UAV

I just wrote about the pressure the FAA is feeling to allow UAV operations in the National Airspace System. Although I'm not a fan of the idea in general, I realize it's going to happen some day. As such, I'd like to present some of what I think should end up as regulations for UAV operations. I don't mean this to be a complete list. Please take a minute to read through them and leave a comment with your feedback.

The FAA has contracted the RTCA Special Committee 203 as the body to help them figure out this issue. I don't presume to think any of them read AviationBull, but I hope these points make it to them. As someone who's shared plenty of airspace with UAVs, here are some things we need before we let them into our national airspace system:

One of my dad's friends was in the Navy and I was raised up to think that: "If it doesn't have a tailhook, it's not a real airplane." Although, I didn't end up choosing that path (and I abandoned that philosophy,) I have a great deal of respect for Naval aviators. They definitely do some tough flying and have a lot of fun at it.

For better or for worse, it appears that we may all be losing the opportunity to land fast jets on floating postage stamps sooner than we thought. A recent article at Navy.mil notes that the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) will be the carrier used to test a new Naval combat aircraft. For the first time in history, this aircraft will be a full-size combat jet...without a pilot. Specifically, it looks like Grumman's X-47B will be the first UCAV tested on an aircraft carrier.

Huntsville, AL, is home to the US Army's Redstone Arsenal. It's a big R&D site for the Army and deals with everything from rockets (it is in Huntsville) to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A recent Huntsville Times article on al.com discusses the need for more UAV airspace. All branches of the military have UAVs and they all need room to train operators. Beyond that, many other government agencies such as police and disaster relief departments want UAVs.

Unfortunately, the only place they can fly right now is in restrictred airspace. No pilot wants more of that airspace, so the only other option is to find a way to give UAV operators enough situational awareness to operate safely in normal civil airspace. That leads many to ask: how can we give UAV operators enough SA to safely operate in this airspace?

Urban Aeronautics is testing a pretty kick ass UAV that departs from your average recce platform. This unmanned machine boasts a 100kt cruise with a 700lb useful load. That's more carrying capacity than almost all of the LSA's we've seen to date, and this thing can take off vertically. Yup, ducted fan and all, this beast or mule in this case is a VTOL UAV.