FAA Gives The OK For Continued Tests
Aero-News learned Monday the Altair -- an improved,
high-altitude version of the famous Predator unmanned aerial
vehicle -- was recently awarded re-certification by the FAA to
continue tests in the high atmosphere.
The Altair, built by General Atomics with the help of NASA
research, is designed to perform scientific and commerical duties
at very high altitudes. Most notably, it will conduct surveillance
for Homeland Security.
With the re-certification, the Altair UAV now meets the same
standards as those of air transport aircraft, and is designed to be
completely autonomous... integrating smoothly into the airspace
system (helped by the fact most operations will be conducted far
above most other planes).
"Last August Altair received the nation’s first
airworthiness certificate for an unmanned aircraft system, and a
year later it remains the only operating UAS that still carries
that distinction," said Thomas J. Cassidy, Jr., president, Aircraft
Systems Group, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc (GA-ASI).
"Altair’s recertification is a testament to the ability of
our aircraft to meet the FAA’s standards and brings us closer
to the ultimate goal of enabling routine UA operations in the
National Airspace System for emerging commercial and civil
applications and military and homeland security missions."
Access to the National Airspace System (NAS) has historically
been granted to an unmanned aircraft manufacturer through an
FAA-granted Certificate of Authorization (COA). Changes made last
fall limit COA issuance to government agencies, and specify that
the agency must operate a particular UAV for a particular purpose
in a particular area.
In contrast, an airworthiness certificate specifies operating
instructions to the aircraft and applies them only to one aircraft,
or tail number, for training UA crews in the unrestricted areas
where manufacturer airports typically reside. Under Altair’s
airworthiness certificate, the aircraft can continue to be used for
crew training, experimental flight testing and marketing
demonstrations at GA-ASI's Gray Butte and El Mirage air fields in
Palmdale and Adelanto, CA.
As part of the recertification process, the FAA conducted the
first compliance audit for a UA on the Altair aircraft, which is
similar to the testing performed on commercial airliners. Altair
passed the audit in compliance with all operations, maintenance and
training requirements.
Featuring an 86-foot wingspan and 3,000-pound fuel capacity,
Altair can fly above 52,000 feet and remain airborne for over 30
hours. The aircraft is configured with a fault-tolerant
dual-architecture flight control system, triple-redundant avionics
and a Honeywell turbo-prop engine for high reliability.