FAA Order of Right-Away Challenged by Unmanned Aircraft Or UAVs?
Apparently, the big buzz now is the Federal Aviation Administration or FAA is trying to figure out how to allow unmanned aerial systems UAS, sometimes called unmanned aerial vehicles UAVs, to operate in the same civilian airspace with general aviation, commercial aviation, and even private space flight. The last thing we need is a robotic aircraft causing a mid air collision with the family flying along in their Cessna Skyhawk.
Now then, we have to decide which aircraft categories gets the right away, which Aircraft must yield to the other aircraft. In the Federal Air Regulations or FARs, there are various categories of aircraft. There are helicopters, blimps, hot air balloons, ultra-lights, gliders, and powered aircraft. As you can imagine hot air balloons and blimps have the right away, because they do not have the ability to turn as easily and get out of the way. A hot air balloon has the right away over a blimp, and a glider has the right away over a powered aircraft.
And common sense would dictate that if you're flying a small single-engine aircraft such as a Cessna 172 Skyhawk you'd better get out of the way of an airliner, even if you might assume you have the right away. Now then, does a robotic aircraft or unmanned aerial system have the right away over a powered aircraft? Remember unmanned aerial system is exactly what it says, it is unmanned.
There are Unmanned tethered balloons along the border used for surveillance, the US military is building unmanned blimps, in the future police departments will also have these available over their cities, and a blimp has the right away over a powered aircraft. But what happens when two powered aircraft are on a converging trajectory or collision course - one being a robotic aircraft and the other flown by a student pilot on his long cross country trying to get his pilot's license?
The reality is that any aircraft, which may be a threat to a collision is something to avoid, so the student pilot will yield to any aircraft that is near it. If the aircraft are approaching each other head-on, something that is merely a fly in your window, or that size, could be a full size aircraft traveling towards you at the same speed or greater in reality.
Even if you're only doing 145 knots in the Cessna 172 just cruising along, a UAV might be traveling at 225 knots directly at you, the closing speed would be the sum of those two speeds, and you won't be able to tell if it is an unmanned vehicle or not, because within 10 to 15 seconds that aircraft will be right in front of you. Therefore, you need to get out of the way, even if the tele-robotically operated (or fully autonomous, AI operated in the future) UAV doesn't see you in time.
The question is should a UAV have an avoidance system which takes over from the tele-robotic pilot who's sitting in a room somewhere flying that aircraft as if it was a video game, and then once the threat is gone, the override will stop, and the unmanned aircraft hands back over controls to the tele-robotic pilot.
The problem with this for some human pilots is they are putting their trust not in another human controlling that other aircraft, but a system that is built into that UAV, running on software. Perhaps you can see why the debate is all over the news, and the FAA has to deal with how to allow both unmanned and human piloted aircraft in the same airspace. Does this mean humans are already getting pushed aside by robots? Are we already giving our right-a-way to robots? Please consider all this.
Showing posts with label Unmanned. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unmanned. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles a Threat to Small Aircraft Pilots?
Are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles a Threat to Small Aircraft Pilots?
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been a controversial aviation topic for decades. The U.S. military began experimenting with UAVs as early as World War I. In 1916, A.M. Low's "Aerial Target" was the first attempt at an unmanned aerial vehicle, and by the late 1950s, UAVs could be sent on a mission and recovered.
By definition, a UAV is an aerial machine that does not carry a human operator, and is controlled remotely by a pilot/navigator or can fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans. UAVs use aerodynamic forces to provide power and lift, are expendable or can be recovered, and can carry a lethal or non-lethal payload. Drones are not considered UAVs because they are strictly remote-piloted aircraft. Cruise missiles are also not UAVs because they are designed to be expendable and not recovered.
Military R&D Advances UAVs
Historically, UAVs have been developed and used by the military as a way to survey or spy on large areas without putting human flight crews at risk. As technology advanced, military confidence in using armed drones grew, but unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) have been known to not reach their targets and incur collateral damage. Military research and development of UAVs continues to thrive, heightened by the war on terrorism. In fact, since 2006 more than 1,900 combat terrorists have been killed by UAVs.
This year at Edwards Airforce Base, a new generation of unmanned spy planes are being tested over the Mohave Desert. These UAVs can fly higher, faster and carry more weapons than UAVs before them. One new UAV known as the Global Observer has a wingspan of a Boeing 747, can fly for days at 65,000 feet, out of range of most anti-aircraft missiles, and can survey 280,000 square miles - an area the size of Afghanistan - on a single mission.
Civilian Use of UAVs and FAA Approval
UAVs have been used for civilian domestic purposes for many years, including aerial surveillance of pipelines, search and rescue missions, agricultural crop dusting, animal tracking, monitoring of forest fires and hunting hurricanes. As UAVs become more advanced and affordable, they will no doubt be used for more civilian jobs, especially if the Federal Aviation Administration makes it easier to get approval.
Currently, the FAA approves domestic civilian and government use of UAVs on a case-by-case basis. This is a slow process made slower by the increasing numbers of UAV applicants. But the approval process may change soon. As soon as December, the FAA may release a ruling allowing certain small UAVs to share national airspace with manned aircraft. The proposed ruling could come out as soon as December, and will be followed by a review period before a final rule is administered.
UAVs a Hot-Button Issue
The topic of civilian use of UAVs is a hot-button aviation issue for several reasons. First, there is concern about the intrinsic safety of UAVs. Are communication and control links truly reliable? Can a UAV "think" its way out of an unexpected collision and avoid crashing into a populated area? The Government Accountability Office doesn't think so. In a 2008 report, the GAO stated that, "no technology has been identified as a suitable substitute for a person on board the aircraft in seeing and avoiding other aircraft."
Secondly, there is growing concern that UAVs may start to take jobs away from small aircraft pilots. A conference in Montreal sponsored by Unmanned Systems Canada addressed this question. While industry representatives think that unmanned freight and passenger operations will happen in the next 30 or 40 years, UAVs still have a long way to go before they start to affect human pilots.
Thirdly, what if UAVs fall into the wrong hands? The recent arrest of Rezwan Ferdaus reminds us what could happen if terrorists turn technology against us. Ferdaus, a 26-year from Ashland, Mass., was planning to use three small unmanned drones packed with plastic explosives to crash into the U.S. Capital and Pentagon buildings. While Ferdaus was caught, how many terrorists are out there planning similar attacks? The recent arrest of Ferdaus may cause the FAA to rethink relaxing approvals for UAVs. And domestic terrorism fears aside, the FAA is unlikely to let UAVs share significant national airspace with piloted planes carrying passengers until they are proven to be failsafe.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been a controversial aviation topic for decades. The U.S. military began experimenting with UAVs as early as World War I. In 1916, A.M. Low's "Aerial Target" was the first attempt at an unmanned aerial vehicle, and by the late 1950s, UAVs could be sent on a mission and recovered.
By definition, a UAV is an aerial machine that does not carry a human operator, and is controlled remotely by a pilot/navigator or can fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans. UAVs use aerodynamic forces to provide power and lift, are expendable or can be recovered, and can carry a lethal or non-lethal payload. Drones are not considered UAVs because they are strictly remote-piloted aircraft. Cruise missiles are also not UAVs because they are designed to be expendable and not recovered.
Military R&D Advances UAVs
Historically, UAVs have been developed and used by the military as a way to survey or spy on large areas without putting human flight crews at risk. As technology advanced, military confidence in using armed drones grew, but unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) have been known to not reach their targets and incur collateral damage. Military research and development of UAVs continues to thrive, heightened by the war on terrorism. In fact, since 2006 more than 1,900 combat terrorists have been killed by UAVs.
This year at Edwards Airforce Base, a new generation of unmanned spy planes are being tested over the Mohave Desert. These UAVs can fly higher, faster and carry more weapons than UAVs before them. One new UAV known as the Global Observer has a wingspan of a Boeing 747, can fly for days at 65,000 feet, out of range of most anti-aircraft missiles, and can survey 280,000 square miles - an area the size of Afghanistan - on a single mission.
Civilian Use of UAVs and FAA Approval
UAVs have been used for civilian domestic purposes for many years, including aerial surveillance of pipelines, search and rescue missions, agricultural crop dusting, animal tracking, monitoring of forest fires and hunting hurricanes. As UAVs become more advanced and affordable, they will no doubt be used for more civilian jobs, especially if the Federal Aviation Administration makes it easier to get approval.
Currently, the FAA approves domestic civilian and government use of UAVs on a case-by-case basis. This is a slow process made slower by the increasing numbers of UAV applicants. But the approval process may change soon. As soon as December, the FAA may release a ruling allowing certain small UAVs to share national airspace with manned aircraft. The proposed ruling could come out as soon as December, and will be followed by a review period before a final rule is administered.
UAVs a Hot-Button Issue
The topic of civilian use of UAVs is a hot-button aviation issue for several reasons. First, there is concern about the intrinsic safety of UAVs. Are communication and control links truly reliable? Can a UAV "think" its way out of an unexpected collision and avoid crashing into a populated area? The Government Accountability Office doesn't think so. In a 2008 report, the GAO stated that, "no technology has been identified as a suitable substitute for a person on board the aircraft in seeing and avoiding other aircraft."
Secondly, there is growing concern that UAVs may start to take jobs away from small aircraft pilots. A conference in Montreal sponsored by Unmanned Systems Canada addressed this question. While industry representatives think that unmanned freight and passenger operations will happen in the next 30 or 40 years, UAVs still have a long way to go before they start to affect human pilots.
Thirdly, what if UAVs fall into the wrong hands? The recent arrest of Rezwan Ferdaus reminds us what could happen if terrorists turn technology against us. Ferdaus, a 26-year from Ashland, Mass., was planning to use three small unmanned drones packed with plastic explosives to crash into the U.S. Capital and Pentagon buildings. While Ferdaus was caught, how many terrorists are out there planning similar attacks? The recent arrest of Ferdaus may cause the FAA to rethink relaxing approvals for UAVs. And domestic terrorism fears aside, the FAA is unlikely to let UAVs share significant national airspace with piloted planes carrying passengers until they are proven to be failsafe.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)