and operation.