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by protomyth 3833 days ago
Nevada has two big minuses - Las Vegas and the amount of planes going in and out plus the Air Force has a rather large base in the state that is a bit more... secure than anything in ND.

The extreme weather (hot, cold, windy, etc.) is a bonus for drone testing since they have to operate in those conditions in the real world.
1 comments
fancy_pantser 3833 days ago
ND has Minot AFB and is also peppered with missile silos that have very precise airspace restrictions. With B-52s and Minutemen missiles, it all sounds like cold war relics, but they are adding new MOAs to this day plus NOTAMs that pop up daily.

The weather is so extreme that it often manages to simulate the north pole and other tundra. If that's your aim, then it's a goldmine.

Example of a newer wide area air restriction in the state: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-06-20/pdf/2012-15008.p...

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protomyth 3833 days ago
A lot of the missile silos are now empty in ND and Minot is a distance from Grand Forks.

> The weather is so extreme that it often manages to simulate the north pole and other tundra. If that's your aim, then it's a goldmine.

Oh come on, we've actually had better weather than SD and MN for the last couple of years. Its not that horrible, it just has horrible moments. Poor people can get their car too and fro, so its not that bad.

> Example ....

That's from 2012 and for Devils Lake, ND. The range is pretty small and they were talking about the firing range. Heck the same document tells of scheduling with local crop dusters. I work 10 miles from there and the local airport is within 8 miles of the place. Mostly they are doing construction training and now a bit of drones themselves.

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