Testflight with 'unmanned' Jetstream
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I read the article, but I don't believe for a moment 'pilots' will operate the aircraft from the ground....i think you do, and i apologize for not making it clear that the article is pure hype, imho.
A security guard at a midnight shift monitors perhaps a dozen CCTV screens for twelve dollars an hour. When something goes wrong, he calls police.
Why hire the same pilots you evicted from the cockpit to sit at a counter eating Taco Bell to 'fly' the same aircraft?
CATIIIb doesn't need flying, it certainly doesn't need 'monitoring'.
Are you thinking we are returning to hand flying? But from the ground? One step forward, two steps back.
Thanks Meeb.
A security guard at a midnight shift monitors perhaps a dozen CCTV screens for twelve dollars an hour. When something goes wrong, he calls police.
Why hire the same pilots you evicted from the cockpit to sit at a counter eating Taco Bell to 'fly' the same aircraft?
CATIIIb doesn't need flying, it certainly doesn't need 'monitoring'.
Are you thinking we are returning to hand flying? But from the ground? One step forward, two steps back.
Thanks Meeb.
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I think that the important point of this project is not that it's just an autopilot flying a plane from A to B. It's an autopilot that can do that and can also react to its surroundings - such as other aircraft nearby. It's to demonstrate the technology that allows unmanned aircraft to fly around without crashing into each other.
I read the article, but I don't believe for a moment 'pilots' will operate the aircraft from the ground....i think you do, and i apologize for not making it clear that the article is pure hype, imho.
Aircrew - 2 plus 3 test personnel
Ground crew - 2 (UAV commander plus flight test observer)
It's not made clear what the "UAV commander" role consists of.
http://www.baesystems.com/magazine/BAES_051920/look-no-hands
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People, read the facts, it is ground based crew flying it, not a drone or bloggs with his feet up watching the autopilot...
The Americans have, of course, already achieved true autonomous flight:
The US Navy's new bat-winged experimental drone has been delivered to an aircraft carrier to undergo handling tests aboard the ship.
The Navy said that sailors aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman took delivery of the drone on Monday from Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, where it had been undergoing tests.
Truman is the first aircraft carrier to conduct test operations for an unmanned aircraft.
The drone, named the X-47B, is designed to perform one of aviation's most difficult maneuvers: landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier. What's even more remarkable is that it will do that not only without a pilot in the cockpit, but without a pilot at all.
With the drone's ability to be flown autonomously by an on-board computer, the X-47B marks a paradigm shift in warfare.
Currently, combat drones are controlled remotely by a human pilot. The X-47B could carry out a combat mission controlled entirely by a computer. A human pilot designs a flight path and sends it on its way, and a computer program guides it from a ship to target and back.
Read more: US Navy Aircraft Carrier Tests New Drone | X-47B | Photos
Last edited by green granite; 29th Nov 2012 at 07:37.
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How soon before the CAA revivies the wheeze that all flying objects (including skydivers) must be fitted with transponders? - at the owner's cost, not paid for by the UAV users, naturally.
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Why read a foreign media report when you can read the operator's own description?
The BAe information makes it clear that the systems being tested are those that allow the aircraft to fly itself, being responsible for its own situational awareness and making the necessary adjustments when the situation requires.
They are not testing auto take-off or auto-land - the two pilots on board will handle those phases of the flight, and will also be on hand if (or when ) Hal can't figure out whether the bright light dead ahead is a star or an oncoming aircraft.
The BAe information makes it clear that the systems being tested are those that allow the aircraft to fly itself, being responsible for its own situational awareness and making the necessary adjustments when the situation requires.
They are not testing auto take-off or auto-land - the two pilots on board will handle those phases of the flight, and will also be on hand if (or when ) Hal can't figure out whether the bright light dead ahead is a star or an oncoming aircraft.
They are not testing auto take-off or auto-land - the two pilots on board will handle those phases of the flight
"I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, Dave, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen"
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They are not testing auto take-off or auto-land - the two pilots on board will handle those phases of the flight, and will also be on hand if (or when ) Hal can't figure out whether the bright light dead ahead is a star or an oncoming aircraft.
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Take a look at this
In other news.......The US Navy has begun testing an almost fully autonomous drone that can operate from an aircraft carrier. It is capable of carrying out combat missions and mid-air refuelling without any real-time human interaction.
Source:
X-47B Drone Boards Carrier For First Time
Source:
X-47B Drone Boards Carrier For First Time
The X-47B, designed to fly autonomously as an unmanned strike aircraft and land on the deck of an aircraft carrier, was taken aboard the USS Harry S. Truman Monday at Norfolk naval base, Va., for its first shipboard tests. The aircraft will undergo three weeks of testing, both at Norfolk and along the Atlantic coast, to confirm on-deck handling, control and performance. In a news release, Monday, the Navy did not directly state that the aircraft would undergo flight operations, but that it would "demonstrate seamless integration into carrier flight deck operations." Carrier launches and recoveries of the X-47B are not expected until next year and could mark all new and controversial capabilities for Naval operations.
The X-47B is designed to be capable of carrying out combat missions without real-time human interaction. It can be programmed ahead of time to fly missions autonomously, guided by onboard systems designed to deliver it from a ship to its target and back. Aside from automated shipboard launches and traps, the drone is meant to also be capable of automated refueling. It hosts a weapons bay capable of holding 4,500 pounds. Its 62-foot wingspan is wider than the Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornet -- a notable difference for shipboard operations. On the Truman, members of the carrier's crew and engineers will use a hand-held controller to maneuver the aircraft on deck.
The X-47B is designed to be capable of carrying out combat missions without real-time human interaction. It can be programmed ahead of time to fly missions autonomously, guided by onboard systems designed to deliver it from a ship to its target and back. Aside from automated shipboard launches and traps, the drone is meant to also be capable of automated refueling. It hosts a weapons bay capable of holding 4,500 pounds. Its 62-foot wingspan is wider than the Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornet -- a notable difference for shipboard operations. On the Truman, members of the carrier's crew and engineers will use a hand-held controller to maneuver the aircraft on deck.
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Its not that stuff they are doing sevenstroke.
Its dodge the cessna and the fat bloke in a microlight without having to touch the controls using sensors in only a passive look and see mode.
Its dodge the cessna and the fat bloke in a microlight without having to touch the controls using sensors in only a passive look and see mode.
More bang for your buck
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Take a look at this
In other news.......The US Navy has begun testing an almost fully autonomous drone that can operate from an aircraft carrier. It is capable of carrying out combat missions and mid-air refuelling without any real-time human interaction.
Source:
X-47B Drone Boards Carrier For First Time
In other news.......The US Navy has begun testing an almost fully autonomous drone that can operate from an aircraft carrier. It is capable of carrying out combat missions and mid-air refuelling without any real-time human interaction.
Source:
X-47B Drone Boards Carrier For First Time
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The most popular passenger jet is an aircraft designed in the sixties.
Yet here we are up in arms about unmanned passenger jet drones?
Guys, this is still aviation. We don't move at quite the same speed as the rest of the world
Yet here we are up in arms about unmanned passenger jet drones?
Guys, this is still aviation. We don't move at quite the same speed as the rest of the world
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It doesn't look like a difficult thing to achieve these days. The USAF have landed a Global Hawk at Ramstein within the last few years...there a plenty of UAV's in use all over Afghanistan, many of which are locally controlled for take-off and landing but controlled from the States for tactical ops.
I did hear an "aircraft accident" broadcast over there when a UAV went off the side of the runway..."Zero P O B".....the ambulance turned up anyway
I did hear an "aircraft accident" broadcast over there when a UAV went off the side of the runway..."Zero P O B".....the ambulance turned up anyway
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Pilots are the weak link in the system as is evidenced by 30+% of all accidents being attributed to "pilot error."
There wouldn't be any aircraft left after a day or so