Isles apply to be test site for FAA study of flight rules

Hawaii has applied to be a test bed for increased drone flights as the Federal Aviation Administration seeks to create rules of the air and incorporate an ever-expanding number of the flying robots into the nation’s airspace.

Hawaii, Alaska and Oregon are part of a partnership vying to become one of six groups to be selected nationwide for the project, with backers hoping the Aloha State would become a mecca for unmanned vehicle research, testing and certification, creating science jobs and adding millions to the economy along the way.

But plenty of obstacles remain, including competition from other states, worries about surveillance and privacy, the perception that drones are often used as weapons, and the not-so-small detail that the FAA is not providing any funding for the test sites.

"We could create a small cottage industry around science, math, engineering and mathematics. That’s what this is all about," said state Sen. Will Espero (D, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point). "It’s not about supporting a military weapon. We’re looking at it from the perspective of civilian applications of (unmanned aerial vehicles)."

At a forum on drone use Thursday, state Rep. Gene Ward (R, Kalama Valley-Hawaii Kai), said, "We have an opportunity before us here, that if the FAA chooses six sites and Hawaii is one of those sites, this is big time for us in terms of the generation of income and jobs."

Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii island, the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai and even the island of Niihau have been included in discussions of places where the testing could occur, officials said.

The FAA’s goal is to integrate unmanned aircraft into the National Airspace System by 2015.

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International said in a March report that with Unmanned Aircraft Systems fully integrated into the national airspace system, Hawaii could see a $32 million economic impact between 2015 and 2017, with 166 jobs created.

But even the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism is not so sure about the test site idea.

"Despite the wishful thinking, there’s no money yet (being offered to develop a test site in Hawaii)," said David Young, a DBEDT spokes­man.

Although the state agency hasn’t taken an official position on the drone project application, Young said DBEDT Director Richard Lim has not thrown his support behind the effort "because there’s no money, and it’s all pie in the sky."

The FAA has received at least 50 applications from 37 states to host the six test sites, with the first sites expected to be announced by the end of the year.

The aviation agency said Unmanned Aircraft Systems range in size from the wingspan of a Boeing 737 to smaller than a radio-controlled model airplane.

The FAA first authorized use of unmanned aircraft in the national airspace in 1990, and since then it has granted limited use for firefighting, disaster relief, search and rescue, law enforcement, border patrol, military training, and testing and evaluation.

Unmanned aircraft already have been used in Hawaii to monitor coffee plants and locate and track whales.

Routine operation of UAs over densely populated areas is prohibited. Model aircraft can be flown for recreational purposes below 400 feet above ground level.

The Hawaii Army National Guard and active-duty Army personnel fly hand-launched Raven and bigger Shadow UAs over Schofield Barracks, Wheeler Army Airfield and Pohakuloa.

The Marine Corps is expected to move Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3 with its Shadows to Kaneohe Bay.

As part of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Congress directed the FAA to establish a program to integrate UAs into the national airspace system at six test ranges.

Test site operations would include development of certification standards and air traffic requirements for the unmanned flight operations.

Espero said a partnership involving just Alaska and Hawaii has a lot to offer. With Oregon the grouping is known as the "Pan-Pacific UAS Test Site."

"You have a test site that, for starters, incorporates very cold in Alaska versus very warm and tropical in Hawaii, and you’ve got, between the two of us, vast ocean, thus making it much more safer than a mainland city or area where you have to test up on land," Espero said. "You could literally do 100 percent of the testing over water if something like that is in Hawaii."

The state Department of Defense, Department of Transportation (Airports Division), DBEDT’s Office of Aerospace Development and the University of Hawaii at Hilo are coordinating the application.

State adjutant Maj. Gen. Darryll D.M. Wong said at Thursday’s drone forum, put on by ThinkTech Hawaii and the Hawaii Venture Capital Association, that some associate UAs with military weapons, and that’s not what’s being talked about being tested. Rather, UAs are a practical tool, Wong said.

"It’s cheaper. The life of the pilot is not out there. But the other thing is it’s just a platform," Wong said. "The weaponization of that platform was just a byproduct of innovation."

Officials said one way to turn a profit is by having UAS users come to Hawaii to get certified in their use of national airspace.

There are also surveillance and privacy issues to overcome.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation urged April 23 that the FAA put in place stricter controls regulating privacy and drones.

The foundation said the FAA predicts that in addition to hundreds of drones used domestically by the military and law enforcement, there will be between 7,500 and 10,000 commercial drones flying in U.S. skies in five years.

With their increasing sophistication, drones "can operate undetected in urban and rural environments, allowing the government and, in the future, commercial entities to spy on Americans without their knowledge," the organization said.

The Senate Appropriations Committee, noting privacy concerns, said in language recently inserted into a funding bill that while the FAA requires that privacy policies be in place at UAS test sites before flights begin, "a more comprehensive approach to privacy may be warranted."

The bill directs the FAA to re-examine privacy issues and report back to Congress before UAs are integrated into national airspace.