UAV assignment

            Potential civilian uses of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) cover a wide spectrum of activities. They could be used in agriculture to help maximize production, to help fight wildfires, to aid in search and rescue operations, or for surveillance and security. Currently the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has authorized a number of organizations, mostly larger law enforcement agencies and research universities, to operate UAVs in a limited fashion. The current FAA system of issuing certificates of authorization is not conducive to the widespread commercial use of UAVs so the FAA has just recently released its notice of proposed rulemaking on the regulation of small UAS. Among many proposed regulations are a 55lb weight limit, a 500 ft. above the ground altitude restriction, visual line of sight operations, and registration and certification proposals for aircraft and pilots.

            Congress has mandated that the FAA promulgate regulations for integrating UAS into the national airspace system, and the proposed rules are the FAA’s way of trying to build a paradigm in which UAS can be operated safely with respect to other aircraft and the public at large. Mid-air collisions with manned aircraft (or other UAS for that matter) can be largely mitigated by the proposed rules, but the FAA goes even further to require pre-flight inspections just as they do for manned aircraft. Perhaps this is because the accident rate for Predator drones operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is seven times greater than the accident rate for general aviation and over three hundred times greater than the commercial aviation accident rate. The CBP Predators are much heavier than 55lbs and would not fall into the proposed regulations, but they are also mature and highly developed UAV systems pioneered by the military. If these well engineered machines are falling out of the sky several times more often than manned aircraft it is no stretch for one to imagine the motley collection of new/cheap/untested UAS about to flood the skies causing havoc with astronomical accident rates.

            The military has a long history of the implementation of UAVs. Since the 9/11 attacks the UAV has become a weapon of choice. Military UAVs are cheaper to operate than manned aircraft, able to stay on station longer, reduce our personnel’s threat of exposure to enemy action, and some models are even equipped with missiles to engage targets. Some of the operations have been outsourced to civilian contractors, most job postings are looking for drone operators (pilots). However, with the forthcoming regulations to implement small UAS into the airspace system there are numerous jobs on the horizon for both pilots and aviation management graduates. Some of the larger aeronautical universities already offer UAS programs.

References:

Bergqvist, P. (2014, June 16). Drone Jobs: What It Takes to Fly a UAV. Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://www.flyingmag.com/aircraft/drone-jobs-what-it-takes-fly-uav?page=0,3

Carr, E. (n.d.). Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Examining the Safety, Security, Privacy and Regulatory Issues of Integration into U.S. Airspace. Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://www.ncpa.org/pdfs/sp-Drones-long-paper.pdf

Garamone, J. (2002, April 16). United States Department of Defense. Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=44164

Handwerk, B. (2013, June 6). 5 Surprising Drone Uses (Besides Pizza Delivery). Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130606-drone-uav-surveillance-unmanned-domicopter-flight-civilian-helicopter/

Overview of Small UAS Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2015, from https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/media/021515_sUAS_Summary.pdf

UAV Pilot, Deployable. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2015, from https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGWEbHost/jobdetails.aspx?partnerid=25539&siteid=5313&jobId=1322842