WB-57 and "Civil Air Patrol Remotely Piloted Vehicles" at the Nellis Aviation Nation 2012

www.nellis.af.mil...

Nellis is one of those shows where the static displays are often more interesting than what is flying. I have no idea what drones CAP is flying.

Now the WB-57 is interesting. It hasn't been a secret that they fly this thing around the range for various missions. It has carried ground sensing gear at time, and also communications gear for testing purposes in the BACN program.

reply to post by gariac


I'm surprised it's going to be there. The schedule I saw showed one deployed and the other in PDM until January, them it was deploying.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Does anybody know if WB-57 serial number 63-13295 is ready yet? it went for a 18 month Restoration Jun 2011.
It should join the fleet as NASA 927.

reply to post by Zaphod58


The schedule I saw was one is in Afghanistan on BACN duty until dec 5th, deploying again in feb 2013 for six months. The second one is at Miramar getting fitted with BACN stuff, with a CONUS deployment coming up in October through December to, you guessed it, Nellis for testing.

As for CAP flying drones, that is odd. They always said its cheaper to fly the cessna's than the drones but I don't know for sure.

reply to post by ajsr71


It's not flying yet. NASA 927 doesn't show any flights more recent than 5 years ago, when it was a T-38.

NASA927 now flying.
NASA927

reply to post by gariac


Pictures of WB-57F NASA 927 test flight.

globalaviationresource.com...

I am in Civil Air Patrol. We do not have any drones, But what we do have are a few Cessna 172s set up to fly as trainers for drone pilots. It is flown with pilots on board while the drone crew on the ground flies the plane remotely.
That way the Air Force doesn't have to worry about losing drones on training missions and if something goes wrong on the ground, the pilots in the plane can take over.

modelerX
I am in Civil Air Patrol. We do not have any drones, But what we do have are a few Cessna 172s set up to fly as trainers for drone pilots. It is flown with pilots on board while the drone crew on the ground flies the plane remotely.
That way the Air Force doesn't have to worry about losing drones on training missions and if something goes wrong on the ground, the pilots in the plane can take over.

I wasn't at the show, but this is from the USAF website:

Civil Air Patrol Remotely Piloted Vehicles

According to FAA rules, you are required to fly chase after drones except in certain special airspace. Essentially the chase plane is the eyes of the drone as far as the FAA is concerned. I can dig up the FAA document if you need to see it.

www.capvolunteernow.com...

looking for more info on the drone program...

www.capvolunteernow.com...

This is what I was referring to in my first post.