I'm not real comfortable with this idea...
Star Tribune Article on Predator Drone in North America

Are we expected to believe there are NO REAL LIVE pilots in North Dakota with REAL EYEBALLS that can help with the surveying? Or are we secretly sending a message to those Canadians poised to invade and take over the US health system?

Senator Byron Dorgan, and a number of other cheer leaders have been trying to expand and justify "free flight" for these things for a long time now. They are trying really hard to establish LARGE restricted airspace where they can train with them, out of Grand Forks AFB. The base was to have been closed, but Dorgan talked them into making it a UAV training base. Thanks, Dude.

In any case, the Predators are operating with radar separation, in TFR's.

But, you can bet the pro UAS (the official terminology--the s being for systems) will tout this as evidence that they can be operated safely at any time in the US airspace system, and look what a wonderful job they did. Even though, as you noted, any pilot could have done pretty well, or they could have used the CBP's fleet of Citation, C-206 and helicopter FLEET based at Grand Forks airport. But, that wouldn't highlight the "importance" of integrating these big ass model airplanes into OUR airspace.

Rant over.

MTV

A friend of mine pointed out that they have a longer loiter time than a manned aircraft. I don't know if they do or not but so what? Is it THAT crucial to keep eyes in the air for that long. The ONLY thing UAV's have in their favor as far as I'm concerned is the ability for the pilot to hand off control to the co-pilot while he walks down the hall, grabs a cup of coffee, checks the scores on ESPN, takes a leak, and then flirts with the girl from legal before returning to the "cockpit."

I went to a couple of UAV meetings at our state aviation conference last month, hoping to learn a little more about them and their plans in the area. Because of a snowstorm, the Air Force speaker didn't make the meeting. The Dean from UND aerospace, one of the largest aviation colleges in the USA, chaired the meeting. It seemed odd to me that he was cheerleading for more and more of them, considering the TFR is just 5 miles from their base when it is hot. The Air Force must be lining the pockets of UND, trying to keep them happy Maybe MTV knows more about that topic?

One of the main advantages of the UAV is the huge advantage of not having to design the aircraft around a delicate human body, allowing the aircraft to be lighter and have more performance than a craft built around the human body. Being able to stay aloft for long periods would be a large advantage in moving them from base to base, also.

Big Brother is watching

lancef53 wrote:The Dean from UND aerospace, one of the largest aviation colleges in the USA, chaired the meeting. It seemed odd to me that he was cheerleading for more and more of them, considering the TFR is just 5 miles from their base when it is hot.

Maybe he likes them because as dean of a leading aerospace institution he knows that there already are and will increasingly be tremendous job opportunities for well-trained folks in the UAV/UAS industry. Probably easier to market your high-dollar program to a kid with the prospect of getting a well-paying job in the UAS field than to a kid that knows that a career in commercial aviation isn't what it used to be.

My particular job is on the brink of extinction thanks to the development of UASs but even I'll admit that there are some applications to which they are particularly well suited. Their use in domestic surveillance/reconnaissance roles will surely generate lots more debate but there are pretty strict rules that the govt & armed forces have to adhere to in doing so.