Biography
Jonathan Washburn is an alum of Liberty University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He has flown multiple Group 2 and 3 UAS both in peace time and in conflict. He has deployed to multiple theaters as a civilian contractor operating UAS for the DoD in critical ISR roles. Many of these deployments included counter-IED, surveillance, and target prosecution sorties. In his professional life, Professor Washburn enjoys trail running and endurance races, as well as auto racing and mountain biking. He enjoys teaching students in the classroom, and conveying the multitude of lessons that he has learned in his career to the next generation of professional UAS operators.
Certifications
- Federal Aviation Administration Private Pilot License with Instrument Rating.
- Textron Systems MQ-19 Aerosonde – Operator, Instructor, and Maintenance Tech 1 certification.
- Platform Aerospace Vanilla UAS – Operator, Instructor
- NAVMAR RQ-23A Tigershark – Operator and FSR
Professional or Notable Memberships
AUVSI Member, AOPA Member, AMA Member
Courses Taught
Intro to UAS (AVIA 230), Small UAS Ground (AVIA 235), Small UAS Flight (AVIA236), UAS Avionics and Powerplants (AVIA 323), Medium UAS 1, 2, and 3 (AVIA 335, 446, 447)
Research Interests
Researching the efficacy and effectiveness of UAS for the human crewed Mars missions.
Researching human factors issues in the blending of human and machine control of aircraft.