Progress Report #8

This week in class, our new aircraft the C-Astral Bramor. This is a catapult launched and parachute recover fixed wing aircraft. I only have a small range of fixed-wing UAV experience, so this is a great learning opportunity for me. During the first day of class, we all unboxed the aircraft and simulated a mission which involved: lab checklists, preflight construction, preflight checklists, and flight area mapping. As operations manager, I led the preflight operations (as pictured below).

I led the team through the paper checklists provided by c-astral, however at certain points, parts of the checklists were confusing. Luckily, c-astral's ground control station includes a helpful expanded guide on checklists procedures giving us an extra sentence or two about things to do. Unfortunately, I did not capture pictures or screenshots of this. There were times however, when even the expanded checklists were confusing, and we had to seek the help of our professor.

Demonstrating where to find certain specs on the tablet. Also answering questions from students such as Dylan (left) on confusing aspects of the ground control station. It is imperative that everyone is as well versed on this machine as possible.

Completing the checklists provided. I (gold sweatshirt) am reading off parts of the checklists as the other students in my class examine the aircraft. Once I am given a "check", I know that they have checked the part or assembled the proper pieces and I am free to move on to the next part of the checklist 

Communication is imperative during these exercises. We took the first run very slowly to ensure that there was no confusion. In fact, we spent over 15 minutes on one specific aspect of the checklist because there were discrepancies between the checklist, the students, and our professor on how to properly unhinge the parachute latch in the first stages of the preflight. After successful completion of the checklist however, we resolved the issue safely. Over the next few class sessions, our aim will be to practice this procedure a few more times so we can: A) reduce the time to safely prepare, B) answer new/remaining questions about the checklist, C) teach everyone in the class their roles to improve field efficiency. Included below are some other pictures that were taken from run through #1:

Underside of aircraft and mounted Altum Sensor. This sensor is used for capturing high resolution multi-spectral/thermal imagery.

Attaching the left wing to the airframe. The airframe comes without wings or wing tips attached, so we must attach and securely tape them on before flight.

Completed aircraft loaded onto the catapult launcher. The rubbers on the ground, once loaded, are used to provide tension to the catapult launching the aircraft at a high velocity.