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Ames in Mountain View, Calif. There are several different types of aircraft operating or proposing to operate in this airspace—from balloons, to slow moving, solar powered aircraft, to supersonic aircraft—all presenting unique challenges. In addition to the differences in performance characteristics, many of these operators will want to stay on- site in this airspace for months or years at a time. This meeting was an initial discussion about these challenges led by NASA and the NextGen organization. Several industry representatives were in attendance to present their use cases and vision on operations in that airspace. Representatives from ATO Mission Support and Air Traffic Services were in attendance to provide input and guidance on industry plans. Again, planning for traffic management in this airspace is in the very early stages. However, there was general agreement that the manned air traffic control system has neither the staffing, resources, nor infrastructure to actively manage traffic above FL600. This will be an ongoing activity for years to come. Training Onja Beebe, Steve Weidner, and Jeff Richards are continually working with their agency counterparts to provide information and UAS training to the field. The world of UAS is fast moving and becoming an ever more part of the air traffic operation. Should you have any thoughts or suggestions for training, or have questions about procedures that aren't clear, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. New NATCA UAS Rep on the Team As some of you know, Jeff Richards retired from the FAA at the end of 2018. Jeff's replacement on the NATCA UAS team is Onja Beebe (IAD). She came on board March 15 and we welcome her aboard. As much as we hated to see Jeff retire, we are happy to say that he is still around. He is now working for NATCA and is still involved with some aspects of UAS integration. UAS Questions As a reminder, any UAS-related questions can be emailed to us at UAS@natca.net. PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT NATCA in WASHINGTON (NiW) 2019 May 19-22 We are working with the National Legislative Committee (NLC), the NiW Planning Committee, and the National Office Government Affairs Department, in planning next month's annual NiW event. For those who are registered to attend, look for several updates coming soon to your email, via your respective NLC regional representative, that cover everything you need to know before traveling to the nation's capital. We will provide full coverage of the event through both social media and in member communications such as a special edition of the monthly legislative update the week following NiW.

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