ACUASI

The University of Alaska and the State are hosting a three-day international drone aircraft conference in Anchorage starting today. It will showcase how uncrewed aircraft can respond to emergencies, haul freight and gather scientific data. Recent test flights have proven drones can replace traditional piloted planes.

Fairbanks’s drone center is celebrating 25 automated flights to Alaska villages last month. The flights were made in a Cessna Grand Caravan, without a person in the pilot’s seat, (although there was a safety pilot ready to take over on every flight.) The tests demonstrated how emergency medicine, and eventually cargo, could be delivered across the state.

The UAF drone program is getting ready to test a pilotless plane for freight deliveries to villages. It is the very first step in a testing regimen that may expand the supply chain in Alaska.