Second EAC In Just Ten Weeks

Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation has received its second Experimental Airworthiness Certificate (EAC) in ten weeks from the FAA, allowing the GoldenEye 50 Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) to fly in the National Airspace System (NAS). An Experimental Airworthiness Certificate permits Unmanned Aircraft Systems flight operations in specified sections of the National Airspace System. It also authorizes unmanned aircraft manufacturers to conduct research and development, crew training and marketing demonstrations.

To date, the FAA has issued only 14 EACs for UAS operations in civil airspace. Aurora won the right to fly in the NAS after successfully completing a GoldenEye 50 demonstration flight for FAA officials in Northern Virginia. The Aurora flight operations team provided an excellent flight for the FAA under the watchful eye of Doug Davis, Manager of the FAA's Unmanned Aircraft Program Office. The flight demonstrated the aircraft's vertical takeoff, hover and maneuver capabilities.

The GoldenEye 50 is unique among current ducted fan unmanned aerial systems because it is able to take off vertically, autonomously transition to high-speed wingborne flight and then return to hover flight in the destination area to collect imagery and sensor readings. The GoldenEye 50 was designed as a technology development platform for Aurora's larger ducted fan aircraft, the GoldenEye 80.

Dr. John S. Langford, president and chief executive officer of Aurora Flight Sciences, called receipt of the second FAA EAC "a testament to the continued hard work of the FAA and the Aurora GoldenEye team."

Aurora Flight Sciences develops and provides robotic aircraft and other advanced aerospace vehicles for scientific and military applications. Aurora is headquartered in Manassas, VA and operates production plants in Clarksburg, WV and Columbus, MS and a Research and Development Center in Cambridge, MA.

FMI: www.aurora.aero