Tag: drone pre-flight planning

Update: Flight Planning Apps

I found out today that NATS ― the National Air Traffic Service, i.e. the organisation responsible for air traffic control in the United Kingdom ―  has released its own app to aid drone pilots in planning their flights, called NATS Drone Assist.

I have tried it out immediately ― being on the lookout for a new planning tool since the Hover disaster ― and found it to be excellent.  Not only are the VFR maps up to date and very interactive and include NOTAMs and future use indicators, but the app also warns of other hazards, including high-voltage lines and other drone users that are currently active.

NATS has also endorsed AirMap, the app I have been using since abandoning Hover.  So, I guess that if I use the app released by the air traffic control people and the app recommended by the air traffic control people, I hopefully will not go too badly wrong in the future.

 

 

Hover is not Reliable!

As usual, I did my preflight preps today with the Hover app, first at home ― my location was shown to be outside any controlled airspace ― and then again just before take-off.  Again, Hover  gave me the thumbs up and green light, and so unsuspectingly I commenced Tinks‘ take-off sequence.  It was only at that point that the drone itself gave me a “You are inside Zone D” warning.

Cross-checking with SkyVector, it turns out that I was well within the Zone D Controlled Airspace of Belfast City Airport, and flying there would have been at the very least highly unprofessional, and depending on flight profile could possibly have been illegal.  Checking with Hover again, this zone was indeed neither shown on the map, nor picked up in the pre-flight checks.

This unfortunately leaves me with no choice but to abandon Hover, and in future do all my preflight planning with SkyVector ― which is a pity, because Hover was a nice one-stop solution for drone flight planning.  SkyVector on the other hand is a tool for private pilots’ flight planning, and as such is not geared towards drone flights, and lacks some functionality that drone apps usually have, like automatic location detection or weather forecast.  Since it is aimed at pilots, it also shows a lot of information that is irrelevant for drone pilots, and is hence a lot harder to read.

I shall keep looking, and see if there are other, more reliable apps out there for drone pilots.  However, after this incident I do not think that I will ever completely rely on any of those apps again, and will probably always check the VRF maps on SkyVector, just to be sure…

Update 14 June 2018:  I have now started to use AirMap, which seems more reliable than Hover, if maybe somewhat on the paranoid side of things, but that is better than not flagging up when I am inside a controlled airspace.