UAVs – Can they See and Avoid
The rule of the airways is always to “see and avoid”. You never know when you might come across a flock of birds or a Piper Cub that is NORDO (no radios). So how does that apply to UAVs? What about those critters that are flying around with increasing popularity?
The FAA has produced a topic sheet that covers most of the questions you might have about such encounters.
When the military or a government agency wants to fly a UAV in civil airspace, the FAA examines the request and issues a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA), generally based on the following principles:
- The COA authorizes an operator to use defined airspace for a specified time (up to one year, in some cases) and includes special provisions unique to each operation. For instance, a COA may include a requirement to operate only under Visual Flight Rules (VFR).
- Most, if not all, COAs require coordination with an appropriate air traffic control facility and require the UAV to have a transponder able to operate in standard air traffic control mode with automatic altitude reporting.
- To make sure the UAV will not interfere with other aircraft, a ground observer or an accompanying “chase” aircraft must maintain visual contact with the UAV.
Read the full Fact Sheet on UAVs.
