Tristan Navera Staff Reporter- Dayton Business Journal

Sinclair Community College has unveiled a new indoor test range for unmanned aerial systems.

The community college says it is opening up its 35,000-square-foot fieldhouse, which is located in the basement of Building 8 on its downtown campus, for use flying unmanned systems. The hope is that schools, companies, and those in Sinclair‘s own UAS programs will be able to use the space to fly craft there for testing and training.

“This is the first indoor test range for UAS that also includes expertise and expert assistance,” said Steve Johnson, president of Sinclair in an event Tuesday. “We can provide the training, orientation and exposure here.”

The fieldhouse, which will still at times be open for athletic use, has a 25-foot ceiling height, giving 878,000 cubic feet of testing space. As far as the school can tell, it’s the largest indoor UAS range in the state, and will be able to fly rotorcraft as well as some smaller fixed-wing systems. It was the site of Destination Dayton, a high school UAS competition this past summer.

It’s another move from the school on the UAS realm. At the Ohio UAS Conference, the school unveiled plans for a $4 million, 28,000-square-foot UAS Training and Certification Center in Building 13. It’s got six active permissions from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly aircraft at Wilmington Air Park and Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport. But the new indoor range will allow for UAV testing and training on-campus.

It’s also a boost to the efforts of the Dayton region, where leaders have been hoping to draw more business and research around the emerging industry

“This is yet another step toward being a national industry center for UAS training and certification,” said Maurice “Mo” McDonald, executive vice president for Aerospace and Defense at the Dayton Development Coalition. “These kinds of moves further our overall commitment to the unmanned aerial systems industry.”

Deb Norris, vice president of workforce development at Sinclair, said the space could also be used during the Ohio UAS Conference. Sinclair has been growing its own set of UAS, now with over 50 vehicles from 21 different manufacturers.

“Many of these might look like toys, but they’re used today by first responders and a number of other professions,” Norris said.

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