In contrast to the Predator, which typically flies at an altitude of 15, 000 feet, the Global Hawk is a high-altitude aircraft capable of flying at 65, 000 feet, beyond the reach of any ground-based weapon.
To the surprise of the airlines, control towers began unilaterally to impose a separation of 60 nautical miles between aircraft, irrespective of their altitude.
The BAMS-D program has been developing tactics and doctrine for the employment of high-altitude unmanned patrol aircraft since November 2006.
One problem was that the rocket used as a booster (a type known as Pegasus, that is designed to be used as a satellite launcher) is usually dropped from its launch aircraft at an altitude of 12, 200 metres.
As the aircraft ran out of altitude and options, gliding with a broken windshield and no engine power, the crew made visual contact with the ground and spotted a straight section of a rural highway below.
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As the aircraft descended from its cruise altitude of 17, 000 feet (5, 200 m) to 14, 000 feet (4, 300 m) near Rome VOR, it apparently entered a thunderstorm cell and encountered a massive amount of water and hail.
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Should any of you want to join along with Piccard and Borschberg as they fly across the country, you can hit the Solar Impulse Across America website to see a livestream from the cockpit, along with real-time altitude, air speed and battery status of the aircraft.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cambridge University have estimated the impact on the ground of emissions from aircraft flying at cruise altitude (about 35, 000 feet), a problem typically ignored by regulations.
The original Mercury spacesuits were a modified version of pressure suits that pilots wore in high-altitude jet aircraft.
Urge Taiwan to invest in a series of unmanned aircraft for several purposes, to include high-altitude surveillance and communication nodes, and medium range precision attack.
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Of this most recent spate of accidents, where many aboard have been able to walk away from the wreckage, it is worth noting that they occurred mostly in the landing phase, at relatively low altitude and speed and with the aircraft in question carrying only limited amounts of fuel.
Most airliners have autopilots which use sophisticated computer software to help pilots control the aircraft, used often during long periods of flying at the same altitude on long-haul flights.
It took off slung beneath the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft, which does the job of lifting the rocket plane to its launch altitude - some 45, 000ft (14km).
The Air Force uses an array of aircraft, such as the U-2 spy plane, the high-altitude Global Hawk drone or satellites and systems that can gather intelligence from space.
Will Whitehorn, Virgin Galactic's president, said that one of the things which attracted Aabar was the fact that White Knight (an aircraft which lifts to high altitude a rocket that can then take either passengers or satellites onwards into space) could be flown from Abu Dhabi.
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