Reliable Robotics Flies Unmanned Cessnas | Aviation International News

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Reliable Robotics Flies Unmanned Cessnas

Gaining experience with unmanned aircraft should give Reliable Robotics a leg up on the race to bring new technologies to market.

Reliable Robotics made the first landing of an unmanned Cessna Caravan on June 30. Although the company can't discuss publicly its partners, the Caravan's registration number clearly shows that cargo-operator Fedex is interested in the opportunities offered by unmanned aircraft.

By Matt Thurber • Editor-in-Chief

September 28, 2020

A California company called Reliable Robotics has achieved some pioneering achievements in unmanned aviation, having already flown a Cessna 172 Skyhawk and a 208 Caravan without pilots in a relatively populated area and normal metropolitan airspace. The flights took place from San Martin Airport, about 25 miles southeast of San Jose, first with an unmanned Cessna 172 on Sept. 24, 2019, followed by the Caravan’s first remote automated landing on June 30, 2020.

While these weren't the first unmanned flights of a passenger-type general aviation aircraft, that Reliable Robotics was able to gain FAA approval to conduct the flights so close to major cities in the San Francisco Bay Area is significant. But there is more to what Reliable Robotics is doing, and this could have a profound impact on the advanced air mobility (AAM) or urban air mobility (UAM) market.

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