Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) may be landing at civilian airports in the not-too-distant future. USAF Photo
One important and rapidly growing facet of the aviation industry today is Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). In the past 10 years, UAVs and their associated systems have proliferated throughout the military and intelligence services around the world. Additionally, a number of local law enforcement agencies around the nation have begun using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for a variety of enforcement jobs.
UAVs have proven their value and flexibility throughout the military environment, and also in many parts of the domestic environment. While some UAVs are currently being used by local (as well as federal) law enforcement, some are also operational with weather, search and rescue, and even agricultural agencies. The point is, these unique aircraft will perhaps soon be regularly operating in civilian airspace, along with manned traffic.
There are already several schools around the country, including the University of North Dakota, that have well developed training programs for pilots and systems personnel to learn to operate and fly UAVs. The schools are training pilots and systems operators on a variety of UAVs for an equal variety of UAV missions. Thus, the future has arrived and aviators need to be alert to the potential changes in air traffic, especially around airports.
In a document titled, The U.S. Air Force Remotely Piloted Aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Strategic Vision 2005, (page 22-23), one can already find the military view of the future of UAVs and the need to integrate them into shared airspace. The report states: “Unmanned systems must be robustly integrated with manned and space systems. They must also be integrated with other unmanned systems, including ground and sea-based systems. To provide maximum effectiveness, RPAs (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) and UAVs must conduct operations seamlessly and concurrently with manned aircraft, in shared airspace…”
Bear in mind that UAVs can vary in size and weight from (literally) small bird-sized devices, up to Citation jet-sized aircraft like the “Predator,” that carry live armament. The tiny UAVs will operate between 500 and 1,000 feet AGL, while UAVs like the Predator will operate likely between 10,000 and 18,000 feet AGL. Some of these aircraft are small enough to be hand or vehicle-launched, while other larger UAVs will actually taxi and takeoff from airfields under the control of pilots that may be located in another state.
While the UAV pilot’s actual location may not be an issue, what is a concern is what they can see when flying, especially when near or in an airport traffic pattern. This is not an implication that there are or will be UAVs in your traffic pattern, but as use of these systems grows, the likelihood of seeing one also grows. And if a UAV needs to be landed at a local airfield, it raises concern about the UAV pilot’s ability to see and avoid other traffic, especially while handling an emergency.
Clearly, one of the most important differences between manned aviation and UAVs is the ability to see-and-avoid other air traffic. While the technology of on-board systems is improving as time goes by, there is still reason to be aware that UAVs as autonomous systems or man-controlled systems may not have the field of vision and alertness capability that an in-craft pilot will have.
Thus, it remains critically important for human aviators in the flying cockpits to keep their heads on a swivel at all times during flight. This helps to maintain the best possible level of awareness of encroaching or merging air traffic, whether manned or unmanned, especially near an airport. Until the technology of “see and avoid” can be greatly improved for UAVs, the head on a swivel will still be one of the prime elements in flying safety.
**Update: As this article was headed to press, several late breaking articles were released by various news/information sources. Limiting discussion to only two new releases, we find that a college in Dayton, Ohio, has sought an exemption from the FAA to fly UAVs in local airspace as a way to facilitate training of UAS controllers. In the second article, it is stated that the FAA is very likely “to allow the integration of small UAVs into the National Airspace System by 2013,” according to the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA).
These UAVs would be in the 30-55 pound class of aerial vehicles. The article went on to say: “In April (2011), the Army demonstrated for the FAA a sense-and-avoid system using the MQ-1C Gray Eagle at El Mirage, Calif., for over 11 hours, according to the NDIA.” It’s just a matter of time!
Sources & Resources
• Policy Options For Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Congressional Budget Office, June 2011.
• Integrating Department of Defense Unmanned Aerial Systems Into The National Airspace Structure (master’s thesis) by Scott W. Walker, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, June 2010.
• Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Comprehensive Planning and A Results-Oriented Training Strategy Are Needed To Support Growing Inventories. Government Accountability Office, March 2010.
• United States Air Force Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan 2009-2047, U.S. Air Force, May 18, 2009.
• The U.S. Air Force Remotely Piloted Aircraft & Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Strategic Vision 2005.
