By James Tibbets, Pendletonian Times
PENDLETON, Ore. – Eastern Oregon Regional Airport at Pendleton, also known as Pendleton Airport, was destined for ruin until the Pendleton UAS Program brought big money and technology development in. From Airbus to Amazon, clients are clamoring to Pendleton to test their drones.
Pendleton Airport and Economic Development Director Steve Chrisman has been in Pendleton since Round-Up of 2011. Originally from New Jersey, Chrisman says that when he came to Pendleton, the airport was an “under-performing asset.” According to Chrisman, the United States Armed Forces gave the airport to the City of Pendleton after WWII.
The UAS Range Manager at Pendleton’s airport, Darryl Abling, enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1978 and hails from Southern California. In 2016, he was hired by the City of Pendleton to act as the UAS Range Manager. Abling formerly spent 29 years with Northrop Grumman.
“If it isn’t proven in Pendleton [at the UAS test range] it isn’t proven,” exclaimed Chrisman during an interview. The phrase features prominently in their promotional materials and social media posts. According to Abling, “Amazon has been here for six years. We have commercial and military clients.” On October 2, Pendletonian Times toured the range and witnessed a test flight of Amazon’s delivery drone which is currently being tested there. Chrisman and Abling agree that the Amazon program is the range’s worst-kept secret.
Project Vahana, an all-electric, self-piloted vertical take-off and landing aircraft developed by Airbus was tested at Pendleton Airport. According to a press release dated February 2, 2018, Project Vahana’s first full-scale flight test was completed on January 31, 2018 at 8:52am Pacific Standard Time. According to Abling, Project Vahana flew 138 missions at the range.
Pendleton UAS Range’s first client was Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which is based in Richland, Washington. According to a press release dated June 17, 2018, PNNL conducted tests of ArticShark at the range. ArticShark is equipped with scientific instruments that gather polar atmospheric data over the tundra and sea ice on Alaska’s North Slope.
Abling continues that a test range operated by the U.S. Armed Forces costs about $40,000 per week, while he says that the test range at the airport is “essentially free.” He says that “the only thing we can’t do [at the test range] is drop live weapons.” Chrisman adds that “it will break the wallets of big companies. As far as we know, we’re the busiest [UAS test] range.”
Abling relayed an anecdote about a Unidentified Flying Object that was reported nearby; the UFO turned out to be a trash bag. Chrisman reported that Pendleton UAS Range may be the “biggest renter of porta potties in the Pacific Northwest.”
Having 60,000 test operations under their collective belt, the Pendleton UAS Test Range is expected to attract many technology professionals who work in the field to Pendleton. “We provide race lanes” for technology companies to test UAS technologies says Chrisman.