Unmanned aerial vehicles to be tested at Port

Potato conference, marketing also on special meeting agenda

Planes without pilots may be the wave of the future, and the Port of Moses Lake is getting in on the action.

At a special board of commissioners meeting Thursday afternoon, commissioners approved several items on their consent agenda connected to Blue Properties.

Outgoing Port executive manager David Senne told commissioners that he hoped this was the tip of the iceberg.

"This particular project is going to be the testing of an unmanned aerial vehicle," he said. "I think right now, in terms of the future of aviation, we're going to see a big thrust into the UAV arena. They have already proven, in the past, their ability to do reconnaissance missions and recently in Iraq they have also shown their ability to do attack missions."

Senne said a variation is already in prototype as a fighter aircraft.

"I think the same things that have brought other aircraft to this area — the airspace, the amount of facilities that we have here and the weather — will be a natural place to attract the prototype research and development of unmanned aerial vehicles," Senne said.

The Port approved three leases of a four-lease set, allowing a hangar for storage and office space for personnel of Blue Properties, and a test-run area for the engines of the vehicle.

"Once they have accomplished those things, then they will go into a flight-testing mode and they will be renting 42 acres just north of the training pit for their flight testing," Senne said. "This and another that will soon follow the UAV program, we hope will be kind of the leaders, the ice breakers and a way to get the word out to others that we can test these vehicles here."

Senne said that the Port has to be a little guarded, because the company is private and working on a proprietary prototype, and doesn't really want to open a window into the program.

He said they intend to begin engine testing Aug. 10.

Board president Kent Jones also discussed writing a letter of support for the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce in attempting to get the Washington State Potato Conference and Trade Show to remain in Moses Lake and not relocate to the Tri-Cities area.

Another item that was discussed was participating with the Grant County Economic Development Council in the plan for marketing to Japanese companies and potential suppliers of Boeing's new 7E7.

While Jones, Senne, commissioner Delone Krueger and incoming Port executive manager Craig Baldwin were all in agreement that the Port would most likely commit to support the marketing initiative, a decision was postponed until commissioner Larry Peterson returns from vacation, due to Peterson's high level of involvement with the EDC, in anticipation of his input.

Jones said he had called the special meeting with the understanding that Peterson would be back.

In addition, Jeff Akridge, president of Columbia Pacific Aviation, Inc., told commissioners that a single engine air tanker, or SEAT, was scheduled to arrive in Moses Lake later that day, and said that Neptune Aviation Services would receive final word on its grounded air tankers today.