The Strat WOULD be considered an unmanned aircraft by the FAA. Now that the FAA has some regulations to work with concerning robot aircraft might speed things up a little bit with the Strat.
Awaiting federal regulations for unmanned aircraft may have been the reason for the additional Strat delays. The FAA might have told the Palmdale crew to wait until the new UAV regulations is adopted and published.
Most non-pilot business executives have a marked propensity to confuse terminology. When Khoury said that the S-2 was being further 'tested' in the hangar, I think he meant to say that it was probably undergoing structural inspection by the FAA.
FAA reps get advanced copies of regulations called NPRM's or 'Notice of Proposed Rule making.' This notice may have been the FAA reps only guideline until the final law has been published in the form of an FAR. Federal Air Regulations (FAR's) ARE THE LAW. This might clarify the Strat delays. In other words, she was 'grounded' because of paperwork.
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