WS UAV Test Range Manager Hired

Tribally owned Eagle Tech Systems has hired Liz Stalford as the FAA UAS Test Range Manager for Warm Springs which is part of the Pan Pacific Unmanned Test Range Complex under the auspices of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

Stalford is a commercial multi-engine, seaplane and instructor pilot with extensive experience in both military and commercial unmanned aerial systems.  She comes to the Warm Springs Reservation following her career as General Manager with ArrowData, LLC, an Alaska-Native owned business.

Stalford has worked on both manned and unmanned aircraft, equipped with multispectral HD sensors (cameras) for situational awareness by surveillance, large scale wildland fire mapping, crowd control monitoring, natural disaster response, accident investigation, hazardous materials operations, suspect and vehicle tracking, oil spill detection, Precision Agriculture, 3D mapping, wildlife monitoring, and search and rescue.  She intends to focus on emergency management training, utility inspections, FAA Part 107 commercial drone pilot training and large drone regulation compliance.

Don Sampson, Chief Executive Officer, Warm Springs Ventures,  expressed, “The timing couldn’t be better for Liz Stalford to bring her expertise to our Range.  The firefighting season is on the horizon, and a host of events and activities for 2017 will shift the unmanned systems as the cornerstone of a new economy”.

Warm Springs provides four primary launch and recovery sites, as well as additional sites as needed.  There are mobile command centers equipped with high speed Wi-Fi and many individual services tailored to a client’s specific needs.  The Kah-Nee-Ta UAS Innovation Center is scheduled to open in 2017, as well as the Warm Springs UAS Manufacturing Plant.  They are also hosting the “Drones and Public Safety” Conference at the Kah-Nee-Ta Lodge on May 24 and 25.

You can learn more at www.wsuas.com