L-Ne · Historical Source Library

News Source Record

# News Source Record

**L-Ne / Open-source news extract** — Original media coverage of unmanned aerial systems.

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Collection date | 27 November 2011 |
| Platform | Quiet Systems |
| Data label | Open-source news record // LRRK collection product |
| Handling | Public-source material. Image rights require separate verification before publication. |
| Scale | National |
| Language | English |
| Terms matched | drone; drones; small drones; robotic aircraft; Qube |

## Bibliographic

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Outlet | Los Angeles Times |
| Title | Idea of civilians using drone aircraft may soon fly with FAA |
| Dateline | 27 November 2011 |
| First publisher | yes |
| Original URL | https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2011-nov-27-la-fi-drones-for-profit-20111127-story.html |
| Archive URL | — |
| Dedup key | 2011-11-27|la-times|faa-small-drone-nprm-aerovironment-qube |
| Source grade | A1 |

## Record

**Verified extract — [Fact — A1]** The Los Angeles Times reported the FAA planned to propose new rules for small drones in January, a first step toward integrating robotic aircraft into national airspace. The agency had issued 266 active testing permits but had not permitted wide civil use because pilotless craft lacked adequate "detect, sense and avoid" technology. Aerospace Industries Association's Dan Elwell said: "It's going to happen." UCLA/Brookings fellow John Villasenor said small drones are "easy to conceal and fly without getting a lot of attention. Bad guys know this." Peter W. Singer said most Americans still saw drones as science fiction. AeroVironment of Monrovia had been secretly testing Qube, a 5½-pound four-rotor helicopter, about 200 feet over scrub north of Simi Valley; it fits in a car trunk, is tablet-controlled, and was unveiled at the IACP conference in Chicago. Executive Steven Gitlin said a Qube would cost "slightly more than the price of a police cruiser," about $40,000, versus LASD's 12 new helicopters at $1.7 million each. LASD Cmdr. Bob Osborne said "there's no doubt" the department was interested if FAA "roadblocks were down." Other named uses: Japanese crop-spray; Fukushima inspection; Russian archaeology; Tampa Bay RNC security; FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith's piloted-lead drone-train idea; Matternet medical delivery. AUVSI's Gretchen West estimated 23,000 jobs over 15 years if airspace opened. ACLU's Catherine Crump asked whether cheap flying surveillance would respect privacy. Guided Systems Technologies of Stockbridge, Ga., sold small helicopter drones abroad because it could not sell them at home.

**Kinematic object.** AeroVironment Qube 5.5 lb quadrotor; small civil UAS pending FAA January NPRM.

**Coverage frame.** regulatory / consumer / industry

## Source integrity

- Why this is treated as an original: LAT first-publisher national business piece with named FAA numbers, AeroVironment tests and LASD interest.
- Wire reprint status: Not a wire reprint. An Amarillo Globe-News pickup was rejected as a reprint.
- What was excluded: later 2012 FAA modernization-act coverage.

## LRRK relevance

Watch / Control Fabric / Lab / Passport. A Watch desk would have recorded a January small-drone NPRM promise, 266 permits, and a $40k police quadrotor already in Simi Valley tests.

*LRRK — security assurance for systems that sense, move, and act.*

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