In part one I gave an overview of how quadcopters fly, how pilots control them and the ways to automate flight. This week I’ll dive into why there’s much more to flying than just piloting the aircraft.
The Air Up There
In the United States the sky is controlled by the Federal Aviation Adminstration (FAA). Technically they control what is called “navigable airspace.” What is navigable airspace? Well, any air where an aircraft can perform controlled flight. If you can fly there, it is the FAA’s domain.
Drones of course are able to perform controlled flight at extremely low altitudes. In practice I can fly my drones 1 inch off the ground safely. That means the FAA is in charge as soon as the drone leaves the ground. It is the pilot’s responsiblity to know what the rules are for whatever airspace they want to enter. Some airspace is restricted, some requires “permission” to enter and some (the vast majority) is wide open.
Airspace is a limited resource that is shared amongst many different users. Some, like commercial airliners, spend most of their time in very high altitude flight, only entering and exiting the shared layers near airports. Others, like power line inspection hellicopters and wildfire tankers, can fly pretty much anywhere they’re needed.
As you can imagine, there’s a lot of potential for collisions between aircraft. The FAA has divided up the airspace into different zones, called classes, that require pilots to behave differently. I won’t get into too many details here, but this is a simplified breakdown:
Class A - 18,000+ Ft above sea level. Not used by sUAVs.
Class B - Airspace around big commerical airports like Denver International.
Class C - Medium sized airports like Colorado Springs.
Class D - Airspace around smaller regional airports like Aspen and Eagle County
Class E - Airspace around smaller airports with no tower like Garfield County/Rifle
Class G - Uncontrolled airspace. For sUAVs, no restrictions below 400 ft.
As a commerical drone pilot you are responsible for getting clearance to fly. Even if you’re only flying an inch off the ground, if it is within controlled airspace you have to get clearance. The reason is safety. Sure, you intend to only fly one inch off the ground, but stuff happens. If you have clearance there’s someone who knows you’re flying so it won’t be as much of a surprise if you have to call ATC to announce a fly-away. Luckily this isn’t a difficult process but does require some forethought. The FAA has an automated system for getting clearance in predefined areas called LAANC. Just pick the area(s) you want to fly in, and if you don’t need to exceed the maximum altitude listed for the area you will get clearance automatically. The system will also give you information about who to contact if have a crash or flyaway.
Some drones have software lockouts that prevent takeoff in controlled airspace without getting the manufacturer to unlock the area first. This is a separate system that has nothing to do with getting clearance to fly, and it will not contact the LAANC system in any way. It is just a “belt and suspenders” extra step to make sure the pilot knows what they are about to do.
Ah, but the LAANC map shows 0 ft where I want to fly! Or the box says 150 ft and I need to fly 300 feet. Or automatic authorization isn’t avilable because I need to fly in a DOD controlled area. That’s OK, now you have to go through the manual process. This involves filling out an online form that will be reviewed by FAA staff who will either grant or deny the request, or maybe ask for more information. There’s no set rule as to what the FAA is looking for, but I figure the earlier I submit the plan the better, and the more detail the better, because it would show that I put some thought into the flight. I’ve had a request granted and one denied. I’m not sure what I did wrong on the one that was denied, but my guess is because it was near a military installation and DOD has their own reasons…
Another airspace issue is the temporary flight restriction, or TFR. These are issued by the FAA for a myriad of reasons, from wildfire operations to presidential visits. Violationg airspace that’s under a TFR is a very serious issue and can get you a visit from the FBI, DHS or local law enforcement. It is the pilot’s responsiblity to know if there’s a TFR in place. There have been several incidents of remote pilots flying near wildfire operations that have grounded firefighters. Even though you might be outside of the fire fighting operation you could still be inside the TFR coverage area.
How’s your equipment?
So now we know that we can enter the airspace. Is the aircraft up to the task? Every takeoff has potential risk, and it is up to the pilot to make sure the aircraft is capable of flying. This includes propellers, motors, batteries, software, collision avoidance systems, radio links and interference, basically anything that might cause a problem flying. I’m always amazed when someone asks if it is OK to fly with a damaged propeller. NO! IT IS NOT OK! That little piece of plastic is the only thing keeping your drone in the air. It is a highly engineered device that’s the product of 100 years of flight. If it is chipped, replace it. They’re cheap. Spin the motors. If they feel gritty they might be damaged, especially after an uncontrolled landing event. Get to know the sound of your aircraft. A failing motor bearing will have a distinct sound. Software updates should be done when you have reliable Internet connections and not five minutes before the flight, even if the app complains. I usually check in fairly often for software updates but almost never install them for a few days after announcement just in case there’s a problem that isn’t found during beta testing. That includes iOS/Android updates as well, although they tend to be less of a problem. For sure I don’t ever run beta versions on anything that connects to a drone. Regular check flights should be flown, and they’re good practice too.
Checklists
The whole of the aviation world runs on checklists. The reason is because humans are a forgetful bunch, easily distracted and overall pretty sloppy. Checklists help remove some of that human variability. They also help make sure everyone is following instructions. You do always read the instructions right? Most drone manufacters don’t provide checklists, even though they should.
The autopilot will perform a self-check that does cover a lot of checklist items, but that’s not really a substitute. So it is up to the pilot to come up with something. Luckily pilots love to share their checklists so it is easy to find a good template online. Once you start using them you will find yourself making them for everything. A great book on the subject is The Checklist Manifesto, highly recommended, even if you aren’t ever going to fly anything more than a paper airplane.
How’s the weather?
One of the biggest factors in determining if you can fly or not is the weather. While small UAVs can fly very fast when pushed, they have a very limited flight time. Because they are very light the wind will push them around easily. Many aircraft have failed to make it back home because the pilot wasn’t paying attention to the wind direction and got stuck flying home in a headwind. And most drones aren’t waterproof, the batteries lose capacity in cold or hot temperatures, and props are subject to icing.
Geez, can I fly now?
OK so we did all the preflight stuff. We know what we’re going to do, when and why. We have our clearances. We bought our flight insurance (good idea if flying over Real Estate or Ferraris in the driveway). And now we fly. If we’re flying a manual flight we need finger dexterity to move joysticks and levers, push buttons and keep the controller pointed in the right direction. We need to keep an eye on the aircraft at all times, compose the shot and adjust the camera settings. We have to keep a look out for other aircraft, birds and rednecks with shotguns. And we have to try not to run into anything. If we’re flying a pre-programmed flight we need to make sure of all that and make sure we didn’t program the aircraft to fly into a tree or hillside.
Post Flight
After the flight check the aircraft to make sure nothing fell off (yes, I’m serious), or was otherwise damaged. Pack up the equipment, making sure to put everything in its place so you can tell right away if something is missing. Log the flight with a summary of what was done. If there were to be an issue later your flight log will show what happened while it is still fresh.
When you get back from the field there’s all the post processing to be done. Customers don’t pay you to fly around, they pay for information. Might be simply transfering a few images from an SD card in an email or it could be several days of processing a 3D model of methane leaks around a well pad. This is where pilots earn their pay.
Commerical pilot
So anyway I hope I’ve helped you understand how flying drones isn’t hard, but there’s a whole lot more to it than just point and push. The FAA holds commerical drone pilots to a higher standard under part 107 than recreational pilots for good reasons. While the number of lost souls caused by cilivian small UAVs is still an astounding zero, there have been several incidents of property damage, air to air collisions and some bad injuries. Licensing isn’t going to replace good piloting skills but will help pilots adopt a professional attitude and keep the airspace open to drones and the opportunities they bring.