Mr. Barlocchetti, you've been working in the aviation industry for over 25 years in various positions as manager, pilot, journalist and aviation engineer; what kind of activity does a Flight test engineer like you do?

It is a profession that has changed significantly over the past couple of decades, but it is still the most effective interface between testing flying machines and their actual production. I started in 1991 in the Soviet Union (which then dissolved at the end of that year), with Sokol and I flew together with the test pilots with paper and pencil strapped to our thighs and a scientific calculator brought from Italy. Telemetry, i.e. the transmission of data and parameters from an aeroplane to the ground, was extremely limited. Prototype models were tested in the wind tunnel and then everything had to be checked out in the air. Nowadays, with three-dimensional modelling and computerised fluid dynamics we know how an aeroplane will fly before it is built. We fly less than before and we have access to incredibly powerful systems that enable the transmission of a multitude of parameters and audio and video communications. Even if it is now highly unlikely for an aircraft to have a breakdown in flight, unfortunately serious accidents still occur, such as those that happened with the AW609 tiltrotor and the Boeing 737 MAX, precisely because of software and control laws “written” into the computers. Technology changes and together with it the kind of possible problems, but the FTE profession is still one that teaches people to raise doubts so that disasters do not occur. FTEs are the professionals most likely to be at loggerheads with the budgets and time schedules of company managers, a struggle as old as the Wright brothers' plane.

The drone and unmanned aircraft industry is developing at an impressive rate. Can you give us a brief overview of these technologies and their future outlook based on your experience in the field of unmanned aircraft?

Aviation is a matter of culture and then skill, and it is an activity in which you can guarantee that all man's merits and faults come to the fore. It is no coincidence that the unmanned sector is retracing the history of flight but at ten times the speed, with the use of advanced components and technologies. So the real challenge is not how to make an aircraft fly on its own, but how to integrate it into the aviation system and in particular in the organisation of airspace, which has evolved over 115 years. We often tend to forget that man's adventure in the sky only began just over a century ago and in this period, the rules and regulations at our disposal were written as a result of accidents caused by errors. So safety derives from reliability and reliability derives from experience over time. So it is not always true that the most advanced technology is also the most appropriate to be used. For this reason, the choice of antiquated systems may be anachronistic, but the choice of technologies that have not been fully explored can be a risky matter. As regards drones, I often think, for example, about 5G and the internet of things (IoT), which will not be a panacea as many people imagine: there will need to be a lot of study, and more experimentation will be required in various directions at the same time. Starting with the “sense and avoid” systems so that unmanned aircraft can see and avoid other traffic, and this will require the creation of a standard for the various data exchange systems among all sky users, especially those operating at low levels and without instruments such as helicopters, hang gliders, UAVs, general aviation aircraft and ultralight aircraft, and so on. In controlled airspaces, Mode-S transponders are efficient and installed on almost all aircraft, at low altitudes everyone needs to be able to see everyone else, but the majority of these aircraft are not of adequate size and expense to be able to use transponders. So work needs to be done at an ICAO level for the allocation of frequency bands dedicated exclusively for the command and control of civil UAVs. Once these problems have been resolved, humanity will be able to use remotely-piloted or automatic unmanned vehicles for a variety of services and forms of transport.

What are the basic safety principles in autonomous and automatic flight?

First of all, I think we need to ask ourselves realistically what we want to do with these machines. Or to acknowledge that doubt is the basis of certainty. And based on this, we need to plan things effectively. If we want a bag of blood or a human organ to fly from one hospital to another, we cannot hold things up if it rains or if it's foggy or a bit windy, or if there are obstacles, interference or other vehicles on the flight path. It is essential to free ourselves of this myriad of variables, just like the military have slowly done with their millions of hours of flight experience, yet they still cannot do “everything”. In the field of civil aviation, the first thing to do is to design civilian drones around the sensor or the type of mission they need to accomplish and for use in the worst type of environment they are likely to meet. All too often people try to adapt drones to transport goods when they were actually designed to carry at the most a video camera when it's sunny. But the smaller these vehicles are, the more complicated things become from a technological point of view because it is impossible to use traditional aviation materials and systems. Often with the rush to exploit EU investment or to recover invested money as soon as possible, some blunders have been made and companies have gone bankrupt. At the same time, civilian pilots of drones need to be trained about piloting beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), so that they don't become victims of magnification or so-called “tunnel vision” or other dangerous phenomena. Work also needs to be done on emergency management that goes beyond the “flight terminator”, by equipping these UAVs with programs which can make them safe in the event of GPS or command and control signal loss, or in the event of a breakdown in propulsion. I think that in some cases ballistic parachutes could be used as they already are on small, seven-seater passenger jets. So, improvements need to be made in all directions by taking advantage of past experience, making sure that everything works correctly on a drone, just like on a traditional aircraft, all in unison and over a long period of time. Said like that, it sounds easy.

We are at the beginning of an adventure that will make unmanned aircraft cross unimaginable boundaries. Are there any gaps in regulations in this area?

If we remember that during the Second World War, the Italians attempted to send a radio-controlled S.M. 79 Sparviero (nicknamed “Damned Hunchback” by the RAF) against the British fleet, we could say we are well on the way, but there are still a lot of gaps, starting with the point that still isn't clear whether the pilot of a UAV is actually a pilot, when on the other hand he is considered a system operator or just an amateur. Users also need to be properly informed. We can have all the regulations we like, but a Japanese tourist who arrives in Fiumicino with a drone in his suitcase may not know that there are rules in Europe and he takes off near the Colosseum. We are not up to scratch when it comes to providing information. I welcome the fact that computer programs and advanced network connections help pilots or enthusiasts to understand where they can fly and where it is forbidden, but I believe the final decision always lies with them. Being pilots of anything is first and foremost being able to decide about their own and others' safety. Technically speaking, aviation has always been, and still is, an early indicator of society's economic development, and a slowdown in experimental activities always implies a lack of vision and confidence from investors. If commercial aviation has recovered the gap of the pre-crisis period, the same cannot be said of general aviation and private aviation, which represent the incubator of new ideas. In Italy, we should take aviation culture back into schools with model aircraft construction and the teaching of practical work, because drones offer a whole range of opportunities for learning the basics of mechanics, computer science, electronics and aerodynamics. Few activities offer a better multi-disciplinary view than building drones. It would be a task for the Aero Club of Italy, a body that in the last twenty years has failed in its mission. Unfortunately in universities, both in the faculties of humanities where navigation law is studied (a subject that needs to be developed with the arrival of drones), and in the faculties of sciences, the only subject that it is not taught is “Airmanship” i.e. the ability of human beings to be in contact with flying machines, whether they are small or large, piloted or radio-controlled.

In Ridley Scott's famous film Blade Runner from 1982 there was a vision of how the world would be in 2019; androids have been invented, when are we going to see drone taxis?

We will soon be getting into flying drones (although they may not let us fly them), and there won't be long to wait, at least according to EASA, the organisation that together with the global aviation giants and some companies linked to innovation are writing the principles on which to create a certification standard to allow people to climb aboard automated systems in order to be transported. From an experimental point of view we are already there, but in order to have a fully operational framework I think it will take at least another twenty years or so. If we try to do things quickly we may pay a high price for taking shortcuts. Today, electronics is the most technologically-advanced part on flying machines, while there is still a lot to be done to improve battery efficiency in electric motors. These will be a part of the bridging technology for the next stage involving fuel cells. However, we cannot say the same thing about what we are doing to make vehicle control software stable and to improve aerodynamic performance of propellers and wings, because electronics allows you to fly “anything”. Lastly, I worry about the ageing of these ultra-connected machines, both from a mechanical point of view, because they are super-lightweight structures which tend to lose their mechanical characteristics, and also from an electronic point of view. A new mobile phone becomes obsolete after just two years, similarly we cannot allow a flying taxi to fall out of the sky just because it has not finished its updating. In a nutshell, we must never tire of learning and experimenting and then understanding what happens so as to learn more and more. Every euro spent on effective, dedicated research is well spent.

When you talk about aviation culture what exactly do you mean and what has it got to do with professional drones?

Before World War II, the Italians held 32 of the 33 records recognized by the World Air Sports Federation. Today there are just 5, 3 of which have remained unbeaten since those years. We watch Formula One and huge crowds go to see the Frecce Tricolori, but most of us are quite ignorant about the competitions in the twelve air sports disciplines. Yet, we often win the World Cup in these events. They involve all forms of piloting, including hang-gliding, ballooning, drones, aerial acrobatics, gliding and model aircraft right up to professional standards; in Italy there is one pilot for every eight hundred inhabitants, compared to one in every four hundred in Germany and one in every two hundred and fifty in the United States. Yet aviation in all its forms provides an incredible training ground in discipline and ethics that teaches us respect for rules, due to the mere fact that once we are at the controls of any vehicle whatsoever, we can no longer lie to ourselves.