An Initial Study to Categorize Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Flying Qualities Evaluation ∗

Work is under way to develop a flying qualities criterion for Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs). This criterion will allow UAVs to be evaluated similarly to piloted aircraft for mission effectiveness and airworthiness. As a first step in defining this criterion, current UAVs used by the U. S. military are surveyed and categorized into distinct classes. A candidate set of UAV classes is presented along with rationale for their selection. Analysis based on Reynolds number, Mach number, and vehicle weight is presented as a means to distinguish UAVs from manned aircraft, and also different UAV classes. I