Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has announced that it recently became the only university to acquire the Penguin C UAS specifically for flight training.

Described as one of the most sophisticated long-endurance, long-range professional UAS on the market today, the Penguin C aircraft “instantly transformed Embry-Riddle” upon their arrival on campus earlier this year, the university says.

According to Embry-Riddle, which was the first organization in the world designated as an AUVSI Trusted Operator Program (TOP) training provider, and the first to obtain TOP Level-3 Instructor qualification, the acquisition of the Penguin C’s has opened the door for missions controlled from multiple ground-based stations, called “remote-split operations,” as well as flight beyond the operator’s visual line of sight (BVLOS). The Penguin C’s can be used for a variety of operations, including fighting wildfires, search and rescue, and military surveillance. 

With all of these applications, the Penguin C offers no shortage of career paths for Embry-Riddle graduates trained to fly Penguin C’s, the university says.

The new fixed-wing Penguin C UAS, which feature a 10.8-foot wingspan, can fly up to 20 hours over a 60-mile range while carrying electrical, optical and infrared camera sensors.

Professor Mike Wiggins, chair of Aeronautical Science on the Daytona Beach Campus, says that the UAS will offer a “leg up” for professional UAS pilots-in-training at Embry-Riddle.

“Students currently learn to fly small fixed-wing survey platforms, and beginning in 2020, the military-grade Penguin C aircraft,” Wiggins says.

“The goal is to ensure our graduates have the skills they need to run a successful business or operation using all types of UAS in a safe, responsible manner.” 

Embry-Riddle has recruited two graduates, Shane Aldridge (’15) and Mike “Zeb” Zebehazy (’10), to help run the university’s Penguin C fleet. The two were selected based on their knowledge of a similar platform called the Aerosonde, and they are working with Alexander Mirot, associate professor of Aeronautical Science, who has an abundance of knowledge about UAS, such as the MQ-9 Reaper, thanks to his time with the Air Force.

Aldridge and Zebehazy spent a month in Latvia last September training to fly Penguin C’s before they arrived at Embry-Riddle.

“We learned how to pack the parachute that helps the aircraft land safely, and how to maintain it and fly it,” says Aldridge, who is now a UAS Flight Supervisor at Embry-Riddle.

Aldridge notes “it’s all about the sensor you’re carrying on the aircraft” when it comes to longer endurance missions. Stabilized by a gimbal, the sensor on Embry-Riddle’s Penguin C’s carries either an electro-optical camera with a 30-power zoom lens for daytime use or a long-wave infrared sensor that captures images in darkness. 

The Penguin C’s are currently being tested over controlled airspace near Bunnell, Florida, which is about 25 miles north of the Daytona Beach Campus.

According to Zebehazy, who is the UAS Maintenance and Inventory Manager, Embry-Riddle is working on applications for FAA waivers that would allow students to fly the Penguin C’s over the Bunnell field via a remote-control operation in Daytona Beach.

The UAS have a digital datalink, so the goal is to fly them through a network connection, Aldridge notes. Aldridge says that if the FAA waivers are approved, Embry-Riddle would become the only organization other than the military with remote-split UAS capability. 

Embry-Riddle Students will have access to the Penguin C’s starting spring 2020.