Small Drones Return to Flight

A team of nine cadets and two staff executed a drone flight test event at West Point Range 11 as part of the Post-Nuclear Blast Forensics Swarm capstone project. During this activity, five quadcopter flights, and one fixed wing aircraft flight were conducted. Cadets experienced first-hand the preflight process, aircraft control, and emergency procedures. This exposure was invaluable to understand elements of system design for their DTRA funded capstone effort. This event was also notable as it marked West Point's "return to flight" for drone operations. These operations were paused earlier this year due to the evolving regulatory landscape for unmanned aircraft. The Civil and Mechanical Engineering (CME) department took the lead for West Point to establish a safe, effective, and legal process to operate small drones in pursuit of Academic efforts, welcomed by the Supt.