Now there's something I would be all too happy to help develop. Wonder if anyone's out there I could contract with.

"Lots of potential uses besides military ones." (AKSAR)
This is certainly an emerging technology of immense promise and problems in everyday life. I am intrigued by the possibilities for archaeological and paleontological work. Of course we have been using drones, of a slightly different type, in civilian life for years.

The proliferation of UAVs may well be the death of civilian aviation. Lightplanes can't take bird strikes very well so a 4lb battery pack thru the windshield will be even worse.

The Alaska-based program will be managed by the University of Alaska, which called its 13 planned test ranges the "Pan-Pacific Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Range Complex." It includes six flight ranges in Alaska, four in Hawaii and three in Oregon and is set to begin operating in mid-2014, the university said.

Whether drones are to be used for delivering cargo to the Bush or scouting sea ice off the Arctic coast ahead of offshore drilling, there are many things the unmanned aircraft can do safer and cheaper than their pilot-carrying counterparts, their proponents say.

Key questions the FAA wants answered include how the drones will sense other aircraft and obstacles and avoid them, what types of controls a pilot on the ground will have, how they will maintain control of the aircraft, and what happens if that link is lost. The FAA must also have standards for the airworthiness of specific aircraft designs and how their operators will interact with air traffic controllers, FAA officials said.