Larry Dighera wrote:
On Thu, 12 Apr 2007 10:55:46 -0700, Steve Schneider
wrote in :

last year I attended a safety
seminar at the San Diego FSDO presented by an Edwards AFB test pilot
who pointed out the hazards in and around the R2508 complex. Adelanto
was mentioned for the high conentration of UAV activity with a strong
suggestion to keep your eyes outside the cockpit when you are in the
area. The footprint for their activty was significant.

Did the Edwards AFB test pilot happen to mention why they don't
confine their UAV operations to their not insignificant expanse of
Restricted areas?


At the time he did not go into much detail, though I subsequently
learned that General Atomics has Predator-B/Altair R&D and production
facilities in the area. It is my understanding that much of the
UAV activity south of the R2508 complex is conducted by General
Atomics rather than by NASA or the Air Force -- though some of
the flights are likely for training NASA and AF UAV operators.

http://www.ga.com/news.php?subaction..._from=&ucat=1&
provided the following tidbit about GA's program:

... training UA crews in the unrestricted areas where
manufacturer airports typically reside. Under Altair’s
airworthiness certificate, the aircraft can continue
to be used for crew training, experimental flight testing
and marketing demonstrations at GA-ASI’s Gray Butte and
El Mirage air fields in Palmdale and Adelanto, CA.

I dug up some of the hardcopy materials I collected at the presentation
which reference http://www.edwards.af.mil/psafety as the Edwards AFB
source for current safety info and copies of the presentation materials.
Much to my suprise the link is not currenlty valid, though I did find
it cached on Google -- but none of the subsequent links off that page
seem to work. I had visited these pages after the presentation, and
there was a lot of good content. I hope they put them back online.

Steve