X-47B's First Cat Shot

[insanebikerboy]

Grimace, what would you say you're doing on the Truman?

 

[BusyBee604]

We're scheduled to do the first cat shot of a UAV off a carrier deck later this week. The future is closer than you think!

Your post yesterday stated "we're doing absolutely no work on how this thing is going to land". So after you launch it, how/where does this thing get recovered?
BzB

 

[wlawr005]

I'm willing to bet that with baby-B on board, mother isn't going to stray too far from father shore.

 

[BOMBSonHAWKEYES]

Hey fellas. I'm the Strike Ops officer on the Truman and the X-47B is aboard as I type this. They have been doing a lot of testing underway, taxiing it around using this Robocop-looking controller and stuff. If their testing goes OK, we're planning on launching it off the cat before we pull back in. The future is closer than you might think. That said, we're doing absolutely no work on how this thing is going to land.

Is the ready room a server farm?

 

[BigIron]

I'

I'm the Strike Ops Officer on the Truman. The X-47B is onboard right now as I type this. They're doing taxi tests this week where they're taxiing it around using a Robocop-looking arm controller. We're scheduled to do the first cat shot of a UAV off a carrier deck later this week. The future is closer than you think!

I stand corrected then.

 

[navyao]

Here's the video of it taxiing on deck, it's pretty long. Now I have a question or two; the Fly 1 dude is directing an unmanned a/c but the pilot is standing behind him controlling it, is the dude in the "bag" and cranial, assuming he's the pilot actually watching the director? Couldn't the flight deck guys just get qual'd to taxi it and once it's on the CAT let the pilot takeover wherever that may be?

 

[Brett327]

I don't understand the question.

 

[CumminsPilot]

Here's the video of it taxiing on deck, it's pretty long. Now I have a question or two; the Fly 1 dude is directing an unmanned a/c but the pilot is standing behind him controlling it, is the dude in the "bag" and cranial, assuming he's the pilot actually watching the director? Couldn't the flight deck guys just get qual'd to taxi it and once it's on the CAT let the pilot takeover wherever that may be?

They're working towards that...kinda. They want the "pilot" standing behind him to be deck-qualled and just do it all himself WITHOUT a yellow-shirt in the middle. Yes, at this point the guy driving it on deck is watching the director and making it do what the director says. End goal is to get rid of the director. Once it's in the cat the deck guy does a hand-off with the control room guys and it's their plane from there forward.

 

[EODDave]

I thought there was work on the UAV being able to see and follow signals from the yellow shirts. If that is farther down the line, then why not let the yellow shirts control the thing while its on deck? The qual to taxi it around cant be that hard.

 

[scoober78]

I thought there was work on the UAV being able to see and follow signals from the yellow shirts. If that is farther down the line, then why not let the yellow shirts control the thing while its on deck? The qual to taxi it around cant be that hard.

The project was initially funded under a US$635.8-million contract awarded by the Navy in 2007. However, by January 2012, the X-47B's total program cost had grown to an estimated $813 million.








Something tells me it may be more substantial than you think...

 

[Renegade One]

Here's the video of it taxiing on deck, it's pretty long. Now I have a question or two; the Fly 1 dude is directing an unmanned a/c but the pilot is standing behind him controlling it, is the dude in the "bag" and cranial, assuming he's the pilot actually watching the director? Couldn't the flight deck guys just get qual'd to taxi it and once it's on the CAT let the pilot takeover wherever that may be?

Why only make it only difficult when, with adequate funding, you can make it "varsity hard"? How about hand-towing/pushing (or with a tractor with a tow bar) just driving it all the way to the catapult spot? Exiting the landing area could be just as easy (assuming they will always recover after all the airframes carrying carbon-based lifeforms [which is so last century...] have recovered), but bigger brains than mine, with beaucoup funding, know better.

"You make it hard...we make it VARSITY hard!"

 

[sevenhelmet]

I have a question... do the wings fold?

 

[Brett327]

I have a question... do the wings fold?

 

[Homer J]

Jumping on the band wagon here, "I have a question, why is the guy running the controls wearing a survival vest and life preserver? Why not just a float coat?"

 

[helolumpy]

He's aircrew!