The FAA has granted Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus’ Applied Aviation Research Center a new waiver that permits K-State Polytechnic to fly UAS beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), in all Class G airspace nationwide.

A majority of UAS flights take place in Class G airspace, which will allow K-State Polytechnic and the Applied Aviation Research Center to enhance research, education and training opportunities.

The new waiver also permits the remote pilot in command to fly from a mobile command center, providing a controlled environment that is distraction-free and out of the elements. This environment also allows a pilot to monitor the live UAS feed as well as the weather, manned traffic, telemetry feed and more.

According to K-State, this type of training situation will provide students with experience “highly sought after in the UAS industry,” as well as valuable training experience for professionals in public safety, emergency response, and more. This waiver will also allow K-State Polytechnic to continue research operations that move the industry forward, the university says.

“Kansas State Polytechnic's dedication toward its students is evident with the approval of this latest BVLOS waiver,” says Spencer Schrader, UAS flight instructor at K-State Polytechnic and author of the waiver request submitted to the FAA.

“Both for-credit and noncredit students will benefit from the advantages of this waiver, providing them experience with operations that are highly limited within the current regulatory framework of Part 107.”

A member of the Kansas UAS Joint Task Force, K-State Polytechnic became the first university in the nation to receive a BVLOS waiver from the FAA in 2018, which grants them permission to fly beyond the visual line of sight of the pilot and visual observers in a single location. K-State Polytechnic is also a partner of the Kansas Department of Transportation, which is one of the nine entities nationwide a part of the FAA's UAS Integrated Pilot Program.

“We are committed to continually evolving our UAS program to ensure our students are prepared to enter the UAS industry with a broad range of relevant experience,” says Kurt Carraway, UAS executive director of the Applied Aviation Research Center and department head of the program.

“This waiver allows us to train the way our industry partners want their pilots to operate. I am proud of our ability to conduct thorough operational risk assessments and articulate those into safety cases, such as this, to garner FAA approval for advanced UAS operations.”