Thu, May 24, 2007
One More Unmanned Aerial Vehicle In NAS
Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation told ANN this week the
company recently received an Experimental Airworthiness Certificate
(EAC) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), allowing its
GoldenEye 50 Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) to fly in the National
Airspace System (NAS).
To date, the US aviation agency has issued only 11 EACs for UAS
operations in civil airspace, with Aurora receiving the latest.
Aurora won the right to fly in the NAS after successfully
completing a GoldenEye 50 demonstration flight for FAA officials at
the Aurora Flight Sciences of Mississippi (AMS) manufacturing
facility located at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport in
Columbus, MS.
The man-portable UAS is unique among current ducted fan UAS
because it is able to take off vertically, autonomously transition
to high-speed wingborne flight and then return to hover flight in
the target area to collect imagery and sensor readings. The
GoldenEye 50 was designed as a technology development platform for
Aurora's larger ducted fan aircraft, the GoldenEye 80.
Dr. John S. Langford, president and chief executive officer of
Aurora Flight Sciences, called receipt of an FAA EAC an
"outstanding company milestone," noting that this significant
achievement was scored "through a lot of hard work on the part of
Aurora employees and great support from the FAA."
An EAC permits UAS flight operations in specified sections of
the NAS. It also authorizes unmanned aircraft manufacturers to
conduct research and development, crew training and marketing
demonstrations.
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