(May 31, 2006)

Research conducted by Dr. Alan Hobbs on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) maintenance and its possible implications as civilian use of UAVs increases in the National Airspace was featured in the April 2006 issue of Aviation Week's Overhaul & Maintenance magazine. As reported in the article, the research has highlighted that UAV-specific maintenance requires attention to the entire UAV system including the aircraft, software, documentation, laptop-based ground control station, wireless communications, etc. Therefore, system reliability may be a greater threat to UAVs than for conventional aircraft, leading to an increase in the criticality of maintenance. One emerging difference from conventional aircraft maintenance is that for most small UAV systems, laptop computers are critical to flight guidance and control. Supporting and maintaining a laptop computer and its software will therefore become a key maintenance task for keeping UAVs airworthy.