Modesto, California, resident Tom Davis’s background includes 25 years as a scientific programmer during which he developed software apps and performed software engineering for high-speed computer systems. Having been raised on a farm in California’s Central Valley, he also was familiar with mechanized agriculture. And since his father had been an air traffic controller and flight instructor, this spawned an interest in aviation.

While BCA was refused an interview with an FAA small UAS manager, the administration did respond to a slate of questions.

Phoenix Air has a history of adapting business aircraft to unusual applications to service government contracts.