EC145 unmanned flight

[havoc]

Short video of EC-145 unmanned flight

Eurocopter reveals successful unmanned EC145 demonstration flights | Eurocopter Events

[Thomas coupling]

Another nail in the coffin. 50yrs from now, there will be no pilot operated aircraft.....................no need

[marcbisbal]

I think that's quite imposible, there'll always be a pilot, that's not a plane going from A to B every day at same time ..

[SilsoeSid]

Move along, nothing to see here.
This was done back in the 60's with an Alouette 2 at Portmerion

ALOUETTE & LAMA

[500 Fan]

And Boeing did this nearly ten years ago with the AH-6U Manned/Unmanned Demonstrator. They are even flying them autonomously on to ships.

Boeing AH-6X autonomous ship-landing.

You Tube

Is any modern helicopter with a bang-up-to-date autopilot capable of these kind of automated flights with the right amount of additional gizmos? Doesn't the AW139 have an autopilot that can be programmed for a hands-free airport-to-airport flight?

500 Fan.


Edited to add video.

[Harry the Hun]

What does that mean, female pilots on 145?

[Bravo73]

Originally Posted by Thomas coupling

50yrs from now, there will be no pilot operated aircraft.......

There will always be a pilot. Although he/she might be sat in a comfy chair in Arizona/Marignane rather than in the aircraft itself.

But truly autonomous aircraft? Skynet anyone?

[misterbonkers]

and clearly you need a nomex flying suit to sit in front of a computer... What next, gloves and helmets and screen protectors?!?

[Ian Corrigible]

Having read the PR bumf, I think the key point here is that plug-in avionics were used to achieve an optionally manned capability, as opposed to a dedicated vehicle as described by 500 Fan. My guess would be that this is linked to the AAS program.

Sikorsky has been talking about a similar OPV capability for the Black Hawk for years, though the OPBH program has gone rather quiet, lagging behind DARPA's own RASCAL-based efforts. I'm still waiting to be able to order this piece of optional equipment:



Bonus question for 10 points: when was the first unmanned combat search & rescue mission successfully flown, and what platform was used?

I/C

[500 Fan]

Was it the Gyrodyne QH-50 by any chance, back in the sixties? I know they looked at developing this aspect of its potential use but I don't know if it actually happened.

500 Fan.

[Ian Corrigible]

Give that man a cigar!

The QH-50 is also unofficially credited as the first UAV to rescue a soldier in combat. “There’s a man who will say categorically that his life was saved by a QH-50,” said [Peter J.] Papadakos [the founder of Gyrodyne] at the donation ceremony. On a special operations mission during the Vietnam War, this Marine (the military is currently withholding his name) became separated from the rest of his unit. A nearby destroyer dispatched a QH-50 to pick him up. “He climbed on one of the skids and they hauled him back,” says Papadakos.

I/C

[industry insider]

The S-97 Raider will have autonomous get home capability.

[helihub]

Optional pilot.... The possibilities are endless. You could fly to a party, drink what you like, get back in your helicopter (as a passenger, of course...) push the "fly me home" button, sit back and relax.

Bravo73 - Think ahead! Why would you need someone in Arizona/Marignane? All you need is a console to tell your helicopter where to go, and it works everything out itself.

Thomas Coupling - 50 years? You just covering yourself? I'd put it much lower, 25-30 perhaps?

Less crew => more passengers => passenger cost per mile comes down

[rotorrookie]

sad news indeed I think TC is right..

[chopper2004]

The automatic way home the safe way

Ha ha helihub beats the old 'don't drink and fly' and 12 hour bottle to the throttle rule

There's also another alternate benefit of the manned / unmanned but involves a passenger lol

Then again in all seriousness, the getting back safely mode could work if a pilot got disorientated in bad weather and hit the switch and sit back and relax knowing they could get back. Or if fuel was low then to the nearest airfield or helipad or even land safely in a field. I know I wasn't overly overly keen about unmanned systems completely replacing the Mk One eyeball and reflexes and grey matter in rotary wing ops, however optionally manned could be slaved to safety.

Trying to work out the equations painted on the fuselage

It be astronomical in cost and production (as well as the obligatory Part 21G and J / FAR-27) if in the next generation of airframes coming off the line to be equipped with such an manned / unmanned option to enhance safety

Food thought here ..... (also I hope none of the protestors outside a certain base up north had read this story decide to fly across the Channel and camp outside a certain flight test establishment!!)


Cheers et au revoir

[heli1]

I am surprised no one has mentioned the Unmanned K Max operations already going on in Afghanistan ,moving slung loads for the US Marines in exactly the same way as this EC145 trial but actuallyin action for real.So successful that the Marines have extended its use indefinitely. And Kaman was the first to fly an unmanned helicopter I believe ,using the stable "no tail rotor" intermeshing system in the 1950s and before the QH-50.
Then there is also the Northrop Grumman MQ-8B developed from the Schweizer 333 which is used by the US Navy for surveillance in The Indian Ocean ,Afghanistan etc.28 of those delivered and now the Navy is ordering the larger MQ-8C,based on the Bell 407
As was said above....Nothing new here ...move along !

[Ian Corrigible]

An amusing take on the EC145 OPV test effort (c/o Eurocopter):



I/C

[Sir Korsky]

Sikorsky have converted an old S76B to the OPV role. It has been seen in flight tests around the NE States with tail N76OPV.