重塑美国无人机行业的未来

在Robofest会议期间，最首要的事情就是酒会。这是来自华盛顿地区最有影响力的航空业顾问的盛情款待。这项活动与其说是正式的社交场合，到不如说更像是后院的烧烤聚会。一旦塑料杯子斟满，人们就开始了各种招呼应酬，你有机会结识身边的各路人物，包括航空公司高层、美国西部某州经济发展部门主管、美国著名高校工程学院院长、数位华盛顿智囊、说客和律师们。不过，你首先见到的是达里尔•詹金斯，他是美国航空研究所（American Aviation Institute）主席，航空航天企业顾问以及今天这一活动的发起人。

詹金斯是航空航天领域的名人，过去数十年间，每一次大型航空公司的合并和破产中都或多或少有过他的参与。他还曾为航空业相关人员授课，投身教学，在乔治华盛顿大学（George Washington University）任教多个学期，期间发表诸多论文和科研报告，以及一本航空航天著作。他频频出现在彭博财经频道（Bloomberg TV）和全国广播公司财经频道（CNBC），向全世界介绍航空航天的问题。詹金斯认识许多业内的重量级人物，其中有不少也出席了今天的Robofest大会。他们和詹金斯一样，对于下一代的航空科技——统称为无人机的各种无人驾驶航空系统抱有浓厚的兴趣。

Robofest活动开始于10月底一个完美的午后，场地设在谢南多厄山麓詹金斯幽僻的家中。这是两年内第二次举行这一活动。这一非正式的社交活动日已然成为航空航天业界的一大盛会，詹金斯希望以此为生机勃勃的商用无人机行业铺平发展道路。【《财富》（Fortune）杂志获得报道此活动的特别许可。】活动议程包括：关于如何更好地推动产业发展的公开讨论，当然还有无人机试飞活动。但是首先是酒会和午餐，没人愿意空着肚子规划整个行业的未来。

去年的Robofest主要是一项休闲和社交活动，詹金斯说。今年，他的后院里云集了业内领导者、州和联邦政府人士，还有学者。除了讨论，詹金斯还希望做点别的事情。美国联邦航空局（Federal Aviation Administration）管制过分严格却经费不足，以至于无人机行业总觉得发展受阻。业内人士认为，目前美国的无人机行业已经被处于更宽松监管环境中的国外竞争者逐渐甩在身后。詹金斯连同一群业内资深人士、律师、企业家、说客和政府内部人员都希望改变这一现状。

“当我想起自己经历过的所有航空公司的合并和破产，我就觉得自己是历经风浪的老者，”詹金斯在请80多位宾客点餐时说道。“可一想到无人机技术，我又变回了16岁。”在他的客人们对着炸鸡和通心粉沙拉大快朵颐时，詹金斯提醒他们这次集会的目的不在于批评联邦航空局，尽管这已经成为商用无人机行业倡导者的一种有组织的活动。但是今天的活动旨在为该行业近期的发展提供实质性的规划，绕过官僚主义的惰性，推动行业进步。

詹金斯将发言时间让给活动主讲嘉宾，某“财富500强航空航天公司”前首席执行官，也是无人机行业的大力支持者之一。主讲嘉宾的言论引发了热烈的讨论，大家畅谈产业需求、如何将联邦航空局带入正规，以及更重要的是——在没有联邦航空局的帮助下，商用无人机行业要如何发展。【今年Robofest活动主题是“自力更生”（“Doing it Ourselves”）。】

没有任何人或者观点主导整场讨论。学者、前联邦航空局官员、航空业高层、希望创立无人机技术或服务公司的企业家、当地立法机构和美国情报人员都畅所欲言，其中还包括一位擅长无人机法律初期实践的律师，以及一位由谷歌（Google）和亚马逊（Amazon）资助新成立的无人机游说团体代表，甚至还有对联邦航空局禁止的无人机空中摄影感兴趣的房地产经纪人，和希望将无人机应用于海洋运动的航海教练。

At Robofest, first things first. First there’s the wine, provided courtesy of one of the Washington, D.C. area’s most influential aerospace consultancies. Once you’ve filled your plastic cup—this affair is more backyard barbecue than society event—there’s the meet and greet, an opportunity to check out the credentials of those around you: an aerospace industry executive, the economic development chief for a western U.S. state, a dean of engineering for a prestigious American university, several D.C. think tankers, lobbyists, lawyers. But the very first person you meet is Darryl Jenkins, chairman of the American Aviation Institute, consultant to airlines and aviation companies and host and creator of today’s event.

Jenkins is a well-known personality in the aerospace and aviation realms. He’s been in the room for more or less every major airline merger and bankruptcy restructuring over the past few decades. He’s spent his career lecturing to and on the aerospace industry, having taught for several semesters at George Washington University while publishing countless papers and research reports as well as one book on the industry. He’s the guy that goes on Bloomberg TV and CNBC to explain these things to the world. Jenkins knows a whole lot of influential people in the aviation and aerospace worlds. A lot of those people are here at Robofest today. They, like Jenkins, share a keen interest in the next generation of aerospace technology—the various unmanned aerial systems commonly and collectively known as drones.

It’s a pitch-perfect afternoon in late October when Robofest takes place. The setting is Jenkins’ secluded home in the Shenandoah foothills. This year’s event is the second in two years, already known as an off-the-record social date that is evolving into an industry movement that Jenkins hopes will pave the way forward for the burgeoning commercial drone industry. (Fortune obtained special permission to write about the event.) On the agenda: An open discussion on how to best move the industry forward, and—of course—a bit of drone flying. But first, there’s wine and then lunch. No one wants to reshape an entire industry on an empty stomach.

Last year’s Robofest was mostly a recreational and social affair, Jenkins says. This year—with some of the more influential minds within the industry, state and federal government, and academia all gathered on his back patio—Jenkins wants to do more than just talk about what can be done. The drone industry largely sees itself as hamstrung by an overreaching and underfunded Federal Aviation Administration. The industry believes it is increasingly outgunned by foreign competitors operating in more permissive regulatory environments. Jenkins and his assembled cast of industry veterans, lawyers, entrepreneurs, lobbyists, and government insiders want to change that.

“When I think about all the airline mergers and bankruptcies I’ve been through with this industry, I feel like an old man,” Jenkins says, calling his 80 or so guests to order. “When I think about UAS technology, I’m 16 again.” As his guests finish tucking into plates of fried chicken and pasta salad, Jenkins reminds his guests that the point of this gathering is not to sit around throwing rocks at the FAA, an activity that has become an organized sport for advocates of a commercialized drone industry. Today is about hammering out some concrete steps that the industry can take in the near term. It’s about keeping the industry marching forward despite bureaucratic inertia.

Jenkins turns the floor over to his keynote speaker, the former CEO of a major Fortune 500 aerospace and defense company and vocal supporter of the drone industry. His comments set off a spirited discussion about what the industry needs, how it can nudge the FAA in the right direction, and—most importantly—what the industry can do on its own without help from the FAA. (The theme of this year’s Robofest: “Doing it Ourselves.”)

No single voice or interest dominates the discussion. Among those that speak up are academics, former FAA officials, aerospace industry executives, drone entrepreneurs looking to build new companies around UAS technologies and services, local law enforcement, and U.S. intelligence employees. One is a lawyer who specializes in the nascent new practice of drone law. Another represents the newly formed D.C. drone lobby backed by Google GOOG -2.24% and Amazon AMZN -1.36% . There are even realtors interested in using drones for aerial photography, which is currently prohibited by the FAA, and a sailing coach interested in applying drones to maritime sport.