"Despite the high level of media attention, most military unmanned aircraft remain shrouded in secrecy, including one of the largest called Global Hawk. Rick Thomas, a retired senior-level Air Force officer and Global Hawk pilot introduces the largest operational unmanned reconnaissance aircraft in the world and reveals first-hand accounts of how this amazing unmanned aircraft came to be. He also takes you inside the Global Hawk control station to...

"Describes careers as a drone pilot, the training needed, and career outlooks"--

After six tours of duty, Air Force pilot Tom Egan yearns to get back into the cockpit of a real plane, but he now fights the Taliban from an air-conditioned box in the Las Vegas desert. When he and his crew start taking orders directly from the CIA, and the stakes are raised, Egan's nerves, and his relationship with his wife begin to unravel. Revealing the psychological toll drone pilots endure as they are forced to witness the aftermath of their...

This research focuses on three types of flight control problems associated with unmanned aircraft systems. The three flight control problems are: external pilot difficulties with inconsistent mapping of the controls to the movement of the aircraft; difficulties associated with the transfer of control from one control location to another during the flight; and problems associated the automation of flight control. Specific accidents associated with...