UAV air worthiness ASTM F38, EuroCAE WG73, NATO STANAG 4671, RTCA SC-203

From presentation by Sebastien Chedeau on " DRAC program update" at the UAV 2007 Conference in Paris.

This Committee addresses issues related to design, performance, quality acceptance tests, and safety monitoring for unmanned air vehicle systems. Stakeholders include manufactures of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and their components, federal agencies, design professionals, professional societies, maintenance professionals, trade associations, financial organizations, and academia. Over 180 members are involved in this multinational initiative all participating actively within a three-tiered subcommittee structure focusing on airworthiness, flight operations, and operator qualifications.

Committee F38 meets twice a year, usually in May and November, with approximately 50 members attending three days of technical meetings. The Committee currently has jurisdiction of over 2 standards, published in the Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Volume 15.07. Information on F38's subcommittee structure and portfolio of approved standards and Work Items under construction are available from the List of Subcommittees, Standards and Work Items below. These standards have and continue to play a preeminent role in all aspects important to the UAS industry.

The European Organization for Civil Aviation Equipment, EuroCAE, has established WG73 UAV to start addressing the standards required for civilian UAVs to fly in non-segregated airspace. AUVSI's Institute is contributing to this exciting initiative by providing the WG73 secretariat.

WG73 is tasked with reviewing all the work resulting from a range of recent activities. The initial three deliverables from the WG are an inventory of 'UAV-related elements concerning the Operational Concept', a Work Plan for the development of the Operational Concept and finally the Operational Concept itself.

Thereafter further activities will be tasked to deal with standards and equipment requirements, development, production, deployment and monitoring. The WG has prepared a draft 'road map' to provide a high level description of these subsequent activities.

WG73 is organised into three groups, airworthiness, operations and air traffic management. If you would like to participate in these activities, please contact me at institute@auvsi.org.

WG73 is a Working Group of the European Organization for Civilian Aircraft Equipment. It is a 40-ish year old standards writing body which recommends standards to the European authorities, Eurocontrol and EASA (formerly JAA). WG73 is focused on civilian regulation and on UAVs with a mass greater than 150kg.

EUROCAE HQ is in Malakoff in Paris, but the main meetings of the WG73 have taken place at Eurocontrol in Brussels. WG73 is working closely with RTCA SC203 in the USA and is liaising with ASTM F38, also in the USA.

Recently ICAO (Montreal) has established a UAV monitoring activity. We are now making some headway! Parc Aberporth has staged some UAV demos and will continue to do so. Wales is keen to make Parc a centre of excellence of UAVs and possibly other unmanned systems. There has been government investment to support that aim. There are also UAV test ranges in Sweden and Finland, both of which are very large and good places to test standards etc.

The European Aviation Safety Agency is the centrepiece of the European Union’s strategy for aviation safety. Our mission is to promote the highest common standards of safety and environmental protection in civil aviation.

A common strategy

Air transport has become the safest form of travel. As air traffic continues to grow a common initiative is needed at the European level to keep air transport safe and sustainable: While national authorities continue to carry out the majority of operational tasks - such as certification of individual aircraft or licensing of pilots - the Agency develops common safety and environmental rules at the European level. It monitors the implementation of standards through inspections in the Member States and provides the necessary technical expertise, training and research.

Towards a single aviation market

The European Aviation Safety Agency is also responsible for type-certification, i.e. the certification of specific models of aircraft, engines or parts approved for operation in the European Union. The aviation industry benefits from common specifications, cost-efficient services and a single point of contact.

Current tasks

In sum, the main tasks of the Agency currently include:

Rulemaking: drafting safety legislation and providing technical advice to the European Commission and to the Member States
Inspections, training and standardisation programmes to ensure uniform implementation of European aviation safety legislation in all Member States
Safety and environmental type-certification of aircraft, engines and parts
Approval and oversight of aircraft design organisations world-wide as and of production and maintenance organisations outside the EU
Data collection, analysis and research to improve aviation safety.
Manage the European Community SAFA programme on behalf of the European Commission.

Future tasks

The European Commission has proposed to extend the Agency’s responsibilities to further important areas of safety regulation:R

Rules and procedures for civil aviation operations
Licensing of crews in the Member States
Certification of non-Member State airlines.

The Agency expects to take over these tasks by 2008. In the long-term, it is also likely to play a key role in the safety regulation of airports and air traffic management systems.

Independent and accountable

The European Aviation Safety Agency became operational in 2003 on the basis of a European Parliament and Council Regulation (1592/2002). As an independent EU body under European law, it is accountable to the Member States and the EU institutions. A Management Board with representatives from the Member States and the European Commission adopts the Agency’s budget and work programme. The aviation industry is actively involved in the Agency’s work through a number of consultative and advisory committees. There is also an independent Board of Appeal.

Growing fast

Based in Cologne, Germany, the Agency already employs some 300 professionals from all Member States. It will continue to recruit highly qualified specialists and administrators in the next years as it consolidates its position as Europe's centre of excellence in aviation safety.

International co-operation

The European Aviation Safety Agency is developing close working relationships with counterpart organisations across the world including the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States and the aviation authorities of Canada, Brazil, Israel, China and Russia. Working arrangements between the Agency and these organisations are aimed at harmonising standards and promoting best practice in aviation safety world-wide.

Above from a presentation by Mike Strong DCMAC at the EUROCONTROL UAS Workshop on the 7th and 8th of May 2008 at EUROCONTROL HQ in Brussels. Contact = michael.strong@eurocontrol.int.

Above and below from a presentation by Graham Lynn on " UAVs are not model aircraft" at the UAV 2007 Conference in Paris.

SC-203

Unmanned Aircraft Systems