On Tue, 02 Mar 2004 19:49:29 GMT, "Dave Jackson"
wrote:

Hundreds of small low-cost UAV helicopters are located at dozens of secure
sites, within an area of conflict. When required, a remote pilot, who may
be located thousands of miles away, will cause a number of these helicopters
to takeoff and fly to separate GPS coordinates.

The remote pilot may then selectively use these UAV's for surveillance, or
land them to await further instructions.

An attack will consist of flying the UAV into the target, since the cost
will be less than that of separating the delivery vehicle and the weapon.

The pilot will be referred to as a VKP ~ for Virtual Kamikaze Pilot
__________________________

Eventually, surplus components will appear on the market. At which time
homebuilt affectionados will start using these parts to produce homebuilt
helicopters, possibly for the European JAR-VLR and the US Sport Plane/Pilot
categories.


A dream, a reality, or a nightmare ????


I agree with you. The UAV's are getting more sophisitcated all the
time. I sort of disagree with you about the parts and the components
being sound for private use however. I flew government "Public"
category aircraft most of my life. None of them ever had an
airworthiness certificate. They had holes drilled all over them and
were continually modified to meet various mission needs.

A UAV is even more expendable than the governmnet "junk" I flew. I
think something as cheap as the old Mini-500 is a more likely
candidate for a UAV than a sophisitcated high quality ship that might
last a while. In my opinion, a ship like the Mini-500 is living proof
you can build a helicopter out of K-mart parts that wear out quickly.
If UAV's don't need Normal or Utility airworthiness certificates they
can be built much more inexpensively and still work for the various
missions just fine, yet you might not ever want to risk a human life
in them.

Bill