Nev. drones expected in the air by May
By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Sun
The era of pilotless commercial aircraft has begun in Nevada and the first drone test flights are expected by May, a team from the state’s program management office told the board of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development last week.
Details of the plan to grow what is expected to be an $11 billion-a-year industry were unveiled to a packed board room at Gov. Brian Sandoval’s Las Vegas office.
Nevada was notified Dec. 30 that it had been selected one of six states designated by the Federal Aviation Administration to test unmanned aerial systems. The FAA’s goal is to integrate unmanned aircraft into the U.S. commercial airspace by the end of September 2015.
Four test sites have been identified in Nevada: a facility at Boulder City Municipal Airport, Stead Airport north of Reno, Fallon’s municipal airport and Desert Rock, a private airfield near Mercury associated with the Nevada National Security Site.
