All interested parties are invited to attend the meetings of ASTM International Committee F38 on Unmanned Aircraft Systems on Nov. 13 and 14, during the November Committee Week in Atlanta, Georgia. The subjects to be discussed at the meeting are sense-and-avoid, terminology, launchers, visual range flight practices, commercial pilot practices and manufacturing quality assurance practice.

One trio of interrelated draft standards under development may alleviate safety concerns for small UAS operators. These proposed standards are WK5673, Guide for Mini-UAS Airworthiness; WK5466, Practice for Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Visual Range Flight Operations; and WK8962, Practice for Remote Control Pilots Operating Within Visual Range. They will work in conjunction with approved standard F2501, Practices for Unmanned Aircraft System Airworthiness.

With these documents, a UAS organization could potentially register the aircraft, train the pilots (through a network of instructors), and monitor the operators. To that end, these proposed standards emphasize those areas a training school needs to incorporate in a syllabus and course of instruction, an operator needs to incorporate into his business aviation operations manual, and the documentation needed to ensure safe, airworthy flights. In this way, F38 is trying to empower the creation of a specific process for successful submissions to FAA for approvals.

Other items open for discussion include WK8689, Specification for Design and Performance of a Pneumatic UAS Launch System; WK7066, Quality Assurance in the Manufacture of Unmanned Airplane Systems (UAS) Manufacturing, Aircraft and Pilot Taxonomies; and WK11174, Commercial Pilot Unmanned Aircraft Practical Test Standards.
 
Further information on Committee F38, its currently approved standards and proposed standards, and the committee’s “Roadmap for Strategic Standardization” can be found at www.astm.org/uav.htm . Committee F38 meets Nov. 13-14 during the November Committee Week in Atlanta, Ga. For membership or meeting information, contact Daniel Schultz, manager, Technical Committee Operations, ASTM International (phone: 610/832-9716; dschultz@astm.org).

Release #7505