Before you can fly, you must balance.
Just ask Andrew Weiss, the newest member of our flight operations team at Mississippi State's Raspet Flight Research Laboratory and a skilled aircraft loadmaster who has traveled to all 50 states and 63 countries loading and unloading charter planes.
“Weight and balance are paramount to the performance and stability of an aircraft,” said Andrew.
A licensed pilot and a certified airframe and powerplant mechanic, Andrew earned his bachelor’s degree in business management from Michigan State University.
He joined Raspet in December after connecting with our team at an annual conference with global leaders of uncrewed aircraft systems.
“I saw the Raspet Flight Lab logo on a shirt, and I tracked them down,” said Andrew.
In Andrew’s role at Raspet, he’ll be supporting and training first responders who operate small uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) during disaster response or other emergency scenarios, such as monitoring wildfires or conducting inspections. The training, developed in partnership with FEMA through a project with ASSURE, is designed to enhance and expand remote pilot performance and proficiency to increase safety around the world.
Andrew is also piloting small UAS for Raspet as part of a five-year, $18.7 million contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to scout, evaluate and test emerging UAS technologies.
Raspet Flight Research Laboratory is the nation’s leading academic research center dedicated to the advancement of uncrewed aircraft systems. Raspet is the only institute in the world designated both as the FAA’s UAS Safety Research Facility and as official UAS Test Sites for both the FAA and the Department of Homeland Security, placing the research center at the helm of studying and developing UAS safety and certification standards. Home to a fleet of the largest and most capable unmanned aircraft in academic use, Raspet conducts UAS research on behalf of federal agencies and commercial industry partners, helping grow Mississippi’s aerospace sector.
Mississippi State University is taking care of what matters. Learn more at www.msstate.edu.