Aerospace & Defence
monitoring would be mounted along with something else like a stills camera. A thermal camera would be mounted by itself, but Cyberhawk looking at ways of mounting both types of camera. As an inspection and surveying company that
specialises in the use of drones, an aviation department buys drones in that have been designed for purpose in partnership with the manufacturer. Several modifications are made to the basic drone, so it is not an off-the-shelf product. The company’s market segments are onshore and
offshore oil and gas installations in Europe, Middle East and Asia, and power utilities for inspection of electrical power pylons and renewable energy. It has ten to 15 drones in service deployed all around the world except the US, where there is a moratorium on commercial drone flying. Roberts adds: “The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is going through a number of ‘pipe cleaning’ activities to see how they will open up its airspace, but right now it is illegal except for academic use, so universities can apply for a particular research permit.
“Some oil and gas companies are using the academic
route as a loophole to try and develop technology in anticipation of the skies opening up in 2015. Without this, they have to fall back on traditional access techniques like rope access, scaffolding and ‘cherry pickers’. “This means that you have to shut the refinery down
and let it cool off for a flare inspection. With drones, you can inspect the flare in operation so you do not
Fig. 2. The Cyberhawk two-man operating team.
have to shut down production. This saves around $2 million of lost production for a two-day inspection which would otherwise last for seven days.”
Cessna-sized drones
Roberts has observed some opening of airspace in Alaska, where ConocoPhillips, BP and Shell are experimenting with the use of large Cessna-sized drones like the Diamond D42 or Boeing ScanEagle. Their longer flight durations also allow them to perform ice flow and environmental monitoring surveys, but they can weigh a few tonnes.
Commission gives the nod to civil UAV T
he European Commission conducted a broad stakeholders’ consultation between 2009
and 2012, which resulted in three major initiatives having been launched. Published in September 2012, “Towards a European strategy for the development of civil applications of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS)” reports the outcomes of this consultation. The main conclusions were that RPAS
present an important potential for the development of innovative civil applications by creating jobs and achieving useful tasks. To unleash this potential the first priority is to achieve a safe integration of RPAS into the European air system as soon as possible. This requires the development
of appropriate technologies and the implementation of the necessary aviation
regulation at EU and national levels. Issues like privacy and data protection or insurance must also be addressed. It also requires increased coordination
between all relevant actors including the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), national civil aviation authorities, the European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE), Eurocontrol and the Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS), and between regulatory and technological developments. Given the urgency to achieve RPAS safe
integration into the civil airspace in view of the potential economic and social benefits of such applications, the UAS Panel called upon the European Commission to take the lead in the development of a Roadmap for safe RPAS integration into European Air System – the RPAS Roadmap.
In October 2013, JARUS published its “Certification Specification for Light Unmanned Rotorcraft Systems.”
The airworthiness code is applicable to light unmanned rotorcraft systems, conventional helicopters with maximum certified take-off weights not exceeding 750kg. In operational terms, applicability of this airworthiness code is limited to all day and night Visual Line of Sight (VLoS) operations. Each requirement must be met at each
appropriate combination of weight and centre of gravity within the range of loading conditions by tests upon a rotorcraft of the type for which certification is requested, or by calculations based on, and equal in accuracy to, the results of testing; and by systematic investigation of each required combination of weight and centre of gravity. ●
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