On the maneuverability of small unmanned aerial vehicles

Collision avoidance is a key issue in the current effort to allow Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) operations in non-segregated airspace. Several Sense and Avoid technologies are being studied, and should be available in the near future. Surprisingly, there are few references in the literature dealing with another important factor: the ability of UAS to perform the necessary avoidance maneuvers. This work discusses the maneuverability of small unmanned aerial vehicles, based on important factors as wing loading and thrust to weight ratio, which influence the minimum and maximum attainable values of airspeed, climb angle and turning rate. The polyhedral flight envelopes of two versions of a small aerial vehicle are constructed to allow better visualization of the influence of aircraft design parameters and also the impact of some commonly adopted operational procedures of autonomous aerial systems.