Soaring Eagle gets FAA drone BVLOS waiver for unlimited distance inspections

Drone data collection, surveying, and infrastructure inspection company Soaring Eagle Technologies has added another Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) waiver to its collection – this one permitting virtually unlimited geographic range of mission operation.

Houston-based Soaring Eagle said the new FAA waiver will permit it to conduct drone inspections of critical infrastructure for clients without being bound by maximum distances usually designated in open-ended BVLOS authorizations. That means the company must simply adhere to operational guidelines stipulated by the approval in exchange for the liberty of flying craft over as large an area as the mission calls for. 

Doing so, of course, means Soaring Eagle drones can cover far greater expanses of infrastructure per BVLOS inspection flight – from 800 to 3,000 acres in a single day – resulting in time and cost savings to clients. Prior to receiving the rare FAA unlimited distance waiver, Soaring Eagle had been granted approval to inspect up to 61 linear miles, one of the longest distances the agency awards.

“This is big news for clients needing more efficient, reliable, greener, and safer inspections of large geographic areas and critical infrastructure,” said Noah Ruiz, the Soaring Eagle chief drone pilot to whom the unlimited FAA BVLOS waiver was accorded. “The advanced technology is long-awaited for uses ranging from transmission and distribution, engineering and construction, and other critical infrastructure, as well as for post-disaster assessments to recover power promptly and safely. There is high demand for the BVLOS inspection missions this waiver allows to conduct in one flight.”

Soaring Eagle has completed over 60 BVLOS missions across the country under special government interest waivers, which the company says is more than any other drone inspection competitor. 

Long-range drone inspection is used for vegetation and other terrain audits, and for detailed mapping of large geographical areas – all of which were habitually conducted on foot or by flying small piloted aircraft. 

Soaring Eagle says FAA-approved BVLOS drone alternatives are faster and less expensive in mapping large areas, or surveying land for large construction projects such as solar fields, electrical utility construction, and large-footprint buildings. Those operations are also used for controlled burn monitoring, right-of-way audits, agricultural clients, and an array of missions over vast areas of land.

“We currently have the capability to patrol up to 100 miles per day with each BVLOS sUAS in our fleet,” Ruiz says. “This allows us to provide a cleaner and safer alternative to using fossil fuels. Asset owners can potentially save up to 30% when conducting BVLOS inspections compared to using… helicopters and airplanes to do the same work.”