What is a remotely operated spy plane?
What is a remotely operated spy plane? Spy planes are typically thought of as flying at very high altitudes from some secret location. However, the United States military uses something very similar in concept to the usual radio controlled model airplane . What makes these unmanned planes so special is that they fly by remote control, up to about 90 mph, at an altitude of up to 12,000 feet. They use an ingenious telemetry system — a pilot on the ground sits at a control panel very similar to a normal plane’s cockpit! The pilot can control the plane with the instruments just a pilot who was flying a full-size plane would. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) can be launched without a runway with rocket assisted takeoff (RATO). Then, a 26-horsepower Sachs air-cooled twin-cylinder engine takes over. The pioneer typically lands on a 3,000 foot runway, and can take off in about 1,200 feet, without using the
