On Jan 13, 9:33*am, Ferstlesque wrote:
All Predators and Reapers have transponders with mode C, and maintain
2-way radio communication with ATC (with a phone as backup). Military
Predators and Reapers do all of their training within Restricted
airspace; when they must transit the national airspace to travel to
their operating areas, they do so under an IFR flight plan above FL
180. They cannot "see and avoid" in the common sense of the phrase, so
VFR flight in the NAS is not done. Kirk's estimates on weight are
fairly accurate.

Customs Predator B's have to be flown with a manned aircraft chase
plane at all times in order to meet "see and avoid" criteria, and do
so both inside and outside class A airspace. To me, this is the
epitome of waste (defeats the purpose of UAV's and is well over twice
the cost of a single aircraft with a sensor ball, AKA MC-12)... not to
mention the several-fold increased risk of midair with the aircraft
flying chase. I digress.

Losing an aircraft in other than landing or takeoff is increasingly
rare. If the signal is lost between the UAV and operator, it will fly
back into the vacinity of the home airfield on a pre-programmed, pre-
coordinated route.

I can't speak for other UAV's, but the Predator family does not
warrant the scepticism levied by the masses. Though I can understand
where it's coming from. UAV's are a new concept, and very little is
publicly released.

I flew the Predator for 5 years and have a close friend who chases
Predators around with customs.

If anyone has any other BASIC questions about their operation with
regard to the NAS and manned aircraft, please ask.

Mark

There appears to be little reason (except political ones) to use an
expensive large UAV like the Predator on our domestic borders when the
same job could be done with less manpower and lower cost using manned
aircraft. There is enough published data to show the operational cost
of the Predator far exceeds that of any manned aircraft typically used
on similar photo missions. Also, their controllability,
communications and reliability have not historically been stellar,
even if these are improving.

The future probably lies in smaller, lightweight autonomous drones.

We masses (who, by the way, pay for these things) justifiably get
nervous when they get out of control and auger into our back yards!

Mike

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