UAVs

Jarko, the blogger behind the Planegrazy website, has recently noted how the traditional two pilot system is periodically questioned by various commentators in magazines or on TV shows. After all, the military system uses only one pilot – who increasingly is sitting in front of a computer a few thousand miles from the combat zone. However, Jarko noted that: 

….in a civil aviation, the regulations makes airlines to keep two pilots and that really is the only way to go. Most of the airlines needs two pilots for the security reasons, example, the altitude may only be adjusted when both of the pilots agrees the new altitude. One pilot can’t make the decision.

Another thing is economy.. Yes, even when two pilot concept is more expensive, let’s think about the manufacturers. All the planes are designed for the two pilots. The cabin is too wide for one pilot to handle, emergencies are another thing, but for regular routes, that can’t happen in next 50 years.

In fact, Ryan Air’s Michael O’Leary was recently quoted in an interview as saying:

Let’s take out the second pilot. Let the bloody computer fly it.

He further added that a flight attendant could be trained to help land a plane in the event of an emergency.

Hence, we want to ask you our readers, especially any general aviation pilots who are or have been either commercial or military pilots, what you think: Is one pilot and only one pilot enough for a commercial airliner? Moreover and with the development of UAVs, will there be a point where pilots may not even be needed in the cockpit of a commercial airliner? Feel free to tell us what you think.

The Daily Mail has reported that the British Ministry of Defense (MOD) has unveiled Britain’s first unmanned stealth fighter jet – the Taranis. The £142.5 million prototype aircraft, which was developed by BEA and named after the Celtic god of thunder, is about the same size as a Hawk jet or a light aircraft and its also equipped with stealth technology and an ‘autonomous’ artificial intelligence system.

The Taranis prototype will test the possibility of developing the world’s first ever autonomous stealthy Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) which could ultimately replace the Tornado and be used to carry bombs and missiles to strike targets at long ranges and even on other continents. Otherwise, the aircraft will primarily carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions while its crew remains safely on the ground.

Gerald Howarth, the Minister for International Security Strategy, noted that the Taranis is a trailblazing project for the British defense and aviation industries. In fact, he was quoted as saying that the aircraft is:

The first of its kind in the UK, it reflects the best of our nation’s advanced design and technology skills and is a leading programme on the global stage. ‘Taranis shows the UK’s advanced engineering, research, technology and innovation sector at its world-beating best.

If you want to learn more about the Taranis, the Daily Mail Article also includes a great video report detailing the aircraft’s capabilities.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), also known as Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), will increasingly find their way off of the battlefield and into civilian airspace as interest in their use for homeland security, law enforcement, weather studies and for other purposes steadily increases. In fact and for Fiscal Year 2009, there were about 20,000 UAV flights and more than 2,500 hours logged in civilian airspace.

Hence, a recent article by Charles Spence for General Aviation News about sharing airspace with UAVs is well worth reading. Charles noted that safety is a major concern for everyone – especially with the use of drones since unlike other other types of UAVs which are remotely controlled by someone on the ground, drones are programmed to fly a particular mission.  

However, Charles noted that a number of government agencies in the USA are currently trying to resolve just how to integrate UAVs into the national airspace system and the FAA hopes to publish a proposed rule by next year. Moreover, the National Association of State Aeronautic Officials (NASAO) and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) are concerned about how much airspace will be restricted and set aside for UAV flights. In fact, the AOPA is insisting that the rules for UAVs must be the same as the rules for VFR operations.

Meanwhile, Charles also mentioned that the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) wants to make it certain that there is a reliable assurance of separation when both manned and unmanned vehicles start to mix in the airspace. However, the NBAA also sees a future where manned and unmanned vehicles can safely mix provided that there is both a basic system to separate both types of aircraft and a failsafe back-up system.

Nevertheless, Charles concluded his article by noting that everyone wants to get things right the first time around as “the uproar when two piloted aircraft collide is nothing compared to public, local, state, and federal government outrage if an unmanned vehicle brings down an aircraft with a pilot, and perhaps others, on board.” Points well taken.

Scott Spangler has recently written an interesting post on Jetwhine entitled “UND Plants Seed of No-Pilot Airliners.” Apparently, the University of North Dakota (UND) is now offering a bachelor’s of science degree in aeronautics with a major in Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations (in other words, UAVs) and Scott quoted Mike Nelson, the former fighter pilot who teaches the course, as saying: “The last fighter pilot’s already been born. The last fighter is being built.” Scott further stated in his post that he’d “hazard a guess that the same is true for airline pilots. (And can corporate pilots be far behind?)”

On the other hand, Norman, a pilot who currently flies a Boeing 777 for a major UK carrier and who also writes for the Digital Aviator blog, strongly disagreed with Scott’s notion that pilots may be an endangered species. In a recent post written in response to Scott, Norman wrote:

One inhibitor is ever increasing traffic densities robbing the system of flex and airspace, another sovereignty based issues. Another still and by far the major hurdle is the huge investment that would be required in ground support infrastructure. We can’t yet fund and set up something as simple as a satellite based ATC communications system to manage the Atlantic or Africa, what makes us think we will be able to put in place the agreements and kit required to intermix and manage automated airliners internationally? It may happen, but not for a very long time yet – I would stake my job and even my rocking chair on it!

Norman also pointed out that the public is probably not ready for pilotless airliners.

Hence, what do you think? Are pilotless aircraft outside of the military really in the near or even the more distant future? If so, who (besides fighter pilots) might be replaced i.e. airline pilots, corporate pilots, other types of pilots etc.? We would love to hear what you think.