Unmanned Aircraft Systems, UAS, or as the public is fond of calling them “drones”, are entering our society with a speed that challenges regulatory authorities (FAA in USA), intrusiveness that threatens public sensibilities, and technology that opens possibilities for applications that were science fiction a few short months ago. The FAA concentrates on “safe integration of UAS into the NAS”. The public is wary of privacy loss. The business community sees UAS as “the next big thing”. Other airspace users see unfettered use of UAS as a threat. Peter Morton’s presentation will explore the control laws, the public laws, and the out laws; and will survey the myriad applications emerging to put UAS to work in the service, amusement, and harassment of mankind.

Peter M. Morton’s extensive 58-year career has been predominantly in aviation, including pilot training, flight deck design, marketing, program management and executive management. As a consultant Peter has worked in the areas of aviation training, flight operations, emergent air traffic management technologies, unmanned aircraft testing and operations, and flight data monitoring. He has also designed, organized and led large-scale symposia and workshops, and been a member and leader of numerous industry advisory boards. Prior to consulting, Peter held several executive positions at the Boeing Company including Vice President Human Resources and Leadership Development, Director of Marketing, Director of Customer Training, Director 7J7 Program Management, and Chief Engineer 757 flight deck. Peter was past president of and now serves on the Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI). He is a Trustee of the Museum of Flight and chairs the Pathfinder Committee, and also serves as a Trustee of the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts. Peter earned a Bachelor degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.