If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
What about flying unmanned drones.. i.e. The Predator
There has been some recent discussion (and I use that word loosely) about the diffrerences between flying a real aircraft, an RC aircraft and the MS flight simulator or any simulator for that matter. One type of flying not brought up was what seems to be a hybrid of those, the unmanned drone such as the Predator that was recently deployed by NASA to help fight the fires in California. Flown by a "pilot" (can you call him a pilot?) sitting in a building at Edwards AF base it seems this could be a very difficult type of flying. The pilot was interviewed on NPR a couple of days ago and commented that when he first was learning to fly the drone, his instructor told him that it's like flying a real airplane but without 4 of your 5 senses. There is no sound of the engines to give him any feedback, no sense of feel to give clues about attitude or performance, no sense of smell or taste that could indicate something is leaking or burning. All of the required sesory input and data is processed only with visual cues. I have been doing a little research on the 'net, but can't yet find any information on how they actully fly the drone. Does the pilot see an image through a camera much like the view you get with a single monitor in MSFS. Are there multiple cameras? Do they pan around? Or is everthing flown IFR by instruments? What about ATC and flying in and around commercial and GA traffic? Do they contact ATC centers and airport approach controls? How would they communicate with ATC? Would it be via telephone since the standard radio frequencies are not going to work from a ground based station to another far off ground based station? Just some musings I have had since I read the NASA drone story. Kirk Ellis PP-ASEL Jacksonville, FL |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
What about flying unmanned drones.. i.e. The Predator
On Oct 26, 10:18 am, KAE wrote:
There has been some recent discussion (and I use that word loosely) about the diffrerences between flying a real aircraft, an RC aircraft and the MS flight simulator or any simulator for that matter. One type of flying not brought up was what seems to be a hybrid of those, the unmanned drone such as the Predator that was recently deployed by NASA to help fight the fires in California. Flown by a "pilot" (can you call him a pilot?) sitting in a building at Edwards AF base it seems this could be a very difficult type of flying. The pilot was interviewed on NPR a couple of days ago and commented that when he first was learning to fly the drone, his instructor told him that it's like flying a real airplane but without 4 of your 5 senses. There is no sound of the engines to give him any feedback, no sense of feel to give clues about attitude or performance, no sense of smell or taste that could indicate something is leaking or burning. All of the required sesory input and data is processed only with visual cues. I have been doing a little research on the 'net, but can't yet find any information on how they actully fly the drone. Does the pilot see an image through a camera much like the view you get with a single monitor in MSFS. Are there multiple cameras? Do they pan around? Or is everthing flown IFR by instruments? What about ATC and flying in and around commercial and GA traffic? Do they contact ATC centers and airport approach controls? How would they communicate with ATC? Would it be via telephone since the standard radio frequencies are not going to work from a ground based station to another far off ground based station? I've spoken with many of the Predator pilots. They fly out of Beale which is down the street from me. Yes, they do talk to ATC by a GPS relay on the aircraft. The aircraft has *NO* TCAS or avoidance gear (although has an extra bay for one). As a result anytime the plane is flying over the area the FAA requires a TFR the entire time its up (since its single engine it may have to return). The take off and landing is done local (Beale, Iraq, etc). The enroute is *ALL* flown from Beale. They said its not stick and rudder flying, its point and click flying. They only have a limited camera for looking for other aircraft and basically say there is *NO* see and avoid possible. Right now there are pilots in Beale AFB in California flying missions over Iraq. -Robert |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
What about flying unmanned drones.. i.e. The Predator
KAE wrote:
There has been some recent discussion (and I use that word loosely) about the diffrerences between flying a real aircraft, an RC aircraft and the MS flight simulator or any simulator for that matter. One type of flying not brought up was what seems to be a hybrid of those, the unmanned drone such as the Predator that was recently deployed by NASA to help fight the fires in California. Flown by a "pilot" (can you call him a pilot?) sitting in a building at Edwards AF base it seems this could be a very difficult type of flying. The pilot was interviewed on NPR a couple of days ago and commented that when he first was learning to fly the drone, his instructor told him that it's like flying a real airplane but without 4 of your 5 senses. There is no sound of the engines to give him any feedback, no sense of feel to give clues about attitude or performance, no sense of smell or taste that could indicate something is leaking or burning. All of the required sesory input and data is processed only with visual cues. Here's a big enough photo that you can zoom in on the individual displays. http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photo...-6911G-108.jpg |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
What about flying unmanned drones.. i.e. The Predator
"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATsuddenlink.net wrote in message ... Here's a big enough photo that you can zoom in on the individual displays. http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photo...-6911G-108.jpg Funny! They're wearing big ol' David Clark headsets. -c |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
What about flying unmanned drones.. i.e. The Predator
In article . com,
"Robert M. Gary" wrote: I've spoken with many of the Predator pilots. They fly out of Beale which is down the street from me. Yes, they do talk to ATC by a GPS relay on the aircraft... via a GPS relay? that's a neat trick. (sorry, couldn't resist) -- Bob Noel (goodness, please trim replies!!!) |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
What about flying unmanned drones.. i.e. The Predator
On Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:47:52 -0000, "Robert M. Gary"
wrote: I've spoken with many of the Predator pilots. They fly out of Beale which is down the street from me. Yes, they do talk to ATC by a GPS relay on the aircraft. The aircraft has *NO* TCAS or avoidance gear (although has an extra bay for one). As a result anytime the plane is flying over the area the FAA requires a TFR the entire time its up (since its single engine it may have to return). The take off and landing is done local (Beale, Iraq, etc). The enroute is *ALL* flown from Beale. They said its not stick and rudder flying, its point and click flying. They only have a limited camera for looking for other aircraft and basically say there is *NO* see and avoid possible. Right now there are pilots in Beale AFB in California flying missions over Iraq. -Robert I couldn't tell from the photo posted above if they have rudder pedals, but the predator looks like it has rudders both on the v-tails and on the downward directed rudder. Does the predator require rudder pedals to fly it, or are the rudders on the aircraft auto connected to the ailerons? Kirk PPL-ASEL |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
What about flying unmanned drones.. i.e. The Predator
On Fri, 26 Oct 2007 19:22:37 -0400, Kirk Ellis
wrote in : Does the predator require rudder pedals to fly it, or are the rudders on the aircraft auto connected to the ailerons? You may want to ask some of your questions in rec.aviation.military where there are UAV pilots to answer them. You'll find some information he http://tinyurl.com/2zsvl5 |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
What FARs cover R/C drones? | Jim Logajan | Piloting | 39 | July 1st 06 02:51 AM |
U.S. Drones Checking on Iran | NewsBOT | Simulators | 0 | February 18th 05 09:46 PM |
Future Combat Systems program networked vehicles and drones | Larry Dighera | Military Aviation | 1 | December 13th 03 07:24 PM |
ww2 training drones | tongaloa | Home Built | 6 | September 6th 03 05:55 PM |
ww2 training drones | tongaloa | Aviation Marketplace | 0 | September 5th 03 03:45 PM |