newstodate.aero
SEP 29, 2005 (newstodate): The Department of Transportations FAA has issued the first airworthiness certificate for a commercial unmanned aerial vehicle, the General Atomics Altair.
The Altair's FAA airworthiness certificate is in the "Experimental" category and limits flights to research and development, crew training or market survey.
The agency has also specified a number of safety conditions for the Altair's operation, including weather, altitude, and geographic restrictions, as well as a requirement for a pilot and observer, both of whom may either be on the ground or in an accompanying "chase" plane.
The Altair, a high-altitude version of the U.S. military's Predator B, is designed to perform scientific and commercial research missions. Altair has an 86-foot wingspan, can fly up to 52,000 feet, and can remain in the air for more than 30 hours.
Some of the R&D activities already performed by UAVs support law enforcement, homeland security, firefighting, and weather prediction.
The Altair's FAA airworthiness certificate is in the "Experimental" category and limits flights to research and development, crew training or market survey.
The agency has also specified a number of safety conditions for the Altair's operation, including weather, altitude, and geographic restrictions, as well as a requirement for a pilot and observer, both of whom may either be on the ground or in an accompanying "chase" plane.
The Altair, a high-altitude version of the U.S. military's Predator B, is designed to perform scientific and commercial research missions. Altair has an 86-foot wingspan, can fly up to 52,000 feet, and can remain in the air for more than 30 hours.
Some of the R&D activities already performed by UAVs support law enforcement, homeland security, firefighting, and weather prediction.