Fly across the sky without Pilot

Say welcome to droneliner, a business jet that had just done flying as far as 800 km without a pilot sitting in the cockpit. Without a pilot? Yes, the cockpit is left empty while in the air. After take-off, fly and maneuver in the air under the control of a pilot in the ground. Like play remote control plane? Or maybe like the first time people began to apply the hybrid system on a motorcycle. Amazing!!

The aircraft was named British Aerospace Jetstream, which is now a byword among the British Aerospace practitioners for successfully recorded as a milestone by members of Astraea, United Kingdom research consortium valued at 62 million pounds, equivalent to Rp. 926 billion. The project has brought together a consortium of six companies, BAE Systems, QinetiQ, Thales, Rolls Royce, Cobham and AOS.

The modified BAE Jetstream 31 test aircraft. (Picture from: http://edition.cnn.com/)

The consortium aims to develop advanced technologies that allow civilian aircraft to share the United Kingdom airspace region with drones, even including some airline flight or a full-sized aircraft. On April 2013 BAE Jetstream 31 test aircraft was first take-off at the Warton airport, Lancashire, towards Inverness in Scotland, which recorded a total mileage of approximately 800 kilometers.

Flying with remote control from the ground. (Picture from: http://www.viva.co.id/)

The plane carrying a crew, including regular pilots and flight test engineers. The regular pilot is responsible for flying the aircraft to a certain level to fly a straight line. After that, the control rests entirely on the pilot on the ground. Pilot on the plane going back to work again when the plane would be landing.

The modified BAE Jetstream ready for take-off with Pilot on boards. (Picture from: http://www.viva.co.id/)

Business propellers jet with a capacity 19 seats it certainly does not fly in autopilot mode. Therefore, the sensor technology as well as test the ability of the airframe to avoid another drone plane, so the plane can fly in the safe air traffic.

If there are planes or other objects closer at a certain distance, the aircraft will maneuver to avoid the collision or air traffic accidents. To test the system, Lambert Dopping-Hepenstal, Astraea Program Director says, fake objects brought to the aircraft computer.

"Any changes will be reported on the flying pilot on the ground, then instructed the pilot enough aircraft to maneuver and change direction corresponding computer calculations including turbulence into account," said Lambard. According to him, if the test is successful, this aircraft will be introduced commercially in 2015. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | ASTRAEA | FLY FIGHTER JET | CNN]

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