And Yes, There's A TFR

True or false: the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle has never flown a mission over US soil. For the moment, the answer is "true"... but that's likely to change by the end of the day Monday, when the first Global Hawk is scheduled to land at Beale Air Force Base outside Sacramento, CA.

"This landmark flight has historic implications since it's the first time a Global Hawk has not only flown from Beale, but anywhere in the United States on an official Air Combat Command mission," said Beale AFB spokesman Capt. Michael Andrews.

But the flight has other implications, as well. To make sure the remotely-operated Global Hawk doesn't conflict with other traffic that may be operating in the area...  the FAA has established NOTAM 66504 restricting operations to all other aircraft in the airspace within a 10-mile radius of Beale, from 4100' MSL up to and including FL180.

Similar restrictions for UAV operations along the US/Mexico border met with opposition this year from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. AOPA maintains UAVs should be able to detect and avoid other aircraft at least as well as "see and avoid" works for manned aircraft, before being allowed to operate over US soil.

The organization does not believe TFRs are the answer for UAVs.

"It's unacceptable to cordon off large areas of civilian airspace just because a UAV can't detect and avoid other aircraft," said AOPA Executive Vice President for Government Affairs Andy Cebula, speaking of the 300-mile-long border TFR put in place earlier this year. "We also believe that before the government takes large chunks of airspace for the long term, the public should have that chance to make comments, to make sure government officials understand the impact of their actions on the people they work for."

Predator-B drones operated from January through April this year along a 300-mile stretch of the border. That "temporary" flight restriction -- originally intended to be in place through the end of this year, and possibly longer than that -- was rescinded after a Predator-B crashed April 25.

The Associated Press reports Beale will eventually have seven Global Hawks by 2009.

FMI: www.af.mil