Hi,

this i s Dr. Pat Ford. Welcome to the first module on Unmanned Aerospace Systems as part of the Embry
Riddle Aeronautical University, Worldwide College of Aeronautics, Massive Online Open Course or MOOC.
This will be the first of two modules and, as j ust addressed i n my i ntroductory video, well be c overing a l ot
of i nformation i n a fairly short period of time.

The goal i s to be able to focus the MOOC on those that are new to unmanned aerospace systems, or UAS,
providing you with an entry level knowledge of several aspects. First of all i s UAS Basics. What are UAS all
about? How are they used? How are they described? Well also talk about the general UAS operating
environment where you c an operate, where you c ant, where the UAS environment as a whole i s going.
How i s i t c hanging?
Well talk about, i n Module Two, the National Airspace System or the NAS. And, well talk about safe
flying procedures throughout both modules.
Well take a l ook at the UAS flight approval process, i nitially j ust as a recreationist or hobbyist i n Module
One, but then well j ump ahead i n Module Two and l ook a l ittle bit more i n-depth, specifically at 3 33
exemptions.
Well also l ook at the COA process or the Certificate of Authorization process - as a whole and how public
entities and c ommercial entities differ i n their ability to fly and approval process to fly a UAS within the
National Airspace System.
The MOOC i ncludes a multi-week form to ask questions. Youll see the term Ask the experts. Theres an
entire group of Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, College of Aeronautics staff ready to j ump in, help,
respond to your questions that you may have as you go through this MOOC.

So, theres some other aspects to remember. There are a l ot of additional resources on the i nternet, and
there are a l ot of great resources. Be sure to c heck those out. This c ourse i s j ust one small aspect of the
broader knowledge that you really should have as you move forward flying UAS, be i t for recreational,
commercial, or public use.
And, depending on your background, each of these resources will provide you with very different
perspectives on the world of UAS. For those that are new to UAS, and are not actual manned aircraft pilots
having c ertificates for sport, private, or c ommercial operation, youll l ook at things very differently than
someone who has already flown i n the airspace but i s trying to l earn more about UAS. Some of the
members that have j oined, or participants for the c ourse, are actually taking this c ourse to better
understand UAS even i f theyll never fly one. They want to know what theyre up against and, what I mean
by that i s not a derogatory c omment; but, rather, theyre up against new c oncepts, new flight areas that
must be dealt with as manned aircraft fly through the National Airspace System and share that with UAS.
And well talk a l ot about those aspects as we move forward.

Now, i f youre flying an unmanned aircraft i n the NAS, remember something very i mportant: you are a pilot.
Once you l eave the ground and youre i n open airspace outside a building, youre flying here i n the United
States within the National Airspace System. Be responsible and dont take i t l ightly. Even a small UAS c an
cause damage or death to someone i n a manned aircraft that l oses power due to a UAS being sucked into an
engine c owling, or crashes through the windscreen. So, remember, fly responsibly and be proud of the fact
that youre a pilot within the safest National Airspace System the world knows.
Second, l ook at most UAS rules as really c ommon sense. Dont worry about the fact so much that rule XYZ
states you should or shouldnt do this. Read the rules and understand that most of these are based on
common sense. And well talk about those as we go through the c ourse.
And, finally, when in doubt, stay on the ground until youre ready to fly. If you go outside and youre ready to
fly or think you are and something doesnt l ook right something doesnt feel right the c hances are i t
probably i snt. Go back i n, do a l ittle bit more research. Make some phone c alls. Talk to other people that fly
UAS, radio c ontrolled aircraft, and find out what i t i s thats bothering you what i t i s that you think j ust
doesnt seem right. Because, again you c an trust your gut feelings i n many c ases, because they are often right.
OK, well l ets go ahead and get started i nto more i n-depth discussions here i n Module One.

First of all, I keep referring to UAS, or Unmanned Aerospace Systems, and not unmanned aircraft vehicles or
drones. And the reason I do that i s because i t really i s a system, and that system c onsists of many different
elements. L ets take a minute j ust to talk about those.
Well, first of all, you have the operator or the pilot of the UAS. Thats you. Thats the person thats going to
go out and actually fly with their vehicle. And youll be doing that using a ground c ontrol station. Now you
may not think of a small handheld c ontroller here i n the operators hand as a ground c ontrol station, but
that really i s exactly what i t i s. Its a system thats used to go back and forth and actually be able to have
telemetry, or c ontrol, of the UAV and, also, receive video and feedback from the UAV when and as needed in
order to be able to perform the mission or the actions that the operator wants.
And, of c ourse, you have the UAV i tself, the vehicle portion of the UAS. And youll have a payload; i n this
case, showing a small high-definition c amera.
And youll have support equipment. It might be extra propellers. It might be your smart phone with some of
the l ater FAA software up and running. It might be power supplies to c harge your system. But that all c reates
the UAS environment.
That environment i s similar across both small platforms and l arger platforms. Now what I mean by that i s
you may think of the operator i n this c ase as j ust having a small quad rotor and, maybe, a box full of extra
parts. Well, that may be the c ase but i f we were to take that to one step further, this operator c ould actually
be an operator within a mobile van that has high-power telemetry and video l inks, talking to a l arge
unmanned aerial vehicle with a payload that could be a broad scope of different i tems. And there might also
be an entirely different trailer outside which has the support equipment and the maintenance personnel to
actually be able to go out and support the UAV.

So, dont l ook at i t as you being different i n the process of that flow that occurs within what we c all a
UAS, or that system. That system i s similar across multiple platforms, multiple users. The size may vary.
The cost most c ertainly may vary. But the basic c oncept of being an unmanned aerospace system i s
very i mportant to remember, and its c ommon across multiple platforms and users.

Why use UAS? Whats their purpose?

Theres a lot i n the news obviously about such systems as Predator, being used for military operations
and, obviously, that receives a l ot of news. But those same types of systems are being used by research
groups, i ncluding such government agencies as NASA, to be able to do environmental research,
meteorological research, an entire gambit of difference aspects that the platform c an c arry different
sensors to do the j ob.
And theres new platforms being developed for agricultural use, for general surveillance and, i n this
case, I bring up the INSITU platform thats shown. That platform was actually c reated to help the fishing
industry and l ater moved i nto military use and c ontinues to have a broad scope use i n both military and
the c ivilian environment.
Of course, there are many quad rotors out there today being used for everything from agricultural
research to photography, both c ommercial and public use. A broad array of different things that are being
developed for such systems and many of them being developed on the fly things that had not been
thought about before that a UAS c ould do.
Fixed-wing operations and small aircraft that are able to go out and actually search for c attle, search for
wolves or the i mpact of wolves i n some environment. Actually i nspect roads after heavy snows.
Police departments and public use.
Using rotary wing aircraft to work on electrical l ines and, by that I mean, actually go up and i nspect
electrical systems. Things that use to have to be done by a manned operator or a hoist or c rane or even a
rotary wing manned asset are now being done by UAS. And the reason we c all UAS Unmanned Aerospace

Systems here at Embry Riddle i s because there i s the space aspect systems such as the X37. But also
unmanned systems that c an be probes that are out i nvestigating other planets within the solar
system or beyond are also c onsidered UAS.

UAS c ome i n many c ategories and c lasses, and i t c an get pretty c onfusing because theres many different
descriptions out there that discuss the altitude that c an be flown, the weight of the aircraft during
takeoff, how fast the system goes, etc. But, given the recent rulings by the FAA for recreational use, a
better method or a straight-forward method to describe UAS might be the one shown here.
It breaks down to c ategories 0 through 3 . By using c ategories 0 through 3 , we have a straight forward
approach on handling the new types of registrations and requirements for UAS.
Specifically, c ategory 0 UAS would be one that i s .55 pounds or l ess and does not require registration
under the new rules.
Next would be c ategory 1 which would be .56 pounds through 5 5 pounds. That i ncludes the recreational
categories but also i s the start, at .56 pounds, of UAS that require registration under the new process.
Going up to c ategory 2 were at 5 6 pounds and above, up through 1 ,320 pounds which, any of you that
are sport pilots, might recognize that 1,320 pound max gross takeoff as the l imit for a l ight sport aircraft
as well.
And, then, above 1 ,320 pounds.
But, i n this way, we focus on the weights and not the altitudes and other speed i ssues of the UAS when
making the c ategory. This will become more i mportant as UAS c ontinue to advance and smaller UAS are
capable of flying to higher altitudes at higher speeds as i ntegration i nto the NAS takes place over the
decades to c ome.

So, one of the first questions you should ask yourself i s: c an you l egally fly a UAS? So i f I state that a
little bit differently, the real question is: what type of UAS operator are you?
Now, you c an be a public or government entity, which includes state governments, l aw enforcement,
public universities, first responders.
Or, you c ould be a non-government entity or a c ivil user. And sometimes well talk about c ommercial
or for business and profit. A private university. So, for example, Embry Riddle would be c onsidered a
non-government entity because we are a private non-public university. And entrepreneurs flying for
business pursuit i n general.
And finally, you c ould be someone thats actually manufacturing UAS.
Well, all of these different users require a different type of approval. Now, obviously, the i ndividual or
the hobbyist, which are the majority of the people that probably are signed up for this c ourse, are
recreational users. Alright, so they c an go out and fly as needed. You c an go ahead and register your
UAS well talk about that i n a minute and youre good to go, following the rules required.
However, i f youre a public government entity, you have to go through a fairly lengthy Certificate of
Authorization or a COA process. Now, this COA process c an take quite a while. It c an take four, six,
eight months or more to receive your COA and be able to fly.

Likewise, c ivil or non-government entities go through a 3 33 exemption process. The 3 33 exemption is

also l engthy and i t i ncludes a Certificate of Authorization to fly once approved. Now, a way to l ook at
this would be that the 3 33 exemption i s actually the same as your automobile being authorized to
drive on the road. But that doesnt give you permission to drive i t. You still need to have a l icense, and
within that license c ould be c onstraints. So, the 3 33 exemption allows you to fly your vehicle l egally. It
doesnt authorize you to do that the COA will authorize that. So, what were really talking about i s
the platform being authorized as a safe platform to fly within the National Airspace System and, then,
your l icense or c ertificate the approval of the operator and his or her c apabilities to go out and fly.
And, do that for very specific reasons. All of that i s part of the approval process that the FAA has to go
through.
Youll hear a l ot of c omplaints off and on about delays with the FAA on approvals, but the other side of
this i s to l ook at the number of UAS that are being manufactured and put out i nto the National
Airspace System and youll get a feel for how c omplex the problem i s to match up a UAS that c an be
authorized to fly with an operator that i s authorized to fly i t on a mission or a role that i s l egal to do.
And i t goes on from there. And the UAS manufacturers, j ust like manned aircraft manufacturers would
go after a type c ertificate. They want to be able to go out and prove that their UAS i s worthy and safe
to fly i n the NAS, which will allow it to be c onsidered for a 3 33 exemption and right on down the l ine.
So, well talk more about this i n Module 2 . It i s a c omplex area, but i ts the c urrent system and i ts
going to be the c urrent system for quite a while, so i ts worth talking about and, again, well talk more
about that i n Module 2 .

But, first things first before we go on. For those of you that are recreational or hobby users and your
UAS that you have i s not a c lass 0 or .55 pounds and below youre required to register before you
take your first flight i n the NAS. If you have any doubts (and i f you go to the FAA l ink which i s very
quick to do it takes maybe three to five minutes to register yourself to fly UAS, where youll be given
a standard registration number for any UAS that you fly) But if you have any doubts as to some of the
questions the FAA may throw at you or some of the things that you may need to do to be l egal and to
fly safe, tune i n to Module 2 of this MOOC, and some of that will be c overed there as well as through
Module 1 . Again, a l ot of websites, a l ot of sources out there to help you fly safely and answer those
questions.

10

So, theres a l ot of different types of UAS, but what about the l aunch methods for the vehicles
themselves? Well, one method i s c onventional, j ust l ike your standard manned aircraft taking off a
grass field or asphalt or, i n many c ases, a very short parking l ot. But i ts c onventional. Youre rolling
down the runway and youre taking off.
You c an have a bungee c atapult approach that gets you up to speed. So, once you launch, the vehicles
power plant, or engine, c an take over and be able to c ontinue flight at a safe speed required to remain
airborne.
It might be a hand-l aunch system, which i s getting to be very popular across a broad scope of i ndustry
and military use.
Vertical takeoff and l anding, such as the YUNEEC Q500 shown here one of the most c ommon
methods for l aunch.
And, l arger rail l auncher systems, such as the Scan Eagle here. Ruggedized, high power l aunch systems
in order to be able to get over 5 5, 6 0, 7 0 pounds or more i n the air, up to speed, i n j ust 1 5 or 2 0 feet.
Theres new research out i nto different types of l aunch vehicles even from submarines. Tube l aunch,
such as the switchblade system, air l aunch, and

11

from the recovery methods of returning: c onventional, of c ourse;

netted systems;
once again, vertical takeoff and l anding;
arrested systems, such as the Skyhook here for the INSITU platforms;
and parachute.
Now these arent the only l aunch and recovery methods, but the point being i s that each i ndividual
UAS requires i ts own type of l aunch and recovery based on the size, the weight of the platform, the
type of sensors being c arried, and a variety of other elements that make up the UAS and drive the
platform toward a specific launch and recovery method. For most of you that are out there i n the
audience today, vertical takeoff and l anding will be the most c ommon process and, specifically, quad
rotors or rotary wing systems.

12

Now, with your UAS airborne, you want to be able to communicate with i t, and we c all that Command,
Control and Communications, or C3. Now, Communications (this i s the data or video between the UAS
and the ground c ontrol station) and Command and Control, or C2, i s UAS movement or actions
actually c ontrolling what the UAS i s going to be doing. Now, that c an be done with a basic c ontroller,
with no video whatsoever.
It c an be done with a hand-held ground c ontrol system with actual video from the UAS.
It c an be done with more advanced portable GCS including l aptops, amplifiers, data l inks or,
obviously, i t c an be an all out c ontrol system such as the Raytheon c ommon ground c ontrol system (or
CGCS) shown here, which has advanced c apability across the board.
So Command and Control Communications, and Command and Control (C3 and C2) will vary
depending on the user, but i n the end i ts the same basic process a l evel of c ontrol and some l evel of
being able to pass telemetry, or data c ontrol, between the vehicle and the ground and, possibly, video.

13

Now, C3 antennas vary from high gain dishes to c loverleaf antennas which are getting to be very
common on the UAS platforms patch antennas, quarter wave verticals, Yagis. Were not going to get
into these today; but remember, on any of these systems the type of antenna required i s going to be
based on the portability requirements of the system, how far the UAS will actually be flying away from
the ground c ontrol station, the environment, meteorologically. Is i t in an area where there might be
high humidity? Is i t i n a desert area? Things vary greatly based on those i ssues. And, so, youll see a
variety of antennas, although the most c ommon are going to be the c loverleaf and the quarter wave
vertical for most users.

14

From the c ommand and control perspective, there are two viewpoints for the pilot and the operator.
One i s egocentric, the other exocentric.
Egocentric i s having a view from the perspective of being on the air vehicle i tself. Now, this c an be very
basic as i n small screens on hand held ground c ontrol systems or it c an be quite advanced as i n the
many forms of first person view goggles that are out for sale today.
Exocentric, on the other hand, i s being outside the vehicle similar to most radio-controlled airplanes
in which no video may be c oming i n at all, but youre watching the movements of the aircraft as i t flies
and youre c ontrolling it based on what youre seeing from outside that aircraft.
In reality, many of the newer systems use a c ombination of both viewpoints. For example, you may
launch and recover j ust by l ooking at the UAS and not using video whatsoever, but then may go to
more of an egocentric view once airborne and actually i nflight. So, again, two basic forms egocentric
and exocentric used for c ommand and c ontrol to provide the situation awareness, or viewpoints, for
the system operator or pilot.

15

Now, on top of all of this, there are l evels of autonomy. What do we really mean by that? Well, the
most basic i s manual c ontrol. The platform i s really not autonomous at all. The operator has to have
hands-on c ontrol of the vehicle i n order to take off, fly, and l and. One of the most c ommon c ontrols
are the manual c ontrols.
Now, semi-autonomous c an be c ontrol where the flight i s shared by both the operator and on-board
computers and processing systems on the UAS. Now, this doesnt have to be c omplex. This c ould be
considered, for example, an auto-pilot, or waypoints, that you put i nto your quad rotor to go from
points A, B, C, D, and E or, as shown here with the DJI systems and bumpers, to actually have c ollision
avoidance where the system knows when to slow down near objects and help the operator. So, that
would be the semi-autonomous l ook.
And, finally, we have autonomous, which I have l isted here as under c onstruction. Autonomy gets
debated over and over again for several reasons. One i s the ethics of something operating totally
autonomous. The other side of that i s: What i s autonomy? What really makes a platform autonomous?
In any c ase, were really not there yet. Artificial i ntelligence will begin to get us c loser, but the point of
letting a UAS l aunch and make decisions on i ts own based on c hanges i n the environment, both
foreseen and unforeseen, i s quite a way down the l ine. So, what youll normally be discussing with
levels of autonomy for the average user are manual and semi-autonomous modes.

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So, your UAS or UAV i s i n flight. But what does that mean? Well, it means youre watching your UAS,
youre c ontrolling i t manually, semi-autonomously, but dont c onfuse visual l ine of sight (vLOS) with
communications l ine of sight (cLOS).
First of all, i f you c annot visually see your UAS with just your own eyeballs, with the exception being i f
you need glasses to i mprove your vision or youre wearing c ontacts, you are not l egal. It doesnt even
matter i f youre still within c ommunications with your UAS and you have a video feed from the vehicle
and GPS data. If you c annot visually see your UAS, you are not within visual l ine of sight and you are
not flying l egally. And i ts very dangerous within the national airspace system for c ollisions to even
think about doing that.
Also remember that observers someone to go out and fly with you are great, but dont c onfuse the
purpose of an observer. An observer makes for an awesome addition to l ook for other aircraft and let
you know when you need to l and. That observer might be standing next to you, or you might be
talking with them over a hand held radio or c ell phone an eighth of a mile or a quarter of a mile away,
but that observer c annot take the place of the pilot or the operator for being within visual range. If the
observer sees the UAS, but the pilot or operator does not, the UAS i s not i n visual l ine of sight and you
are not flying l egally, so keep that i n mind.
And, again, as a pilot or operator, you c annot use binoculars or anything that gives you a l onger range
to the UAS based on using a magnification device. The reason for that i s your field of view c hanges and
youre l ess l ikely to be able to see aircraft i n the air that c ould be a c ollision hazard when youre using
binoculars or other devices.

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Now, one way to l ook at this a l ittle bit different i s through what I c all the small UAS l ine of sight c ell.
Now, i n this picture youve got the operator i n the c enter and we know from all the rules that are out
there today and well talk about more i n the second module, especially that youre not supposed
to fly more than 4 00 feet above ground l evel, or AGL. But you also have to keep your UAS within visual
line of sight. That forms the first part of the c ell.
But the other part of the c ell i s the c ommunications l ine of sight. Now, the c ommunications l ine of
sight i s normally going to be outside the visual range. So, there are times that you will be able to fly
further than you c an see, but you should not be doing that. Again, number one, its not safe; number
two, i ts not l egal. But c ommunications l ine of sight c an normally be further than your visual l ine of
sight. But your flight needs to stop at your visual line of sight l imits. So, your j ob, no matter what the
communications c ell size i s, i s to stay within your visual line of sight area i n order to keep safe and to
keep legal.

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Now, this i s one of the i ssues that people forget about when it c omes to visual l ine of sight. Its not just
that you are tracking where your UAS i s l ocated; the fact i s that you may be the only one that c an
actually see your UAS within the airspace. That means a manned aircraft, flying at 4 00 or 5 00 feet,
possibly l ower, possibly a l ittle bit higher, might not be able to see your UAS at all because of the
angles at which the pilots have to l ook to see your UAS, which i s downward. Now, theres a great video
from the Colorado Department of Agriculture were going to play at this point that really does a
tremendous j ob of showing j ust how difficult i t is for pilots to see UAS. So, l ets take a c ouple minutes
and go ahead a watch that video.
<Video plays>
OK, so you get a real feel for j ust how difficult it i s to see a UAS from the vantage point of a manned
aircraft. So, keep i n mind again, that you may be the only one that c an see your UAS. That puts
additional emphasis and responsibility on you as the UAS pilot or operator to avoid other aircraft.

19

And, finally, remember to l ook out and plan for c ommand and c ontrol communications, or C3, problems
because theyre going to occur. This means some questions you c an ask yourself that, again, are c ommon
sense, but you need to think about i t before i t happens.
First, what does your manufacturers manual say will happen i f the c ontrol l ink i s l ost on your UAS? Is i t
going to return to base, or RTB? Will i t j ust hover where i ts at so that you c an try to regain link? Or i s i t
going to drop from the sky? Or any c ombination of different things that c ould occur based on the
manufacturers design? Know that ahead of time.
Another side of that i s how l ong c an your UAS fly until power i s out? If you l ose l ink or i f i ts a runaway,
how far c an i t go?
And based on how far i t c an go or how fast i t c an go, c an you keep up with i t by running on foot? Do you
need to be on a bicycle c hasing i t? Do you need to have a c ar ready? Where i s your UAS going? Can you try
to maintain visual l ine of sight?
And which way i s i t going? And, based on that, who will you c all i f the l ink i s l ost? If youre out in the
middle of nowhere 10 or 1 5 miles from any airport or anyone that c ould possibly be i njured by your UAS
well, that may be a different situation. But i f youre c loser to an airport, and l ets say youre at the five
and a half or six-mile point, does your UAS have enough power to fly i nto the airport area i f heading i n that
direction? Most people are going to fly i n an area that theyre c ommonly familiar with, so having the
number of the airport manager or someone to c all to give them a heads up there might be a problem i s a
huge step i n being responsible within the National Airspace System i n the use of your UAS.
And, finally, always remember your emergency l anding procedures. Have you picked out spots to l and i f
you have problems i n flight? If your UAS c ould l ose l ink and may l and automatically, whats underneath i t?

20

Is i t going to l and i n someones yard? Is i t going to l and on a power l ine? There are a l ot of things to
consider as youre out flying your UAS. Again, these are things that you dont have to overly worry
about, but most c ertainly should be thinking about as you fly your unmanned aerospace system.

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So, l ets do a l ittle bit of a recap. Weve talked about a l ot of things today, but weve c overed some
UAS basics.
Weve l ooked at UAS c ategories, or c lasses.
The types of UAS flight profiles from the standpoint of UAS being out and about.
How are you going to c ontrol them? How will they be able to l aunch and recover? What occurs with
the UAS i n flight from the standpoint of autonomy?
And, also, weve taken a l ook at visual l ine of sight and c ommunications l ine of sight and the
importance of not mixing the two of those up and understanding that visual l ine of sight is your
primary c oncern when i t c omes to avoiding other aircraft within the airspace.

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So, with module one recapped, there are some tasks that c an be done. First of all, review the assigned
readings and videos that are i n the module that relate to what Ive talked about here today.
Then, respond to the discussion board posting. Take a l ook at the research question thats being
presented and formulate an answer that not only makes sense to post, but makes sense to you to help
you with safe flight of your UAS.
And, then, take the module one quiz.
Now, i f desired, i f you want to dig i n deeper or i f youre a professional pilot, private pilot, or whatever
the c ase may be, you c an go ahead and review the advanced c oncepts readings and videos.
But, regardless of your background, feel free to c hime i n to the student l ounge area and c omment on
different postings or ask questions, because youll find that within this group of thousands of students
enrolled i n this MOOC, there are some experts out there amongst your fellow students.
And dont be afraid to send i n a question via the Ask the experts l ink.

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Now, next week Module Two were going to take a l ook at the National Airspace System, how i t
works, the c lasses of airspace, things such as Notice to Airmen (or NOTAMs), and well also look at
mission planning and online planning software to help you fly safer.
Were going to c over some of the dos and donts of UAS operations i n the NAS and, for those of you
that are l ooking to go a l ittle bit further i nto UAS as i n c ommercial or public users that are non-
recreational, well take a l ook real quick at the 3 33 exemption and the COA process and give you a feel
for how that works and where to go to get help i n those areas.

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Now, dont forget, i f you have any questions you c an go to the Ask the expert l ink within each
module and youll be able to email i n a question to one of the many support faculty members here at
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Worldwide College of Aeronautics that are standing by to
answer your questions. Well go ahead and review those daily. Well take a l ook at the most frequently
asked questions, and well formulate and post answers to those i n a forum online.
And, for now, that c oncludes Module One. I l ook forward to working with you this week, and l ook
forward to seeing you again i n Module Two

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