Night training in Huntsville AL on Nov 9th

[RCdancer]

We will be opening registration this week for night training in Huntsville AL on Sat Nov 9th. Participation requires a 107 certificate and approved anti-collision lighting on your drone (we recommend Firehouse beacons.) You will be flying under the DSAR blanket 107.29 waiver. A thermal camera is NOT required for this training which is primarily oriented towards familiarizing you with the challenges and hazards of night flight.

If none of the other Board members is able to make it, class size will be limited to 10 for safety as we will run one flight at a time with 2 mandatory VOs. If one of them can make it to help me, class size will be the usual 20 as we can safely run 2 simultaneous missions. Either way, everyone will have the opportunity to fly a minimum of twice.

I'm waiting to open registration until we find out if another Board member can make it.

 

[RCdancer]

Registration opens tomorrow for the DSAR night training in Huntsville on Nov 9. Attendance will be limited to 10 pilots for safety and to give everyone an opportunity to fly twice. We will be flying under the DSAR blanket 107.29 waiver. Training will be from 1500 (3:00 PM) till approx midnight. You must be a 107 pilot and have FAA approved anti-collision lighting on your drone. A thermal camera is recommended but not required for this training.

We will start at 1500 by allowing everyone to see the flight area in daylight, familiarize themselves with obstacles and take short flights. We will then move into the church for training on night flight requirements, night illusions and scanning.

Every pilot with fly with 2 VOs and a Safety Officer presiding over the flights.

 

[RCdancer]

Registration is now open and limited to a maximum of 10 pilots.

DSAR Night Training

Registration for DSAR night training on Nov 9, 2019 at 446 Jeff Rd NW, Huntsville, AL 35806. Your registration will not be complete until you have also paid the $20 registration fee at https://www.dronesar.info/donate

docs.google.com

Your registration is not complete until you pay the $20 registration fee here:

Donate | Dronesar

www.dronesar.info

 

[RCdancer]

Here's the draft training agenda:

• We will fly under the DSAR blanket 107.29 waiver
• Meetup at 1500 at the church
• 1515 - Group photo with all the drones in the air
• 1530-1630 Opportunity for short daylight flights to familiarize yourself with the terrain and obstacles
• 1630 - Break for dinner at your choice of several places to eat just down the street from fast food to a Texas Roadhouse (I don't want to bring food into the church or onto their nice clean grounds)
• 1800 - Meet back inside the church for classroom instruction
• 1900 to midnight - Night SAR flight training. Everyone will have an opportunity to fly a night SAR mission at least twice, hopefully three times.
• We may be able to safely run 2 flights simultaneously (I won't know until I fly the site at night myself and if another DSAR trainer decides to come.)
• Each pilot will have 2 dedicated VOs - one to watch the drone and one to scan the skies.
• There will be a Safety Officer overseeing everything.
• We will search for glow sticks with visible light cameras and IR beacons with thermal cameras.
• Right now the training is limited to 10 pilots. If another trainer can make it, we will expand the registration to 20 pilots.
• We will fly until midnight or until everyone has flown at least twice.
• We will notify the police and fire department ahead of time in case they receive calls about UFOs.
• By that time of year, it's getting chilly at night - dress warmly.

 

[RCdancer]

I test flew the glow sticks (for visible light) and electric hand warmers (for thermal) tonight. Anyone who thinks night SAR is easy is in for a rude awakening.

I only had small 4" cheap glow sticks from the dollar store and could see them in visible light up to around 70' (but very easy to overfly them and miss them.) After that it became quite difficult and impossible above 100'. I ordered some 12" industrial strength glow sticks for night training which should be visible up to 150'.

The electric hand-warmers were visible in MSX mode on the M2ED (better than pure IR mode) up to a maximum of about 50 ft and very difficult to spot even at that low altitude. Rainbow and Coldspot palletes worked best. Thus ... I ordered 3 personal infrared beacons used to prevent fratricide on the battlefield and are ITAR restricted. These should be much easier to spot with thermal.

At night training we will have both visible light and thermal light targets for everyone to get frustrated over.

 

[RCdancer]

This is shaping up to be some challenging night SAR training. I now have the IR beacons and will test them this weekend to see how well (or even if) the flir MSX mode on the M2ED can see them. Also got the industrial strength glow sticks. Still a few slots left for training ...

Interesting enough, all the registered attendees so far are from out of state, as far away as Ohio, MA and NC.

 

[thinglenn40]

I would love to participate but I’m just now studying for my part 107 exam.
I just purchased the Mavic Enterprise and would love to have some night training.
Maybe next time.