Fully autonomous vs pilot-assisted
Fully autonomous — nobody in the cockpit
- The ground station flies the aircraft over the data link; the onboard flight computer executes
- Night operations, smoke, and the lowest-level work with no life at risk
- Same aircraft can be flown manned the next morning: actuators disengage
- Requires an FAA exemption / special airworthiness — the longer regulatory road
- Flight termination and return-to-base logic if the link is lost
Pilot-assisted — a pilot aboard, the plan from the station
- The autopilot follows the station's plan; the pilot monitors and can override instantly
- A dedicated display shows the current action, the next few steps and the other aircraft
- The pilot never has to find the target by eye or sequence by radio
- Legal today as an experimental autopilot programme — the short road to the first fire
- The pilot keeps the final say on every drop