Tom Schnell has flown countless test flights over Iowa City in the
University of Iowa's research aircraft at the Operator Performance
Laboratory.
But on a testing day last month, Schnell found himself in the unusual
position of being more passenger than pilot in his own cockpit.
Schnell's engineering lab, in a joint project with Rockwell Collins,
recently completed a successful series of tests demonstrating the potential of
one of the company's commercial avionics systems to be used for unmanned
flights.
The tests, project leaders say, are an early step toward pilotless aircraft
safely soaring through U.S. airspace and the Federal Aviation Administration one
day certifying the use of such unmanned systems.
"Think of it as a feasibility test to see if that approach is viable, and
it sure looked like it was," said Schnell, an engineering professor who directs
UI's Operator Performance Laboratory at the Iowa City Airport. "It was very
successful."
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