Sikorsky: pilotless helicopter
Remote Control
IFMU,
Your note re the Cypher reminded me that in the early 70's two SA engineers ( Sean O'Connor and Don Fowler ) put together a remote controlled Precision Hover system that we flew on an Army CH-54. Hover position sensor was an optical recognition device. Ground controller had a hand held radio link that enabled outside control of the Skycrane once the pilots flew it into a hover. Pretty basic, but it worked just fine. Army did not see a need for this sort of capability.
Your note re the Cypher reminded me that in the early 70's two SA engineers ( Sean O'Connor and Don Fowler ) put together a remote controlled Precision Hover system that we flew on an Army CH-54. Hover position sensor was an optical recognition device. Ground controller had a hand held radio link that enabled outside control of the Skycrane once the pilots flew it into a hover. Pretty basic, but it worked just fine. Army did not see a need for this sort of capability.
John,
That jogs my memory. I remember Don telling me about it. I think it worked to preserve the visual aspect ratio of a circle painted on the ground. Than generation had masters of the analog circuit. I also remember Ron Barnum talking about the remote piloting, saying that Cypher was nothing new!
Bryan
That jogs my memory. I remember Don telling me about it. I think it worked to preserve the visual aspect ratio of a circle painted on the ground. Than generation had masters of the analog circuit. I also remember Ron Barnum talking about the remote piloting, saying that Cypher was nothing new!
Bryan
Join Date: Apr 2005
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I just saw a film where a US Drone Predator was being flown remotely in Afghanistan (Why DO they wear Flight Suits at a Computer Desk ?), and had the supposedly secure data connection "intercepted" - which resulted in an incident where a Hellfire missile was launched at their own troops 
... Oh, hang on, it was actually one of the new Episodes of "24" - I'm sure Jack Bower will sort it all out so this sort of thing could never happen in the "real" World
Nail
... Oh, hang on, it was actually one of the new Episodes of "24" - I'm sure Jack Bower will sort it all out so this sort of thing could never happen in the "real" World
Nail
(I have, however, flown a Seahawk on EW patrol at sea by trimming the bird up with altitude hole on in a gentle turn and watching it cut holes in the sky as the ship's ESM suite worked on all the signals we received ... DRONEX!
)
The progress made in automation quite recently has been stunning, if you consider the development work being done on driverless cars. The original research vehicles looked like something out of Whacky Races but recently Mercedes Benz showed a 500 series that looked like a normal car. And it could drive itself, it is a stunning achievement considering the speeds and distances involved in driving around a busy city centre. I would suggest driving in a busy city with clearances of centimeters is pretty demanding.
I cant see it being too long before this technology is flying.
I cant see it being too long before this technology is flying.
(Why DO they wear Flight Suits at a Computer Desk ?)
