The FAA plans for the first time allocate part of the domestic skyway to drones

[n2doc]

By Larry Greenemeier | October 5, 2011 |


Drone strikes have proved an effective, if controversial, weapon in the hunt for al Qaeda operatives in the Middle East and beyond. The use of such unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) domestically for civilian jobs such as U.S. border patrol, weather research, pipeline inspection or even real estate photography has lagged, however, because of a cumbersome Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) case-based approval process. This could change within the next few years as the FAA considers relaxing some restrictions on certain small UAS that would allow them to share the national airspace system with manned aircraft.

The FAA is expected to release a proposed rule governing the use of small UAS domestically as early as December, after which there would be a comment and review process that could last a few years before a final rule is administered. Whereas details about the proposed rule are not publicly available, it will be based at least in part on recommendations made by the Aviation Rulemaking Committee, which the FAA chartered in 2008 to examine UAS operational and safety issues and make recommendations on how to regulate them.

The FAA currently approves applications from government agencies and private citizens for authority to operate UAS in the national airspace system on a case-by-case basis. National airspace is a big system to manage and includes more than 18,000 airports, 750 air traffic control facilities and 4,500 air navigation facilities, according to the FAA (pdf). There are more than 238,000 general aviation aircraft in the system at any time. Approved UAS applicants are awarded a Certificate of Authorization (COA) from the FAA to fly their aircraft. The FAA considers COA applications based on the aircraft's design, where they would be operating and plans for dealing with equipment failure, among other things. The agency issued COAs to more than 95 users on 72 different aircraft types last year.

One of the problems with this procedure is that COA applications are piling up faster than the FAA can get to them, says Ella Atkins, an associate aerospace engineering professor at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. "There's a mindset I think in the public that are military vehicles therefore they're dangerous," she adds. But UAS could also prove useful in the agriculture and energy sectors, where cameras could be installed to enable aerial inspections, she adds. Other UAS could be outfitted with equipment for crop dusting, which is a particularly dangerous form of aviation for a number of reasons, including low-altitude flying and hazards such as power lines.


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http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=drone-on-will-faa-open-uas

[msongs]

1. drones work so well in Pakistan and now OUR government is going to use them on us nt

[villager]

2. well, rigging elections worked in other countries, too, so the MIC finally tried that here, as well

n/t

[frylock]

3. r2z

[n2doc]

6. Some people don't want this information spread around... n/t

[Matariki]

4. wait weren't we warned against this?

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Didn't the Republicans cut the FAA budget???

What could possibly go wrong?

[Edweird]

7. Awesome. Time to do some reading on telemetry and avionics. Electronic warfare goes both ways.

[Warren Stupidity]

8. and soon we will have predator drones and the star chamber right here

The process is already vetted and established. The last ten years has all been prelude to the big dance.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. This has been in the works for several years and there are any number of safety issues

The biggest is see and avoid requirements.

[HopeHoops]

10. If I see one, I'll flip it off. If I have time, I'll moon it.