China's AT200 Cargo Drone Production Commenced

[maturepilot83]

https://www.indrastra.com/2019/02/China ... -0018.html

According to the latest media reports, China has begun production of its AT200 cargo drone (unmanned aerial vehicle - UAV) after the completion of successful airworthiness trials in 2018. It is based on P750XL turboprop light utility aircraft, which is designed and built by Pacific Aerospace, an aircraft manufacturing company based in New Zealand.

On October 26, 2017, a prototype of AT200 successfully performed a pre-programmed flight between Pucheng Neifu Airport and Danfeng Airport in Shaanxi province. It flew altitudes of up to 16,732 ft (5,100 m) over the Qinling Mountains. The video released by its Chengdu-based manufacturer Star UAV System and its co-development partner Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to China Central Television (CCTV) showed the aircraft taxiing, taking off and landing automatically.

AT200 cargo drone measures 11.84 m-long and 4.04 m-high and has a wingspan of 12.8 m. It has cargo compartment of 10 cubic meters which can accommodate 1.5 tonnes of cargo flying at 6000 meters with a cruising speed of 313 km/h with a 2000 km+ range. When fully-loaded, it can take off and land on a 200 meters runway. It can operate in both autonomous and remote pilot modes. The drone is powered by 750hp PT6A-34 lightweight, twin-shaft, turboprop engine developed by Pratt and Whitney Canada. It drives a three-blade propeller, which is mounted in the front in tractor configuration.

Currently, Star UAV System has a contract from SF Express - China's second largest domestic and international courier (based in the Guangdong province) - in October 2017, under which it will supply three AT200 air vehicles for further evaluation and operational testing. With SF Express, the company "will validate air traffic control, autonomous flight, and navigation technologies, and safety procedures that are necessary to enable large-scale unmanned air logistics operations within the country". Also, the company has signed a contract to deliver up to 50 AT200s to an undisclosed customer by the year 2022.

[skybluetrek]

How long until we start losing pilot jobs to this kind of UAVs? Or how many more years of two-crew operations? I wonder how feasible it'd be to ''upgrade'' the current two-crew rated airplanes to fly single pilot.

[maturepilot83]

How long until we start losing pilot jobs to this kind of UAVs? Or how many more years of two-crew operations? I wonder how feasible it'd be to ''upgrade'' the current two-crew rated airplanes to fly single pilot.

If we wanted to replace a pilot with a computer we could do it yesterday. Retrofitting existing airframes with this technology is not the problem.

[Spokes]

How long until we start losing pilot jobs to this kind of UAVs? Or how many more years of two-crew operations? I wonder how feasible it'd be to ''upgrade'' the current two-crew rated airplanes to fly single pilot.

It’s one thing to use a UAV for cargo or surveillance, but I think we are a long way from people willing to get on an airplane with no one up front. I would say that as long as there is room for 400 seats in the back, there is room for a couple more in the front.

[flyinhigh]

If I can sit on my deck with a beer in my hand, I'll watch my laptop while it delivers pop and chips to pikagikum

[Spokes]

If I can sit on my deck with a beer in my hand, I'll watch my laptop while it delivers pop and chips to pikagikum

Not so far fetched.

[DadoBlade]

Drones are already some spraying crops on a small scale . If using larger drones, such as the AT200, is the career as a crop sprayer/ag pilot endangered?

[stayls]

am I the only one who notice the bouncy landing?



and looks like they are still following checklists

aand there is no automation there. its still manually operated


we have remote planes already... its just like car with a remote... this is funny...

[maturepilot83]

Drones are already some spraying crops on a small scale . If using larger drones, such as the AT200, is the career as a crop sprayer/ag pilot endangered?

Not in the near future. I imagine something like a VTOL aircraft filling that void...

[digits_]

am I the only one who notice the bouncy landing?



and looks like they are still following checklists

aand there is no automation there. its still manually operated


we have remote planes already... its just like car with a remote... this is funny...

Apparently it has both options: manual and automatic control.

Woyld be fun to see this plane share a circuit with 4 trainers, a medevac king air and a metro in an uncontrolled airport

[stayls]

am I the only one who notice the bouncy landing?



and looks like they are still following checklists

aand there is no automation there. its still manually operated


we have remote planes already... its just like car with a remote... this is funny...

Apparently it has both options: manual and automatic control.

Woyld be fun to see this plane share a circuit with 4 trainers, a medevac king air and a metro in an uncontrolled airport

that would be perfect. I would rather be at least 50km away from that though.

[linecrew]

am I the only one who notice the bouncy landing?

They landed it short of the runway! You can see the grass come off of the mains during the rollout.

[rookiepilot]

The future.

[flyinhigh]

Flying aircraft via remote is not new as NASA did testing with a Boeing 707 in 1984. obviously this was done for fuel testing and not to remove Pilots however it goes to show that the technology has been around for quite some time to begin removing pilots from the Cockpit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y33N0raKZBo

The FAA and TC will not allow the removal of Pilots from aircraft any time soon, nor will the travelling public. This cargo drone may do well in China as it is being built there, however you will not see it operating in our airspace anytime soon.

[digits_]

am I the only one who notice the bouncy landing?

They landed it short of the runway! You can see the grass come off of the mains during the rollout.

So what you are saying is that the technology is performig exactly like Chinese pilots would?

[stayls]

am I the only one who notice the bouncy landing?

They landed it short of the runway! You can see the grass come off of the mains during the rollout.

So what you are saying is that the technology is performig exactly like Chinese pilots would?

That is very rude thing to say

If this is about removing a seat from an airplane with instrument indicators, That really doesn't worth it.

[lownslow]

Woyld be fun to see this plane share a circuit with 4 trainers, a medevac king air and a metro in an uncontrolled airport

Its primary market doesn't have any of those things. It's kind of like how some developing countries went from no phones to cell phones. When there is no pre-existing standard you get to write your rules around the current 'best idea' without having to make compromises for legacy equipment.

I wonder how ground ops will be handled with these? Really they could just turn off the runway and shut down, then a tug pulls them in to the cargo terminal. Seems technologically much simpler than trying to autonomously deconflict with all of the ground activity at a lot of airports. Fewer rampies would be run over that way for sure.

[confusedalot]

Drones are yesterday's news. Easy.

Now, stick it in realtime circumstances. It all falls down, for now.

If ATC gets total remote control of everything that flies, then and only then will the concept work.

It can happen........someday....but not soon.