Two technological gaps could soon be erased to enable the US Federal Aviation Administration to allow small unmanned air vehicle flights that go beyond the line of sight of the operator, a top FAA official says.
The FAA’s proposed rulemaking released last February only allows small UAVs under 55lb (25kg) to fly within the line of sight of the operator, a restriction that could limit the industry’s commercial appeal.
That limitation will remain in place at least until a ground- or airborne-based sense and avoid technology is certificated and a communications infrastructure exists to support beyond-line-of-sight UAV operations, says Jim Williams, manager of the FAA’s UAS integration office.
But a standards-making committee – RTCA 228 – is scheduled to release criteria for sense-and-avoid compliance in about one year, Williams says.
Moreover, the World Radio Congress will consider allocating spectrum for commercial beyond line-of-sight command and control links later this year, Williams says. If the spectrum is allocated, an infrastructure then must be developed to use the communications spectrum, he adds.
In the meantime, aspiring UAV operators could apply for an exemption from the ban on beyond-line-of-sight operations, as long as they can prove an equivalent level of safety, Williams says.
He cites the example of the Insitu ScanEagle, which has been approved to operate beyond-line-of-sight flights as a service to ConocoPhillips in the Chukchi Sea about 100nm (185km) off the coast of Alaska. In that example, sense-and-avoid is achieved proceduraly with air traffic control.
Williams also responded to comments earlier on 5 May by Google Project Wing leader David Vos, who says the FAA has shown a new willingness to work with the UAV industry within the last two to three weeks.
“It was just in the past few weeks [Vos] started working with us,” Williams says. “[The FAA’s cooperation] was there before, but he just didn’t know it.”
Source: FlightGlobal.com
