Wagtail LIDAR test flight

[Greg Vos]

Two weeks ago Nobel Aerospace Systems were approached for discussions and input for aerial mapping by a local mapping and survey company.
NAS who are suppliers of the Trojan brand of commercial Gyroplanes built by Wagtail Aviation were brought into the discussions initially for comment only.
As the discussions became more technical it was decided we would fly some trial runs for the company.
Being the Pilot at the helm of Wagtail & Noble Aerospace Systems I was asked to do some demonstration flights using the latest LIDAR terrain mapping camera supplied by Sony.
Firstly I was surprised by its compact size, and sceptical on its performance, after all a camera of this physical size can easily be attached to a drone was my thinking.
A date was set camera mount built, all that was needed was to deliver the results.
The morning of the flight testing we were confronted with rather inclement weather, and this is where a commercial operation is vastly different from a recreational environment or flight ops, in recreational flying we meet pilots who have flown thousands of hours in a straight line and never concerned with task based performance or specific task flight demands.
With the technical team now standing by we were confident that our equipment could be used despite winds of 12kts and gusting 21 at some stages and amplified in hilly or mountainous environments.
After a short safety briefing I settled into the task of taking the technician aloft, it was to be a very informative flight, as the gent was in fact an ROC holder and drone pilot certified by our SA CAA.
During the flight we discussed exactly why they were now not utilising the drone for the tests, myself not very familiar with drones and there limits it was an education to unpack the myth of drones and the so called cheaper flight operations the drone operator’s ‘hard sell’.
Let me elaborate on that for a moment since we are now competing directly with commercially available drones and the coveted Robbie 44 Helicopter.
A drone needs up to 4 staff members in order to fly a sortie, this excludes security and it can fly for around 20 minutes before requiring a fresh battery, this becomes complex when terrain with long runs of say 250km stretches need to be mapped, with multiple teams needed to support its operation, teams that will all attract operational costs. ( flights, guest house, transport to mention a few)
In comparison the commercial Gyroplane is easily loaded onto a bespoke trailer taken to a location and off loaded requiring very little from a support perspective, the Pilot and the Survey technician is all that is needed, it also does not not require the demanding amount of permits and legal documents and approvals the drone operations are now finding themselves having to complete prior to any flights, it competes with the R44 at a fraction of the costs and offers the same aerial service.
We require less than 40 meters to lift off and land with zero forward roll on touchdown often fooling onlookers into thinking it is a helicopter.
At NAS & Wagtail aviation we are no strangers to Helicopters and in fact our background is formulated with this rotor wing technology.
This gives us an operational advantage over traditional companies who don’t understand Gyrocopter and its unique capabilities.
Returning to the obvious cost advantages of the Wagtail offering along with its robust ‘built for Africa’ construction we are delighted to report that we covered 750 hectares in 37 Minutes despite windy conditions that would have the drones flying at angles beyond what the camera would find usable focus, this makes the actual mapping cost less than R2.30/ hectare.
The survey company was impressed as this was the third trial and are now fully convinced, in fact the chief technical guy commented we are going back 20 years in technology yet advancing far beyond in in cost recovery with enviable results.
Obviously the new LIDAR cameras are not as fussy as the older units with software stitching and overlap ensuring they get the data.
This has been a welcome achievement for us at Nobel Aerospace Systems and we will commence with flights for Transnet, as well as ESKOM in the next two weeks with both of these SOE’s seeing the huge cost saving advantage.

 

[okikuma]

Two weeks ago Nobel Aerospace Systems were approached for discussions and input for aerial mapping by a local mapping and survey company.
NAS who are suppliers of the Trojan brand of commercial Gyroplanes built by Wagtail Aviation were brought into the discussions initially for comment only.
As the discussions became more technical it was decided we would fly some trial runs for the company.
Being the Pilot at the helm of Wagtail & Noble Aerospace Systems I was asked to do some demonstration flights using the latest LIDAR terrain mapping camera supplied by Sony.
Firstly I was surprised by its compact size, and sceptical on its performance, after all a camera of this physical size can easily be attached to a drone was my thinking.
A date was set camera mount built, all that was needed was to deliver the results.
The morning of the flight testing we were confronted with rather inclement weather, and this is where a commercial operation is vastly different from a recreational environment or flight ops, in recreational flying we meet pilots who have flown thousands of hours in a straight line and never concerned with task based performance or specific task flight demands.
With the technical team now standing by we were confident that our equipment could be used despite winds of 12kts and gusting 21 at some stages and amplified in hilly or mountainous environments.
After a short safety briefing I settled into the task of taking the technician aloft, it was to be a very informative flight, as the gent was in fact an ROC holder and drone pilot certified by our SA CAA.
During the flight we discussed exactly why they were now not utilising the drone for the tests, myself not very familiar with drones and there limits it was an education to unpack the myth of drones and the so called cheaper flight operations the drone operator’s ‘hard sell’.
Let me elaborate on that for a moment since we are now competing directly with commercially available drones and the coveted Robbie 44 Helicopter.
A drone needs up to 4 staff members in order to fly a sortie, this excludes security and it can fly for around 20 minutes before requiring a fresh battery, this becomes complex when terrain with long runs of say 250km stretches need to be mapped, with multiple teams needed to support its operation, teams that will all attract operational costs. ( flights, guest house, transport to mention a few)
In comparison the commercial Gyroplane is easily loaded onto a bespoke trailer taken to a location and off loaded requiring very little from a support perspective, the Pilot and the Survey technician is all that is needed, it also does not not require the demanding amount of permits and legal documents and approvals the drone operations are now finding themselves having to complete prior to any flights, it competes with the R44 at a fraction of the costs and offers the same aerial service.
We require less than 40 meters to lift off and land with zero forward roll on touchdown often fooling onlookers into thinking it is a helicopter.
At NAS & Wagtail aviation we are no strangers to Helicopters and in fact our background is formulated with this rotor wing technology.
This gives us an operational advantage over traditional companies who don’t understand Gyrocopter and its unique capabilities.
Returning to the obvious cost advantages of the Wagtail offering along with its robust ‘built for Africa’ construction we are delighted to report that we covered 750 hectares in 37 Minutes despite windy conditions that would have the drones flying at angles beyond what the camera would find usable focus, this makes the actual mapping cost less than R2.30/ hectare.
The survey company was impressed as this was the third trial and are now fully convinced, in fact the chief technical guy commented we are going back 20 years in technology yet advancing far beyond in in cost recovery with enviable results.
Obviously the new LIDAR cameras are not as fussy as the older units with software stitching and overlap ensuring they get the data.
This has been a welcome achievement for us at Nobel Aerospace Systems and we will commence with flights for Transnet, as well as ESKOM in the next two weeks with both of these SOE’s seeing the huge cost saving advantage.

Greg,

Congratulations to you and Wagtail for this accomplishment.

Wayne

 

[Resasi]

Thanks Greg. Interesting and informative, congratulations on good results.