A couple of interesting news pieces (courtesy of Gizmag) on the trial use by Easyjet of commercially available small unmanned aircraft to carry out visual inspections of their aircraft.

BRL and Easyjet have teamed up with Coptercraft to develop the trials

Read more at Engineering and Technology Magazine (the best article online I found on the subject)

The relentless drive to reduce costs, in-house development, smart partnerships, the freedom to experiment and agility in the use of emerging technology are obvious traits on display.

Could the RAF and other services exploit a similar approach for remote inspection, or the specifics of the trial, perhaps even taking part in any trials?