What do I need to do to be legal to fly?

Obtain an FAA issued Airworthiness Certificate for my UAS and a Program Letter of Restriction

OR
Obtain an FAA issued Certificate of Authorization or Waiver (COA)

OR
Fly in Special Use Airspace OR Fly as a Model Aircraft (this is being better defined by FAA)

FAA Regulation of UAS Activities

Obtain an FAA issued Airworthiness Certificate for my UAS and a Program Letter of Restriction See FAA policy letter AFS-400 UAS Policy 05-01 Only one UAS (Altair) has achieved this to date Obtain a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) - FAR 91.193 This is the process for requesting permission to conduct an air event Requester must submit no earlier/later than 60 days prior to flight event Submit request to FAA HQ (non-public aircraft w/ Airworthiness Cert.) Submit to FAA Regional Office (public aircraft) FAA currently reorganizing and this process is changing Requester must detail flight operations (flight duration, route, altitudes, etc.) FAA will specify what is authorized: ATC communications requirements Meteorological conditions Ground observer / chase aircraft, etc.

Beware that these rules are all in transition!

FAA Regulation of UAS Activities

Fly in Special Use Airspace Restricted Areas, Warning Areas, MOAs, etc. With permission from airspace owner Fly under Model Aircraft rules: see AC91-57; released 1981 Less than 400 ft AGL Aircraft must remain in view of operator Notification requirements if within 3 mi of airport

Beware that these rules are all in transition!

Large UAS

Altair
18.4 hour mission

Altair
Platform Specifications: Wing Span Useful Load (fuel+payload+ballast) Max Fuel Ballast/Payload Offset Operational Altitudes Max Endurance Internal Payload Bay External Pod Mounts Electrical Power 86 ft 3750 lbs 3000 lbs Up to 750 lbs Up to 50,000 ft Up to 25 hours Yes Yes 4.9 KW @ SL; 2.8KW @ Alt

Availability: Available now @ NASA thru lease agreement w/GA-ASI Experience: ERAST (flight test) Coast Guard Alaska deployment 2004 NASA/NOAA UAV Demonstration Mission 2005

NASA IKHANA

NASA IKHANA
Platform Specifications: Wing Span Useful Load (fuel+payload+ballast) Ballast/Payload Offset Operational Altitudes Max Endurance Internal Payload Bay External Pod Mounts Electrical Power 66 ft 6400 lbs Up to 800 lbs Up to 45,000 ft Up to 30 hours Yes Yes 4.9 KW @ SL; 2.8KW @ Alt

Availability: Available early FY 2007 @NASA

Experience: NASA - none as of this date DOD - substantial

NASA Global Hawk

Platform Specifications: Wing Span Payload Operational Altitudes Max Endurance Internal Payload Bay External Pod Mounts Electrical Power 116 ft 2000 lbs Up to 65,000 ft Up to 35 hours Yes Possible 3.0 KW @ SL; 3.0KW @ Alt

Availability: In negotiations with Air Force + infrastructure/partnerships needed Experience: NASA - none as of this date DOD - substantial

NASA UAS Instrument Pods

UAVSAR Pod

Specifications Mounts to MAU-12 adaptor Supportable on NASA GIII & IKHANA Currently supporting UAVSAR instrument Two units in fabrication Capable of carrying up to 850 lbs Dimensions ~ 10 ft x 2 ft Available early FY07

NASA UAS Instrument Pods

Western States Fire Mission Pod

Specifications Mounts to MAU-12 adaptor Supportable on GA-ASI Altair & NASA IKHANA Currently supporting Wild Fire Sensor One unit in fabrication Capable of carrying up to 1000 lbs Dimensions ~ 10 ft x 2 ft Available late FY06

Medium/Small UAS

Aerosonde
Platform Specifications: Wing Span Payload Capacity 18.4 hour Operational Altitudes mission Max Endurance Electrical Power 9.5 ft 2.2 lbs Up to 20K ft Up to 40 hours 10 W

Availability: Contract thru NASA with Aerosonde North America Experience: CAMEX 4, So. Florida; TCSP, Costa Rica; Guam; NOAA, Hurricane Ophelia; Atlantic crossing

APV-3

Collected digital color and hyperspectral imagery above the vineyard in August 2003 to support frost detection.

APV-3
Platform Specifications: Wing Span Payload Operational Altitudes Max Endurance Electrical Power Availability: Through UAV Collaborative 12 ft 22 lbs Up to 10K ft UP to 4 hours 40 W

Experience: Vineyard mapping, No. California Fire mapping, Dryden flight research

Manta

Manta
Platform Specifications: Wing Span Payload Capacity Operational Altitudes Mission Endurance Onboard Power 8.75 ft Up to 15 lbs Up to 16K ft MSL 6 hours 14.4V, 15 or 30 AH, BA5590 LiS02 Battery

Availability: Through Advanced Ceramics Research

Experience: Scripps demo, Maldives

Bat
Sort Range surveillance and aerial mapping

Bat
Platform Specifications: Wing Span Payload Capacity Operational Altitudes Max Endurance 6 ft Up to 4 lbs Up to 9K ft. 6 hours

Availability: USFS / WRAP Partnership or UAV Collaborative

Experience: Military surveillance, small UAV demo

RMAX Helicopter

RMAX Helicopter
Platform Specifications: Rotor Span Payload Capacity Max Endurance Operational Altitudes 10.2 ft. Up to 10 lbs Up to 4 hours Low Altitude

Availability: Through partnership with the ARMY

Experience: Military surveillance, small UAV demo

PUMA
The aqua Puma version is adapted for use in salt water environment and can be landed directly onto the sea surface and recovered with a small watercraft.

PUMA
Platform Specifications: Wing Span Payload Capacity Operational Altitudes Max Endurance 8.5 ft. Up to 2.5 lbs Up to 10K ft. 4 hours

Availability: USFS / WRAP Partnership Experience: Military surveillance

Silver Fox

Silver Fox
Platform Specifications: Wing Span Payload Capacity Operational Altitudes Max Endurance 7.8 ft Up to 5 lbs Up to 12K ft. 10 hours

Availability: USFS / WRAP Partnership Experience: Mt. St. Helens volcano, military

Vector P
QuickTime and a TIFF (Uncompressed) decompress or are needed to see this picture.

QuickTime and a TIFF (Uncompressed) decompress or are needed to see this picture.

Vector P
Platform Specifications: Wing Span Payload Capacity Operational Altitudes Max Endurance 8.4 ft Up to 20 lbs. Up to 10K ft. 4 hours

Availability: USFS / WRAP Partnership Experience: Agricultural imaging, surveillance

Mark 3

Mark 3
Platform Specifications: Wing Span Payload Capacity Operational Altitudes Max Endurance

8.4 ft Up to 4.4 lbs Up to 20K ft. 30 hours

Availability: USFS / WRAP Partnership

Shadow 200

Shadow 200
Platform Specifications: Wingspan Payload Operational Altitudes Max Endurance 12.75 ft 56 lbs Up to 14K ft UP to 6 hours

Availability: USFS / WRAP Partnership

Experience: Military, National Guard

Interesting UAS in Development

NRL/ARC Sierra

Sierra
Platform Specifications: Wingspan Payload Operational Altitudes Max Endurance 6 ft 100 lbs Up to 10K ft UP to 8 hours

Availability: In development @ ARC

Bell Eagle Eye

Bell Eagle Eye

Platform Specifications: Wingspan (Tilt Rotor) Payload Operational Altitudes Max Endurance (Turbine Engines) 15.2 ft 200 lbs Up to 20K ft UP to 8 hours

Availability: In development

MQ5C (E-Hunter)
Northrop Grumman & Israeli Aircraft Industries

MQ5C (E-Hunter)
Platform Specifications: Wingspan Payload Operational Altitudes Max Endurance (Diesel Engines) N/A N/A Up to 20K ft UP to 15 hours

Availability: In development

Other Issues to Consider

Systems Reliability Number of operational hours vs. incidents System redundancy Propulsion system history Guaranteeing Public Safety May require a Flight Termination System Access to the National Airspace System
Currently the FAA prefers us above 40K ft

GA-ASI Warrior

Warrior (Predator A Variant)

Platform Specifications: Wingspan Useful Load (payload) Operational Altitudes Max Endurance (Diesel engine) TBD ft TBD lbs Up to 25K ft UP to 36 hours

Availability: In development
Experience: Substantial due to similarity to Predator A series

Backup Stuff

Pioneer

Pioneer
Platform Specifications: Wingspan Useful Load (payload) Operational Altitudes Max Endurance 16.76 ft 75 lbs Up to 12K ft UP to 5.5 hours

Availability:

Experience: Military

Altair
NASA/NOAA Channel Islands mission

NASA/NOAA 18.4 hour mission