Question

You are operating an sUAS that does not have GPS or an installed ground speed limiter. How can you determine the speed you are operating?

1) Dead reckoning
2) Pilotage
3) Wind triangle

Answer 1

To determine the ground speed of an sUAS without GPS or a speed limiter, one would use methods such as dead reckoning, pilotage, and a wind triangle, applying vector analysis to account for both the vehicle's airspeed and the wind's velocity.

Step-by-step explanation:

The subject of this question is dealing with determining the ground speed of an sUAS (small unmanned aircraft system) in the absence of GPS or an installed ground speed limiter. The proposed methods are dead reckoning, pilotage, and constructing a wind triangle. To solve this problem, one would use vector analysis to take into account the velocity of the vehicle relative to the air and the velocity of the air relative to the ground.

For instance, considering an airplane with known airspeed flying in a wind, we create a vector diagram to represent the plane's velocity relative to the air (its airspeed) and the velocity of the wind. By combining these vectors, we find the plane's ground speed and the direction it needs to be pointed to compensate for the effects of the wind. This process uses principles of physics, particularly the composition of vectors, to solve for the desired quantities.