Choctaw Nation Beyond Program Obtains FAA BVLOS Approval

uAvionix has confirmed that the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) Beyond Program has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations using uAvionix SkyLine Managed Command & Control (C2) and Detect & Avoid (DAA) sensors on the Emerging Aviation Technology Center UAS Test Range. 

This marks the second BVLOS waiver by the FAA for the combination of uAvionix SkyLine software and SkyLink hardware in as many months and allows drone pilots operating at the CNO range to leverage only an Electronic Observer while meeting requirements to remain well-clear of crewed aircraft while the uncrewed aircraft is beyond the pilot’s line of sight.

The approved waiver signifies that uAvionix and the CNO have demonstrated to the FAA that the aircraft detect and avoid systems, procedures, and the control network meet the safety threshold for operations in the national airspace. 

Key components of the system deployed on the UAS Test Range include the uAvionix SkyLine C2 management platform and pingStation3 dual-mode ADS-B receivers. 

The SkyLine C2 management platform is integrated with the DeTect Harrier radar as part of the surveillance layer and used to control several CNO and uAvionix owned eVTOL aircraft through the uAvionix muLTElink and SkyLink series of C2 radios.

“We are incredibly proud to be a Beyond partner with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma,” said Christian Ramsey, uAvionix President. “This is our second waiver in two weeks based on our SkyLine and Skylink technology stack and DAA sensor integration. Having this capability available at CNO enables our customers to conduct testing and demonstration in Oklahoma and will further serve as guidance for future applications leveraging this concept of operations.”

”Successfully demonstrating safe and controlled Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations is critical to meet the growing demand for the use of drones in everything from package delivery to search and rescue operations,” said Marcus Hartman, Aviation Operations Manager for CNO. “Our collaboration with uAvionix establishes the Advanced Technology Center and the FAA Beyond program as key leaders for this important work.”

“This approval is a major milestone for the Choctaw Nation’s Emerging Aviation Technology Center,” said James Grimsley, Executive Director of Advanced Technology Initiatives for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. “With this approval we achieved a major milestone in the FAA Beyond program by enabling BVLOS test flights for our partners and customers by leveraging the permanently deployed hardware and software from uAvionix.” 

The SkyLine C2 product ecosystem and its innovative muLTElink radio, a single low-SWaP avionic device, enable dynamic selection of the best radio link between LTE, ISM, aviation protected C Band and SATCOM, while presenting the end user with real time monitoring of system health and visualization of various integrated DAA sensors. 

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