Former Naval aviator John Koon spent his last tour on active duty assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana, where he flew the American ambassador throughout West and Central Africa in a Beech C12 (King Air 200) where he had plenty of opportunities to assess the quality of ATC and competence of controllers.

It’s obvious that most of the traditional aviation community — the FAA included — was caught off guard by the speed and exponential growth of the UAV onslaught. And it’s only just begun.

Everyone has their Customs clearance story, which often involves allegedly being hassled or otherwise inconvenienced by Customs and Border Protection agents on a rainy night after a 10-hour international flight.