Off Topic - Civilian UAV Training/Opportunities

[WindWpn]

I read today that there is a major push for civilian UAV tasks to likely be implemented in the US pending FAA authorization. This will happen and question is for simulation/onscreen desk flyers, could you actually find a paying job flying drones? Moral, political, etc...issues aside, perhaps it would be simply cool to fly a civilian drone as a "day job," and/or start a consulting company specializing in UAV training/outsourcing. Hmmmm.... Edited June 14, 2010 by WindWeapon

[cctoide]

It might be cool, but I doubt it would be any easier than getting a private pilot's license up to the point where you can take up a Cessna on your own... probably significantly harder, actually, considering the issues remote control brings into the mix. It's still a real plane that can really crash and hurt real people, in the end.

[EinsteinEP]

http://www.barnardmicrosystems.com/L4E_accidents.htm

[Avilator]

It might be cool, but I doubt it would be any easier than getting a private pilot's license up to the point where you can take up a Cessna on your own... probably significantly harder, actually, considering the issues remote control brings into the mix. It's still a real plane that can really crash and hurt real people, in the end.

This is true, but some serious simmers out there might have a better chance at doing it well, perhaps better than some pilots of manned aircraft, because they would have to "un-learn" habits related to flying a real plane. Simmers are used to making an entire flight while looking at a screen, with its associated lack of depth perception. I myself have done both and I find that things like holding heading and altitude are easier in real life than on-screen. That might be because of controllers, settings, and whatnot, but I think a good, serious simmer would need minimal training, mostly in things like airspace rules, comms, and the like.

Just my US$0.02.:joystick:

[ARM505]

I read recently that the US Air Force is reducing the amount of real flying time a drone pilot requires prior to operating one, perhaps with the long term goal of being a drone-only pilot. It's a cost thing, but I think that in the long term you'll end up with drone specific pilots only, with little or even no time at all in an aircrafts cockpit.

[My Fing ID]

Sounds pretty scary to me. The last thing I want are my local police flying UAVs. Cameras in the sky are as bad if not worse than cameras on the ground.

 

 

Still given the chance it would be a chill job, especially if you could work from home!

[bumfire]

One of the Global Hawks was lost in December 1999, when an official incorrectly programmed the UAV to taxi at 155 nautical miles per hour. :megalol:

 

http://www.barnardmicrosystems.com/L4E_accidents.htm#Hawk

 

[CAT_101st]

this would be cool to have as a small add on to DCS.

[zakobi]

One of the Global Hawks was lost in December 1999, when an official incorrectly programmed the UAV to taxi at 155 nautical miles per hour. :megalol:

 

http://www.barnardmicrosystems.com/L4E_accidents.htm#Hawk

 

 

Maybe he was too impatient to wait to get to the runway? :music_whistling: