Comment by Michael Zaffuto on July 7, 2010 at 10:54pm

That's funny, "WOULD you fly in an airliner knowing there were no pilots in the cockpit?".
How about, "WOULD you fly in an airliner knowing there were no computers in the cockpit? , lol :o)

Comment by Not Sure on July 8, 2010 at 12:48am

regardless if you had an AP up front, if you carried passengers, then you really aren't classified as an Unmanned Air Vehicle then...., careful choice of words when the traditionally the "u" in uav stands for unmanned...

Comment by Jeshua Lacock on July 8, 2010 at 12:54am

Not sure If I agree with you there Not Sure. No pun intended.

;)

I personally think the word manned most often means that one is at the controls or in control of something. I don't think passengers would qualify as "manning" an aircraft.

Regardless, it is just semantics.

Comment by Jeshua Lacock on July 8, 2010 at 2:17am

p.s. In any event, I suppose we might be able to agree on calling it an "Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle" which is still a UAV. :)

Comment by lionel on July 8, 2010 at 7:39am

On the other side of the atlantic, an ongoing collaboration between the European Defense Agency (EDA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). The first phase of the study, phase A is completed and the results were presented a the ESA/EDA workshop on UAS. The second phase with a demonstrator should start soon. They have to issue the ITT. From the workshop, it seems only the big boys are going to make it to the next phase given the size of their platform.
More information on the workshop:
http://iap.esa.int/news/UAS%20Workshop%20Outcome

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