Standards group releases UAS publications

This was a year of progress for unmanned aircraft avionics, due in part to actions of RTCA, the standards association founded in 1935 as the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics. Special Committee 228, which focuses on Minimum Operational Performance Standards for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, in May published two related documents. The first, Detect and Avoid Minimum Operational Performance Standards Phase 1, designated DO-365, addresses the FAA requirement for see and avoid. The standard defines the necessary self-reporting for a UAS, as well as when to provide the pilot in command with the information needed to take corrective action. In 2016, a flight of the altitude system was conducted on a general aviation aircraft and, in 2015, on an unmanned aircraft.