Pilotless flight trialled in UK shared airspace
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22511395
“Pilotless flight trialled in UK shared airspace The specially adapted 16-seater Jetstream had no passengers. Continue reading the main story
A Jetstream aircraft became the first to fly “unmanned” across UK shared airspace last month.
An on-board pilot handled the take-off, from Warton, near Preston in Lancashire, and landing, in Inverness.
But during the 500-mile journey, the specially adapted plane was controlled by a pilot on the ground, instructed by the National Air Traffic Services.
There were no passengers, but the 16-seater aircraft flew in airspace shared with passenger carriers……
….It is the latest in a series of test flights carried out by Astraea (Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evaluation and Assessment), which has received £62m funding, from commercial companies and the UK government, to research how civilian unmanned aircraft could fit in to shared airspace…..”
In the above BBC report does the reference to an ‘on board pilot’ mean a real human being handled the take off and landing or ….?
More from http://www.astraea.aero/
By: Matt-100 - 17th May 2013 at 19:39
Forgive me, but I fail to see the rationale behind the project. Why spend £62 million retrofitting a Jetstream when you can get a Grey Eagle for about £5 million?
As the gentleman in the video says, the technology could be used for search and rescue (for example). But you can bet your bottom dollar it won’t be a stripped out Jetstreams doing the flying, it will be a purpose built UAV.
By: MSR777 - 16th May 2013 at 18:25
Or maybe just leave pilots to do the good job they do now and not turn it in to a ground based one? 😀
Sounds good to me.
By: symon - 16th May 2013 at 10:40
It took off with a regular pilot and…once the aircraft was straight and level, the pilot handed control to the ground pilot and sat back for the ride, only taking over again for the landing. ……”
So….pretty much like an autopilot then? Except you need to employ an additional pilot to fly from the ground!
By: EGTC - 14th May 2013 at 13:41
Or maybe just leave pilots to do the good job they do now and not turn it in to a ground based one? 😀
By: chornedsnorkack - 14th May 2013 at 12:36
How about flying an unmanned private plane? As in, the solo pilot flies the plane on takeoff and landing, but once the plane is in cruise out of the sterile cockpit, he can leave the plane unmanned to take toilet breaks, meals, go to sleep, spend time in company of other passengers, etc.?
By: nJayM - 14th May 2013 at 10:46
Where can this concept be quickly implemented? Possibly Australia, some parts of the USA (sparsely populated land masses) and parts of the former Soviet Union.
My thoughts also are why not look at airships using alternative fuel especially for transporting freight or extremely large payloads. It should be relatively easy to remotely control an airship if the issues with a conventional aircraft have been mastered to a great extent.
The New Scientist article http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23521-passenger-plane-flies-800-kilometres-without-a-pilot.html
“…..The flight happened back in April but the details have only just been revealed. It took off with a regular pilot and test engineers on board. But once the aircraft was straight and level, the pilot handed control to the ground pilot and sat back for the ride, only taking over again for the landing. ……”
By: MSR777 - 14th May 2013 at 08:18
Don’t let Mr O’Leary see this one for goodness sake!
By: nJayM - 13th May 2013 at 21:08
This video at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22511408
has also just appeared on BBC News website.
By: EGTC - 13th May 2013 at 20:10
Saw this plane at Cranfield a lot last year but every time it was out of the hangar I was at work and never got a photo.
I assume there probably was a pilot on board, just in case.
Out of interest, when they speak of research in to how civilian unmanned aircraft could fit in to shared airspace, for what reasons are they doing this research? Are they going to try and make the airline pilot job a ground based one?
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May 13, 2013 at 4:07 pm