Operations Manual
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INDEX
INDEX
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1 INTRODUCTION
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2 ORGANIZATION AND RESPONSABILITIES
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2.1 ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE
2.2 TEAM MEMBERS
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3 RPAS OPERATIONS
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3.1 DESCRIPTION OF RPAS OPERATION
3.2 QUALIFICATION
3.2.1 DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
3.2.2 SAFETY PILOTS
3.3 WORKSHOP AND BRIEFINGS
3.4 AERIAL INCIDENTS
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4 HEALTH AND HYGIENE PROCEDURES
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4.1 USE OF PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES
4.2 RESTRICTIONS ON FLIGHT TIME
4.2.1 FLIGHT TIME
4.2.2 PERIOD FOR AERIAL OPERATIONS
4.2.3 REST PERIODS
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5 OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES
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5.1 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE FLIGHT
5.2 TAKING-OFF AND LANDING AREAS
5.3 OPERATIONAL ASPECTS RELATED TO THE AIRCRAFT
5.3.1 GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE RPAS SYSTEM
5.3.2 AIRCRAFT SAFETY COUNTERMEASURES
5.3.3 BATTERY PROTECTION LEVELS
5.3.4 FLIGHT TERMINATION SYSTEM
5.3.5 AIRCRAFT CHARACTERISTICS
5.4 WEIGHTING AND TRIMMING THE AIRCRAFT
5.5 PREFLIGHT CHECKLIST
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1 INTRODUCTION
This operations manual is specific for flight activities to be conducted during euRathlon 2015
multi-domain robotic competition to be held in Piombino (Italy). The provisions of this
operations manual are subject to the general laws that regulate the activity of experimental
flights with Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) according to the current Italian regulation.
This manual is mandatory for all personnel involved in flight operations. This operations
manual is mandatory for all personnel involved in flight operations.
2 ORGANIZATION AND RESPONSABILITIES
2.1 Organization structure
The organizational structure for aerial RPAS operations is shown in Figure 1. The director of
operations will be a member of euRathlon in charge of supervising the aerial operations.
Specifically, he/she will be a member of the Center for Advanced Aerospace Technologies
(CATEC) which is the aeronautical expert entity of the euRathlon consortium. CATEC has
proven experience in RPAS operation after six years of activity with multiple different RPAS
platforms including fixed-wing aircrafts, helicopters and multirotors each of them with
different sizes and features (combustion-engine, electric motors, etc). CATEC has also proven
experience in the preparation and evaluation of RPAS operation documentation for AESA
(Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency) which has provided us with flight permissions for
different RPAS operations performed in Spain. CATEC also manages an RPAS aerodrome called
ATLAS (Air Traffic Laboratory for Advanced unmanned Systems)1 located in the south of Spain.
CATEC staff has already participated in the basic and advanced RPAS pilot training courses
organized by the ATO SENASA (Services and Studies for Air Navigation and Aeronautical
Safety)2.
Figure 1. Organization structure.
The director of operations will evaluate the capacities of the teams for to safely operating their
RPAS. In order to evaluate them, restricted flight tests will be performed with no public before
the competition starts (see section 3.2). Only those teams approved by the director of
operations will be allowed to participate in the competition.
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2
More information about the center here: http://atlascenter.aero/en/
SENASA is a state organization under the Ministry of Development of Spain.
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The director of operations will be in charge of checking the meteorological forecasts and
decide if flights can be safely performed with those meteorological conditions.
The director of operations will monitor the preflight checks performed by teams and will not
allowed them to fly until all the preflight checks have been successfully passed.
No aircraft will be allowed to take-off without the explicit authorization of the director of
operations. He/she will monitor the whole flight from take-off to landing. During the flight, the
director operator can give instructions to the safety pilot in order to ensure the safety of the
flight (e.g. he/she can order the safety pilot to land the aircraft if he/she considers that
meteorological conditions have changed and safety cannot be guaranteed any longer). The
director of operations will have the crash button device and will activate it if he/she decides
that the safety conditions can no longer be guaranteed by other means.
The safety pilot will be the member of the team in direct contact with the director of
operations. During the flight he/she will be exclusively devoted to monitor the aircraft flight
and taking manual control of it using the RC radio if necessary. The flight (or some parts of it)
can be intentionally performed in manual mode in accordance to the flight plan previously
approved by the director of operations. When using a Ground Control Station (GCS) for RPAS
operation, one of the technical members of the team will be in charge of controlling and
monitoring the aircraft from the GCS while the safety pilot keeps his/her attention on the
aircraft to take manual control of it if needed. The safety pilot will have to follow all the
instructions received from the director of operations (e.g. if the director of operations tells
him/her to land, he/she will have to land the aircraft immediately in safe conditions).
During the application procedure, each team can include more than one safety pilots (e.g. an
aerial team can include in the documentation some pilots that might be attending the
competition just in case that the main pilot gets ill). Those safety pilots that finally attend the
competition will have to pass the flight tests and attend the workshop and briefings as
described in section 3. Only one of them will act as a safety pilot fly during the RPAS
operations. Pilots must be properly identified with a photo ID during the competition.
Technical members will be in charge of performing the rest of the tasks that are needed to
successfully accomplish the mission such as managing the payload, performing the aircraft
maintenance tasks, etc. Technical members must be properly identified with a photo ID during
the competition
2.2 Team members
Complete with the information about the members of the RPAS team
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
Safety pilots:
o Full name:
o ID number:
o …
Other technical members:
o Full name:
o ID number:
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o
…
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3 RPAS OPERATIONS
3.1 Description of RPAS operation
RPAS flights will be conducted within euRathlon 2015 competition that will be held in an
unpopulated area located within the comune of Piombino (Italy). They are non-commercial
experimental flights whose aim is to acquire sensor data to be exploited in order to complete
the tasks and missions of the competition to achieve the highest score.
Flights will be conducted under the following conditions:
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Uncontrolled airspace.
The distance to the nearest airport is bigger than 15 km.
The safety pilot will be in direct visual line of sight with the aircraft for the whole
operation.
Flight operations will be performed in daylight conditions.
Only VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) RPAS with a MTOW (Maximum Take-Off
Weight) under 25 kg will be used.
Only one aircraft will be allowed to fly at a time.
3.2 Qualification
3.2.1 Director of operations
The director of operations will be an expert on RPAS systems from CATEC with more than 4
years of experience operating RPAS systems. He/she will have attended and passed the basic
and advanced RPAS pilot training courses organized by the ATO SENASA (Services and Studies
for Air Navigation and Aeronautical Safety).
3.2.2 Safety pilots
Safety pilots will be over eighteen years old. They will have to demonstrate appropriate
piloting skills. For this purpose, during the application procedure of the competition they will
have to provide good-quality videos showing evidence that proves their capacity to safely
flight the RPA to be used under the experimental flights. These flights will have to be
performed in manual mode and in an RC airfield. During the videos the following tasks will
have to be performed:
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Take-off operation, in manual mode.

Hovering operation, in manual mode at 40 meters from the ground.

Fly following a rectangular trajectory as the one shown in Figure 2, both clockwise and
counter-clockwise, in manual mode. These flights must be performed at an altitude of
20 meters.

Perform vertical displacements of at least 20 meters, in manual mode.

Landing, in manual mode.
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Execution of the flight termination functionality on the ground The video must show
how the motors are stopped when the crash button is pressed.
Figure 2. Flight trajectory for validation test.
Before the competition starts, validation test flights will be carried out on-site to test that the
aircraft can be flown safely by the team pilot. The operations that will have to be performed
will be basically the same ones required for the video. The director of operations will be able
to request any additional operation. Based on the results of the flight tests, the director of
operations will decide if a team has proven they can operate the aerial vehicle safely and
hence they are allowed to perform the aerial missions.
3.3 Workshop and briefings
Before the beginning of the competition, a workshop on RPAS operations will be given by the
aeronautical experts from CATEC. CATEC staff has already participated as teachers in the basic
and advanced RPAS pilot training courses organized by the ATO SENASA (Services and Studies
for Air Navigation and Aeronautical Safety). The content of this workshop will follow the
general content of SENASA RPAS operation courses and will be mainly focused on those
operation aspects that have a major incidence in the safety of the operation.
Additionally, at the beginning of each of the competition days all teams will have to assist to a
safety briefing, given by the CATEC experts. In these briefings, the procedure and rules for the
safe operation of the RPAS will be explained again to refresh participant’s memories.
3.4 Aerial incidents
Any incident experience during the flight will have to be registered by RPAS teams including
the date and time when the incident happened, a description of the incident, the potential
causes and the consequences.
All RPAS flight activities will be covered by third-party liability insurance in compliance with
current Italian legislation.
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4 HEALTH AND HYGIENE PROCEDURES
4.1 Use of psychoactive substances
Staff and team members that have to perform tasks which are critical from a safety point of
view won’t perform those tasks under the influence of psychoactive substances:
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Alcohol.
Drugs that can diminish the coordination and attention of humans.
4.2 RESTRICTIONS ON FLIGHT TIME
In compliance with aviation rules, in any period of 28 consecutive days, the maximum
accumulated time of flight will not exceed 100 hours and 945 hours in a year.
4.2.1 Flight time
In compliance with aviation rules, flights will last no more than 3 hours. Flight times for the
RPAS systems to be used in euRathlon 2015 competition will be much shorter than that.
4.2.2 Period for aerial operations
In compliance with aviation rules, safety pilots cannot be more that 11 hours per day
performing any work related to aerial operations. Every working period must be preceded by a
rest period. During euRathlon competition, the aerial operations performed by each team will
be much shorter than this.
4.2.3 Rest periods
In compliance with aviation rules, safety pilots will have at least 10.5 hours per day for resting
in which they cannot perform any work activity.
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5 OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES
5.1 Instructions for the preparation of the flight
Flight operations will be carried out under Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) between
the sunrise and the sunset, following Visual Flight Rules (VFR).
When planning the flight, the following
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Flights will not be conducted in populated areas.
The aircraft will not overfly those areas where people are located (e.g. spectators).
Flights will be totally carried out in uncontrolled airspace.
All flights will be conducted within the safety pilot’s visual line of sight not farther than
160 meters from him/her.
The maximum altitude above the ground level will be 40 meters.
The following flight restrictions will apply:
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Autonomy: 10 minutes.
Take-off and landing: vertical.
Maximum speeds:
o Horizontal speed: 15 m/s.
o Climb and descent rates: 6 m/s.
o Maximum angular speed: 150o/s.
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Meteorological conditions:
o Maximum wind speed: 8 m/s.
o Temperature range: -5º C to +40º C.
o The RPAS cannot operate in rain/snow conditions.
o
The RPAS cannot operate when the meteorological conditions can cause the
formation of ice.
o
The RPAS cannot operate in low-visibility conditions (e.g. foggy days).
Flight plans must be approved by the director of operations. He/she will only authorize the
flights if all the operational conditions are met.
5.2 Taking-off and landing areas
Two different taking off and landing areas have been defined for euRathlon 2015 competition.
Their size is 3 x 3 meters. One of the requirements that RPAS must meet in order to participate
in euRathlon 2015 competition is that they must be able to take-off and land using such area.
The areas have been chosen to meet the following conditions:
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Flat areas free of rocks, sticks, etc. euRathlon organization will take care of preparing
the area to meet this condition.
No obstacles exist within 10 meters from the center of the area.
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No power lines exist in the taking-off and landing areas (indeed, there are not power
lines in any of the flight volumes).
All aircrafts will be VTOL so no runway is needed for taking-off and landing procedures.
5.3 Operational aspects related to the aircraft
5.3.1 General information about the RPAS system
The aircraft is a multirotor vertical takeoff and landing of own manufacture, made of carbon
fiber. The propellant system is electric bike with lithium polymer batteries, six engines TEngine, Model MT2814 770RPM, 260 W each. This provides a range of about 10 minutes flight
at maximum load. The RPA has a MTOW of 5.5 kg with a payload capacity of 1.5 Kg.
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Autonomy: 10 minutes.
Take-off and landing: vertical.
Maximum speeds:
o Horizontal speed: 15 m/s.
o Climb and descent rates: 6 m/s.
o Maximum angular speed: 150o/s.
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Meteorological conditions:
o Maximum wind speed: 8 m/s.
o Temperature range: -5º C to +40º C.
o The RPAS cannot operate in rain/snow conditions.
o
The RPAS cannot operate when the meteorological conditions can cause the
formation of ice.
o

The RPAS cannot operate in low-visibility conditions (e.g. foggy days).
Autopilot: Wookong M from DJI.
o
Weight: < 150 g.
o
Power consumption: <5 W;
o
Flight modes: rates mode, attitude mode, position mode.
o
Sensors: gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometers, barometer, GPS
receiver.
o
5.3.2
Voltage monitoring.
Aircraft safety countermeasures
5.3.2.1 Response to GPS failure
If there is a GPS loss while flying in position and attitude mode, the autopilot automatically
switches to attitude mode. If the GPS signal is recovered for 2 seconds or more, the autopilot
will switch back to position and attitude mode.
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5.3.2.2 Response to communication losses
If the command and control data link is lost for more than 3 seconds, the autopilot will switch
to failsafe mode. Two different configurations can be set:
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Hovering.

Return to Home.
5.3.3 Battery protection levels
Describe the different protections levels that can be set and what the system does when the
battery level falls below those thresholds.
5.3.4 Flight termination system
Describe what does the RPAS when the crash button is pushed. This could be just switching off
all the motors, or could include additional devices such as parachutes.
5.3.5
Aircraft characteristics
5.4 Weighting and trimming the aircraft
The entire aircraft load will be preferably located under its center of gravity. In the case of
placing the load in a different place, the resultant center of gravity will have to remain within
the limits set by the flight envelope of the aircraft. To do this point the aircraft will be
suspended and balanced locating additional weights where necessary.
The aircraft must be weighted in order to be sure that it weight is not bigger than the MTOW
specified by the manufacturer:
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Maximum take-off weight: 5 kg.
Maximum payload weight: 1.5 kg.
5.5 Preflight checklist
Before authorizing the flights each team will have to conduct pre-flight checks following the
operations manual of the RPAS and under the supervision of aerial experts from euRathlon
organization. Preflight checks are always performed on the ground to check that all the critical
RPAS systems works correctly. The preflight checklist includes:
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Visual inspection of the airframe, propellers, etc.
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Visual inspection of wiring and connections.
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Check the battery levels (of the aircraft and the RC emitter).
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Turn on the RC radio.
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Using the RC radio switch between manual and attitude mode.
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Test the operation of the motors gradually increasing the collective up to a 20% for 3
seconds. Move the RC radio stick that changes pitch and yaw and check that the
motors react as expected.
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Check that GPS signal is available and at least 6 satellites are on sight.
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