Pilots are optional for a new breed of aircraft from Boeing Defense, Space & Security in Mesa.
The aerospace giant developed its Little Bird H-6U helicopter, an unmanned aerial vehicle or drone, at its Mesa plant. The unmanned aircraft completed 14 takeoffs and landings from a ship off the Florida coast last year.
Boeing also has a partnership with Schiebel Aircraft Industries of Austria to modify a smaller unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV. That rotor aircraft, the Camcopter S-100, weighs 243 pounds and can fly for six hours carrying a 75-pound payload.
The focus for Boeing’s two UAVs has primarily been on military operations to carry cargo to the battlefield, but there is growing interest in the commercial sector.
“Boeing is looking to see where our capabilities best fit with both the military and commercial needs that are out there,” said James Brooks, Boeing director of its unmanned-helicopter programs in Mesa.
Boeing’s UAVs are just one example of the work being done in Arizona by the aerospace and defense industry.
Though much of the work is for military purposes, there is growing interest in civilian use of the technology.
In the case of the UAVs, commercial applications include monitoring wildfires, search and rescue, communication relays, border protection, agricultural uses and remote cargo delivery, Brooks said.
“Those are the dull, dirty and dangerous jobs that are difficult to perform with manned systems,” he said.
Development and testing of UAVs for civilian use is expected to provide lift for the aerospace industry nationwide. An industry group estimates that the vehicles will create 70,000 jobs and boost the economy by $13.6 billion in the first three years of their development for civilian use.
Arizona could be in line for some of that revenue because it is among 24 states vying to host one of six UAV test sites that will be selected by year’s end by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Meanwhile, Boeing continues to pursue UAV development from its Mesa plant, which builds the Little Bird as well as another helicopter called Apache and electrical assemblies and composite materials for military and commercial aircraft. Boeing officials would not disclose how much work on the UAVs takes place at the 4,800-person Mesa plant, but the company reported $1.1 billion in annual expenditures to Arizona suppliers and vendors.
In September, during tests in New Zealand, Schiebel Aircraft demonstrated the S-100’s capabilities for inspecting high-voltage power lines with an attached thermal-imaging camera.
The Camcopter, at 10 feet long and with a rotor diameter of 11 feet, is small enough to fit into a standard garage. The remotely controlled aircraft with a 55 horsepower engine has a top speed of about 103 mph. Its maximum payload is 110 pounds.
Boeing’s unmanned Little Bird, a variation of Boeing’s MD 500 helicopter, can carry up to 2,400 pounds. Its rotor is 27.5 feet in diameter and the UAV has a top speed of about 165 mph.
The Little Bird can fly with or without a pilot in the cockpit, which makes it ideal to train pilots or test UAV technology, according to Boeing.
The medium-class helicopter is designed to resupply troops from a land or ship base, Brooks said.
Boeing has also developed the ScanEagle, a 4-foot-long UAV that can fly for 15 hours, and Phantom Eye, an unmanned aircraft with a 150-foot wingspan and powered with liquid hydrogen.
Overall, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $33 billion business with 59,000 employees.
Source: http://www.azcentral.com
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