Avionics company Sagetech Corporation and unmanned aircraft manufacturer Arcturus UAV demonstrated joint flight operations between manned aircraft and a drone using the FAA NextGen automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) system. The two companies simultaneously flew a manned Cirrus SR-22 and unmanned Arcturus T-20 in adjacent airspace while operators and the pilot used the ADS-B system to track one another’s position and flight path in real time.

Recently in a demonstration over McMillan Airfield in Camp Roberts, California, both aircraft used Sagetech XP transponders to broadcast ADS-B position messages. The Cirrus SR-22 pilot and UAV ground operators received those messages with Sagetech Clarity receivers, which relayed them via Wi-Fi to an iPad. Using an Electronic Flight Bag app like Hilton Software’s popular WingX, the iPad clearly displayed the positions of both aircraft as they flew—each a named icon indicating its exact location, heading and altitude.

“Even when I couldn’t see the UAV visually from the cockpit, I could see it electronically on my iPad, including its heading,” said Kelvin Scribner, the pilot of the Cirrus SR-22 and President of Sagetech. “And it was right there on the aviation charting app I already use in flight, Hilton Software’s WingX.”

“It’s really that simple,” Scribner said of the successful demonstration. “And that’s the point-it’s really that simple. We’re demonstrating that the technology and the equipment are here now for joint manned/unmanned aircraft operations.”