Though many parallels may be drawn between early and modern Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), perhaps the most direct continued practice is that of the Optionally Piloted Vehicle (OPV). Early UAS prototypes made use of existing manned aircraft platforms as test beds for new autonomous technologies. Today, OPV platforms are used for the same practice- evaluating untested UAS technology in a proven manned platform, allowing the redundant safety of a human pilot in the loop.
The Sperry Aerial Torpedo project in 1911-1918 made use of the Curtis N-9 Seaplane, a proven manned aircraft design, to create a possibly viable unmanned aerial bombing platform. At the beginning of the project manned, controlled, heavier-than-air flight had only been achieved eight years prior and there were a great deal of technical challenges yet to be solved before the Sperry Aerial Torpedo could succeed. Human pilots were used to perform the takeoff, and subsequently transferred controls to the Sperry autopilot. When the Curtis airplane company created a purpose-built airframe called the "Curtis-Sperry Flying Bomb," Elmer Sperry himself elected to be the test pilot. Sperry crashed twice, once when the aircraft hit a patch of ice on takeoff, and again while transferring controls to the autopilot. Sperry was unhurt in both accidents.
A modern example of the OPV is the Centaur by Aurora Flight Sciences. Based on the Diamond DA-42 manned aircraft, the Centaur provides for fully autonomous, manned pilotage, or a combination of the two control regimes. Its unmanned functionality may be accessed remotely or from a terminal within the aircraft. The impetus behind creating an OPV in the present day coincides with the reasons behind early optionally piloted UAS, and incorporates some new ones. Similar to early UAS Centaur allows component manufacturers to test new technologies in a low-risk environment for all or part of the flight profile. Centaur offers benefits that may not have been realized in early UAS, such as mitigation of legal restrictions and re-positioning of the aircraft.
References:
Centaur. Manassas: Aurora Flight Sciences, Inc. www.aurora.aero. (n.d.) Web. Accessed 18 Jan 2015
Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane (n.d.) en.wikipedia.com. Web. Accessed 18 January 2015
Interesting that a aircraft would be designed for either on-board control or remote control from the ground. Since the aircraft must accommodate a pilot, that is weight and space that could be otherwise deleted or used for payload. Would it be an improvement of the aircraft design to do so?
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