Research Summaries

Back UAS Training and Pilot Certification Program

Fiscal Year 2014
Division Research & Sponsored Programs
Department Consortium for Robotics & Unmanned Systems Education & Research
Investigator(s) Jones, Kevin D.
Sponsor Office of Naval Research (Navy)
Summary There is growing interest in Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) research at NPS, but at present, no there is formal procedure for evaluating operator qualifications, in particular for vehicles that require a manual flight mode, or evaluating UAS platforms for air-worthiness. As a case in point, a false sense of security with regard to pilot competency recently led to a general loss in credibility for all NPS UAS operators. As a result all NPS operators are now faced with the current Interim Flight Clearance (IFC) process. The burden this process has created for all NPS UAS research teams in terms of delayed or lost research opportunities, and the manpower expended on the bureaucratic process is astronomical.
The objective of this proposal is to work with the NPS ASO and the NPS FX program to develop a formal training procedure for both fixed and rotary-wing programs in order to evaluate and track operator competency, and develop a certification process for operators of systems that require a manual flight mode. There will be three major parts of the project. First developing the process for tracking UAS and operator qualification, second, developing a fleet of training aircraft (fixed and rotary-wing) and flight simulators to aid in pilot training and to evaluate operator proficiency in a safe manner, and third, to aid new research groups in developing SOPs and best practices for safe operations.
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Publications Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal
Data Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal