Time to Start Rethinking Our Aerospace Education

[FARRIER]

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/jsp_includes/articlePrint.jsp?headLine=How%20UAVs%20Will%20Change%20Aviation%20&storyID=news/bca0610p1.xml

"In researching this report, we heard of studies by major cargo airlines involving optionally piloted freighters, supposedly crewed on transoceanic flights by a single pilot, or none at all."

[FARRIER]

http://himpunanmahasiswamesinunsyiah.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/airborne-autonomous-collaborative/

Brandon Basso and Joshua Love are Ph.D. candidates in mechanical engineering at the University
of California at Berkeley. J. Karl Hedrick is the James Marshall Wells Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Berkeley, specializing in nonlinear control, automotive control systems, and aircraft control.

Sumber :  http://memagazine.asme.org/Articles/2011/April/Airborne_Autonomous.cfm

[sardak]

This is from a letter to the editor in Tuesday's (March 27, 2012) Los Angeles Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/27/opinion/la-oe-villasenor-license-domestic-drones-20120327
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President Obama signed a sweeping aviation bill in February that will open American airspace to "unmanned aircraft systems," more commonly known as drones...Drone proliferation also raises another issue that has received far less attention: the threat that they could be used  to carry out terrorist attacks.

So what can we do to reduce the risk? One good place to start is the "model aircraft" provision in the new aviation law, which allows hobbyists to operate drones weighing up to 55 pounds with essentially no governmental oversight. The law allows recreational drones to be operated in accordance with "community-based" safety guidelines established by a "nationwide community-based organization." The inclusion of this language was a lobbying victory for model airplane enthusiasts. But is it  really in the broader national interest?

It is not. One of the hallmarks of an effective national antiterrorism policy is consistency. The hobbyist exception is glaringly inconsistent with our overall approach to antiterrorism. By what logic, for example, do we prevent airline passengers from taking 8-ounce plastic water bottles through security checkpoints, while permitting anyone who so desires to operate a 50-pound, video-guided drone, no questions asked?

The overwhelming majority of the people in the model airplane and drone hobbyist community would never consider carrying out a terrorist attack. Yet the same could be said for the overwhelming majority of airline passengers, all of whom are subject to the same rules about what can be taken through airport security checkpoints.

Given the realities of the world we live in, it doesn't seem unreasonable to require all civilian U.S. operators of drones [to include model aircraft] capable of carrying a significant payload to obtain a license.

The writer, John Villasenor is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a professor of electrical engineering at UCLA.
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For those who don't know and won't look, the Brookings Institution, located in Washington, DC, is, from it's website: "proud to be consistently ranked as the most influential, most quoted and most trusted think tank" and UCLA is the University of California, Los Angeles.

Forgot to add the link to the reply from the President of the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA): http://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amagov/2012/03/29/ama-president-bob-brown-responds-to-la-times-op-ed-piece/

Mike

[sardak]

Here's the status of where the FAA is with regards to step 1 in allowing sUAS (small UAS, under 55 lbs) into the National Airspace System.  http://regs.dot.gov/rulemakings/201203/report.htm#7

Operation and Certification of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS)  Status: Red
Popular Title: Small Unmanned Aircraft
RIN 2120-AJ60
Stage: NPRM
Previous Stage:None
Abstract: This rulemaking would enable small unmanned aircraft to safely operate in limited portions of the national airspace system (NAS). This action is necessary because it addresses the novel legal or policy issues about the minimum safety parameters for operating recreational remote control model and toy aircraft in the NAS. The intended effect of this action is to develop requirements and standards to ensure that risks are adequately mitigated, such that safety is maintained for the entire aviation community.
Rulemaking Project Initiated: 07/28/2009

To Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Originally scheduled: 2/3/2011  New Projected Date: 4/9/2012
Publication Date in the Federal Register for Public Comment: 3/10/2011  New Projected Date: 7/23/2012
End of Public Comment Period: 7/14/2011  New Projected Date: 10/23/2012

Mike

[FARRIER]

I'm going to have to check my other sources, but the US is actually the most hindering when it comes to UAS/UAV research. Other countries have been more liberal (in the classic sense) when it comes to research and use, even at and below the 55 pound level.