Hi Everyone,
Watch our new video of an AS350 carrying 8 different sensors on 3 external support structures. Only one single operator can control the sensor suite via a leading-edge operator workstation. The helicopter is tailor-made for powerline and pipeline inspection.
Without super “Supporters” like the companies and organizations highlight on the image above, ASOG and individual professional ASOs would still be in the shadows of aviation and the remote-sensing sector.
If you’re interested to see what some of the ASOG’s supporters are up to, walk through their website and find out. All our supporters have a link to the ASO profession, i.e., sensors, training, flight ops services, geospatial services, manned, unmanned, etc. Check them out on the ASOG "Supporter" page…all logos are hyperlinked to their company homepage!
If your company or organization wants to join the growing list of ASOG Supporters and are part of the ASO’s professional universe, i.e., where they work, the systems/kit they operate, etc., send your request to info@aso-group.org along with a company logo and a link to your webpage. No fees or donations are required, just your recognition of the ASO profession and the mission of ASOG.
Patrick Ryan
ASOG Managing Director
Job Opportunity in Southern Maryland
Navy Global Hawk Senor Operator with BAMSD
Currently, work on the program, but not with NGC, if anyone has questions feel free to inquire with me be glad to help in any way
https://ngc.taleo.net/careersection/ngc_pro/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=20023921&src=JB-17946
One of our ASOG Core Members and ASOG Author, Gary Micklethwaite, just relayed this job opportunity. QinetiQ in Canada is looking for an “Canadian Air Force Unmanned Aircraft System Program Manager.”
If you’re interested, checkout the job description - Canadian Air Force Unmanned Aircraft System Program Manager
Also, if you have any questions, Gary works for QinetiQ as a Senior ASO...just reachout to him via the ASOG members area.
ASOG Career Center
ASOG 2020 Focus Areas: General
Not bad, looks like the participants of July’s Poll & Quiz started at an early age and have a good foundation of airmanship, sensors, and flight instruction.
For professional fun, take the August Poll & Quiz. Also, if you have a question you want to see how others respond to it, send it to me and I’ll added to the next Poll & Quiz ( pryan@aso-group.org).
JULY 2020 POLL:
When did you start your first job as an Airborne Sensor Operator?
Why did you become an Airborne Sensor Operator?
Response 1: “The reason I became an ASO, or should I say Aircrew Member, is my passion for flying, experiencing new challenges, and seeing the world. Like I tell my family, friends and work mates…”I can’t believe I get paid for this!”
JULY 2020 QUIZ:
Airmanship Knowledge - A below glide slope indication from a tri-color VASI is a…
Sensor Knowledge - Synthetic-Aperture Radar (SAR) is…
Instructor Knowledge - Students can become apathetic when they recognize that the instructor…
ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick)
ASOG Article of the Month – August 2020
ASOG Author: Patrick Ryan
It’s 5:00 am and you’re about to step out and fly a mission. (and you didn’t have time to stop at a 24/7 fast food place to get a coffee and one of those "Gut Bomb" breakfast sandwiches to fill the energy void!)
However, you have a lot on your mind. You just took charge of a training department with lots of problems and your new department is getting an inspection next week (Thanks Boss!...I love you too), plus, your own annual check ride is in a few days and you really haven’t prepared for it (O’Shit!).
Additionally, on the home front, you, and your wife are expecting your first child and both of you are running around to doctor appointments, trying to buy the right how-to-books, and attempting to get everything ready for the big day….“Dear, I’m getting nervous, what color paint should we buy for the baby’s room…pink or blue?” (“OK Dude, Time to Push-Up-the-Throttles!”)
Again, it’s 5:00 am and your about to step out and fly a mission. With all these things running through your head and you’re going to participate in an event that requires total focus to stay safe, how do you balance it all and meet the standards or expectations of yourself, family, friends, crew and supervisors.
If you’ve been trained (civil or military) the process of how to manage “Aviate, Navigate and Communicate” while you’re flying, you have a foundation or an sense of how to compartmentalize in a rapid way.
However, if your entering the aircrew community or a bit rusty, it’s impossible to be the “Master-of-Your-Complex-Universe”, especially flying, without channeling certain areas of our life for periods of time. When we must focus on one activity without disruption, compartmentalization is important and, in many ways, critical.
Starting with the book answer and depending on what sections of the encyclopedia you look at, compartmentalization is:
As you can see, there are various relative academic definitions, but basically compartmentalizing (especially for aircrew members) is being able to mentally separate parts of your life and work into isolated compartments at the right time.
As mentioned before, to compartmentalize means to group things in your mind so that they’re easier to manage. If you don’t, life responsibilities will come together like a 10-Ton Gorilla sitting on your shoulders.
Besides work and life responsibilities, flying is a dangerous endeavor (manned or unmanned, it does not matter), so if you mess up, you’ll do more harm than good. So here are a few things to keep in mind to ensure a positive outcome, i.e., compartmentalize!
The first step is to identify those areas of your life and work that have, so to speak, a lot of moving parts and expectations. The best way to organize is to identify the who, what, when, how and where of those parts.
A good method to help with identifying the difference between things is, from your perspective, the primary feedback of “success” or “failure” of a compartment. Without saying, yourself, your parents, your wife or partner, supervisor, crew mates, maintenance crew, and employer are primary feedback points.
Once you’ve identified those parts of your life and work, group them into compartments accordingly. A single compartment should, generally, stand on its own with some or limited connection to the other compartments.
A simple or universal example is family and work. Work related events don’t directly connect with family events. However, the strategic connection of the job providing money to support the family is there, but the who, what, when and where is different.
Using the scenario at the beginning of the article, your primary compartments could or might look like this:
Within those primary compartments, you could build sub-compartments to help with additional clarification of the many different parts of your job and life.
Now that you have identified and grouped your compartments, the next step is to develop ways to manage or control your compartmentalization. This consist of both mental and physical ways to maximize your efforts while transitioning from one compartment to another and when operating in a compartment. Two of the best controlling mechanisms are:
As many of you know, managing your time when flying is critical. When it comes to compartmentalizing your personal and professional life it’s no different. Time management is a matter of taking your compartments and prioritizing them by when and how much time is required to complete or maintain them.
Besides Time Management, managing your physical location while focusing on a specific compartment will help keep you engaged on the specific elements of that compartment, i.e., minimize distraction.
For example, you have a check-ride next week and you need to study for the Question & Answer portion of the ride and your Flight Department is too noisy and distracting, find a quite place in the hanger to study for 45 mins.
The short answer is yes, there are things (“Caution, Warning and Notes type stuff”) to think about when you go through the process of compartmentalizing.
The whole point of compartmentalizing is to focus on one thing at a time. When you start trying to blend multiple compartments together, e.g., calling the pediatrician while you’re flight planning, you’re only increasing the level of risk of making an error, just not one compartment but all the compartments you’re trying to do at once.
Again, compartmentalizing is about doing one thing at a time. When compartments appear to start overlapping, the best thing is to prioritize compartments based on what needs to be worked now and what can be worked later (Time Management).
Just because a task or compartment is not sexy, fun, enjoyable or gratifying, they probably must be dealt with at some point in time. If you don’t, they’ll come back to “bite you in the Buttocks.” When that happens, your compartment probably grew or it spawns new pain compartments. So, roll up your flight suit sleeves, lean your head forward and go! Don’t forget, we all have compartments like this.
Probably the most important “Caution, Warning and Note” regarding compartmentalizing is learning how to stop yourself and say “No” when one compartment competes with another or you see yourself starting to Multi-Task.
As an example. If one compartment is for staying fit and regularly going to the fitness center after work, however, at the last minute you get a call to discuss a draft SOP that is not due until next month, the answer is “no” because you need to get out on time. Another classic scenario is taking work home. If you have the urge to take work home, i.e., read a manual, build an xls etc., just say “No.” Again, blending compartments just takes the effectiveness and efficiency out of compartmentalizing.
As I mentioned before, the skill of compartmentalizing is not new, especially in the aircrew community (Aviate, Navigate and Communicate). However, the importance of it is probably more important today than it was 40 years ago, especially with society and technology rapidly changing.
To keep everything together in the aircraft and on the ground, the best way to manage the whole thing is to compartmentalize your personal and professional goals and responsibilities mentally and physically. From there, it’s a matter of discipline and creativity of managing them “24/7” or “Day, Night and in all Weather.”
It’s great to see young ASO’s reach for the sky and start their own business. I’m happy to announce EMTaylor Aviation LTD in the U.K. launch their new business and their recognition of our group and profession as an ASOG Supporter.
If you didn’t know, EMTaylor Aviation LTD provides UAV services in the following areas:
If you want to know more, contact Emma Taylor (Director and Owner) via her webpage, i.e., click the EMTaylor Aviation logo on our ASOG Supporters Page
ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick)
ASOG 2020 Focus Areas: Training and Education + Professional Development
I received an e-mail from a professional association I’ve been a member for many years – Airborne Public Safety Association (APSA). I thought it might be of interest to members looking to improve their knowledge and skills.
APSA has several online courses related to flight department safety and management. Just thinking outside the box, these courses might be useful to just not public safety aviators but others. If you’re interested, here’s the linked to the courses - APSA Online Courses. Also, here's a general breakout of the courses:
AUGUST 5-7, 2020 | AVIATION UNIT MANAGER COURSE
Registration: $375 (Member); $475 (Non-Member)
Instructed by Richard Bray, Dudley Crosson, PhD, Al Frazier, Tania Glenn, PhD, Patrick Linnehan,
Brian Martin, Terry Miyauchi, Brian Smith, Ken Solosky and Ed Van Winkle
AUGUST 19-21, 2020 | SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS COURSE
Registration: $375 (Member); $475 (Non-Member)
Instructed by Chris Young
AUGUST 24, 2020 | IA RENEWAL
Registration: $ -- (Member); $100 (Non-Member)
Instructed by Mike Broderick, Brian Hughes, John Shauger, Bryan Smith, Kenneth Speaks
AUGUST 26-28, 2020 | AVIATION SAFETY OFFICER COURSE
Registration: $375 (Member); $475 (Non-Member)
Instructed by Mike Broderick, Dudley Crosson, PhD, Scott May, Bryan Smith
ASOG 2020 Focus Area: Career Management, Professional Development
If you’re interested in learning more about the civil, commercial side of the Airborne Sensor Operator profession, this is an excellent webinar that highlights the technical language, systems, processes, science, and operations of this sector.
Yes, it’s a marketing webinar, plus, ASOG has no connection with the firms that produced this webinar. However, it does an excellent job of showing what it’s like working in the Aerial Surveying & Mapping business.
So, if you’re an ASO in the Public Safety or Defense sector and want to expand into the commercial side of our profession, grab a cup of coffee and take notes. Also, if you are not an ASO but want to become one, the Aerial Surveying & Mapping business is a good place to start.
ASOG Career Center
ASOG 2020 Focus Areas: Tactics, Techniques and Procedures.
Source: www.theconversation.com, Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick
One of our members just shared this article with the ASOG Desk Editor. I thought you would be interested in reading it. From my perspective, this is a good article regarding TTPs, i.e., things to think about from an Airborne Sensor Operator perspective.
From your perspective, is this information applicable to an ASO (Commercial, Public Safety & Mil)?
How to hide from a drone – the subtle art of “ghosting” in the age of surveillance
Patrick
ASOG Desk Editor
ASOG 2020 Focus Areas: General
It is always great to get current insight on how our community thinks and operates. Look at June’s Poll & Quiz results and interpret accordingly. I found the responses on “Do you chance it?” question interesting.
JUNE 2020 POLL:
Opportunity for Growth in 2020 - Where do you see the most opportunity for growth in the aerial remote sensing sector?
Do You Chance It? - As a freelance ASO, when offered work that is beyond your normal scope of expertise, you:
Professional Development - What is the most important source for professional development and career enhancement?
JUNE 2020 QUIZ:
Sensors - What sensor system uses a single or 9-megapixel secondary sensor(s) to detect objects?
Aerial Navigation – What ground based navigational aid transmits both direction and distance information to the aircraft, like a VOR/DME?
Airborne LiDAR - Traditionally, pulse widths for topographic systems have been in range of about 10 ns which means that there is a __________ of about 1 meter along the laser path behind each received
Meteorology – Based on the METAR, what is the temperature in Albuquerque? “ KABQ 110252Z 20007KT 10SM FEW140 17/M13 A2989 RMK AO2 SLP067 T01721133 53003 “
ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick)
ASOG Article of the Month – July 2020
ASOG Author: Darrly Woodruff
10, 20, 30…50 or more. That is the number of rejection letters that I received from my primary target for employment, add in all the other companies that I had applied to in the last year and I was easily in triple digits. I could not figure out what was going wrong.
I had connections with inside tracks, I feel as if I interview well, I had applied for the exact same position on a contract that I had worked with a different company, even had individuals that I had more experience land the gig…I was at a loss.
I reworked my resume several times ensuring that every time I applied to a position that I pulled out all the key words from the posting to make sure they were out front. I WAS GOING TO LAND THIS ONE! Except I did not, more rejection letters flooded my inbox.
I tried to seek out training for areas that I knew were weak and added those new skills and reapplied. Again, my inbox was filled with rejection letters. Now my pride and sense of self was taking a beating.
I didn’t have to land a new job, my retirement and my wife’s business covered all our bills, but only barely, and at this point it had become personal (this included one company I had been applying to for three years).
Finally, about a month ago I had given up. I came to terms with the fact that for some reason another flying gig was not in my future, I even went as far as emailing the founder of this page to thank him for all his help over the last several years and to let him know that I was stepping away from the game.
I have a degree in Homeland Security and had some security related jobs in my toolbox. That was going to be my new direction, executive security specialist. I found places that accepted the GI Bill, cleared my plan with my wife, and was all set, I even have a start date. I have also received a preemptive position with Customs and Border Patrol during this time.
Then about two weeks ago I get tagged to a job posting on LinkedIn. Since I had nothing to lose, I decided I would email the recruiter and prepare for another “thanks for the interest, but” letter.
To my surprise the recruiter called me about an hour later. That turned into a series of phone calls with people that I have interviewed with in the past. So, I am fully expecting this to go nowhere and keep getting moving forward with what I need to for my new chosen career path.
I get told “I will call you tomorrow” that comes and goes, then the rest of the week passed. I told my wife “it’s what I expected” then Monday I get a text saying, “I haven’t forgotten about you”. I tell myself at least that’s promising, it’s not a no yet.
I head to the gym to work out some stress and as I’m loading the bar my phone rings. “Hey, I’m still working with HR, but you should have an offer letter by mid-week”. Now I am looking for Ashton Kutcher to jump out from a corner and tell me I’ve just been punk’d. No, this is real.
As my wife has been telling me this entire last year, when the right job comes along you will get it. The most important lesson that I learned from all this is to not stress if you don’t have to, and never stop applying. Even if you start looking into new endeavors keep applying for the job you want. You never know when the stars will align.
ASOG Article of the Month - July 2020
ASOG Author: Gareth Davies ; Image: mypolice.gld.gov.au
Drones, UAV, UAS call them what you will, seems they are here to stay. However, before I start and for clarity of terminologies within my article, I’m going to use the term Unmanned Aerial Platform (UAP). My rationale is that a helicopter is a Rotary platform, an aircraft is a fixed wing platform and a drone, UAV (unmanned airborne vehicle) or UAS (unmanned airborne system) are UAPs. O.K., enough of that.
So, from the position of an Air Support Unit (police, Fire dept. emergency service, a.k.a., ASU) or as an Operations Officer you have decided that there is something in all the hype regarding UAPs. So, where do you start or what you should think about before obtaining a UAP? Even though there are many technical things to think about, and from my experience, here are my top three things to contemplate.
The labyrinth is the frequency. Frequency defines almost everything about a platform, i.e., from controlling the platform to sending imagery to the ground. When it comes to sending data to the ground, this is known as ‘downlinking’. Frequency defines how much data (data rate) you can transmit within the frequency. How much data defines the resolution you need for the task at hand. You do not need 4k resolution to determine a fire, however I submit it would be essential if you are going to put a bullet in someone or a hellfire missile though a windscreen.
Currently most video transmission systems operate in the 1.9 to 2.5 gigahertz range. The 2.4 range is by and large licence free which means you should not use them if you are in the Emergency service game or if you don’t want the press ‘looking’ in. Please check with your frequency allocation people when you wish to start operating (They will be chuffed you have asked. However, they will also know you are taking the whole business of frequency serious. This is a personal experience).
Consider how far from platform transmit (TX) to receive (RX) site. This number or average number is critical because it defines the TX power requirement. Be careful here because blasting away on the TX site with a powerful transmitter that is often frequency and location restricted and for the most part bigger is not better, because, as you will read later, you will upset the wrong people.
Output power in watts defines the actual physical size and weight of your unit. This clearly will have a form fit issue with the platform.
And last but not least, the wattage of your eventual transmitter will have to be generated from the platform, so you UAP has to be ‘big’ enough provide sufficient power but having enough left over to fly and return.
All ASU’s have a prime and backup frequency. It used to be that (in the UK anyway) these were ‘purchased’ for their exclusive use The Police take a very dim view of anyone caught using them.
DO NOT use a frequency that is not yours unless it has been allocated to you for specific period of time. Think ‘dim view’, police, Government officers and being “Upset.”
If you do use a frequency without authorization, you will probably get caught. Here’s a good story to reinforce the point. Since WWI when prevailing winds meant that there were only three ways across the channel for the Zeppelin’s the Military knew which path they were going to take because there was significant increase in ‘activity’ (voice and signal traffic) from one of the three stations. I would hazard a guess and suggest that GCHQ (UK’s listening centre, amongst other things) have become a tad more sophisticated since then. And that most countries will have followed suit.
Just as a tip, ask to ‘borrow’ (most transmitters are frequency agile) your local ASU’s backup frequency and run a number of ‘missions’ in parallel. Start collecting and collating data from these missions until you have sufficient to populate a matrix document. Then you will start to see which ‘service’ better suits the task at hand.
Clearly task, locations, mission specifics et al all affect mission operations but here are a few things from real life that I have found useful. They apply to drone operations just as they did in the real word
I was taught as a kid that when canoeing you always row against the current so that if you are tired and/or underestimate your ability you can always float back on the current to your starting point.
I hear next to nothing about air currents but obviously 15 mins with the prevailing wing and air current will take you farther that 15 mins against the same conditions so be wary.
Sorry to bore you again with Spacecraft control analogies, however…
I was controlling a telescope called ROSAT at the German Space Operations centre, Nr. Munich, with a ground station south of Munich, that had 7/8 passes of 7 to 8 minutes windows. This was our commanding and data collection time. These times were predicted (AOS, Acquisition of Signal and LOS, loss of Signal) so that the Ground station was ‘visible’ to ROSAT. We usually needed 5/6 passes to complete all commanding.
During an oversight that saw us still transmitting commands some 20 secs after official LOS, we were staggered to discover, during the next pass, that these commands had actually reached the Spacecraft. Over the next months we carefully ‘pushed’ the envelope to discover that for some reason ( jokingly said that we bounded commands of the weather station roof that is built into the rocks on the summit of Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitz, however I suspect a more technical and esoteric explanation would be ionosphere refection after AOS and LOS).
I tell this anecdote because the following year we had a requirement to send a massive file that breached the official single pass parameters and the fear was that by splitting up the commanding into 2 passes we would lose continuity and therefor the integrity of the file.
Imagine the surprise when the command team hit the command button 30 secs before AOS and we ran about 25 secs after LOS and the complete file was loaded.
This will be short-and-sweet. Find out your complete mission critical kit parameters before your mission becomes mission critical. This might cost you a battery or two, but the rewards are real if a little further down the line.
At some point the bean counters will ‘suggest’, because of budgetary considerations there will have to be a crossover between Rotary platform operations and a supplementary UAP.
Having been in international sales for 20 years I know that words alone will not suffice to convince an ASU that your drone can replace its helicopter. And neither should it. As I have just said it should be supplementary, so at some point you are going to have to run your UAP and rotary in parallel and compare the outcomes.
To do this you are going to have a regularity the Air Support Unit (ASU) boys can ‘see’.
No matter what you call a Drone, the critical aspect of implementing or integrating this new kit of technology to your Air Support Unit is planning. When it comes to planning, there are many variables to consider. However, there’s always the top 3 or 5 things to consider, in this case, and in my professional opinion and experience, is Frequency Management, Operations, Parameters, and Implementation.
So, with that, Good ‘hunting’
***Note: The job has been filled. The ASOG network really kicked into action on this one***
ASOG Members and Followers, are you a Freelance ASO and live in Australia? One of our ASOG Supporters (Aerialsurvey.com) has a short notice need:
“WANTED Freelance airborne operator needed for environmental project in Victoria – near Melbourne.
The job requires operating weekly for a few months on a pre-planned schedule, i.e., 1 week of flying, once per 30 days for period until Corvid situation is over.
The candidate must be able to use FMS systems- ideally Aviatrix system medium format camera system. However, local training can be arranged if required.”
If you are interested, please contact Aerialsurvey at aerialsurvey@aerialsurvey.com
ASOG Career Center
ASOG Article of the Month - June 2020
ASOG Author: Gary Micklethwaite (Head of Operators QTS Canada); Image: Wikicommons Aldo Bidini, DVIDS
One of the Core competencies of any Airborne Sensor Operator, be it flying on a manned aircraft or part of an unmanned aircrew, is "Situational Awareness." Gary Micklethwaite, with over 5000 flight hours flying in both environments, highlights what is SA and how to manage SA in these two different worlds.
In my over thirty-year aviation career where I sat in the back of or operated equipment of both unmanned and manned aircraft, I have found that the development and implementation of Situational Awareness (SA) are very different in both of these types of platforms.
First of all, it may be worthwhile to look at the textbook definition of SA:
"The perception of the elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning and the projection of their status in the near future." 1
Let's look at this in three stages
Stage 1: The perception of information from the environment within a volume of time and space
It goes without saying that the environment between manned and unmanned aircraft is completely different. Movement, odors, G forces, temperature differences, and visual cues all are different in each environment. We get a lot of information from the tactile senses about how our aircraft is operating. We can feel altitude changes and turns. We know instinctively what the aircraft is doing around us, and we can "perceive the information from the environment" and apply it to our decision-making process. From this input, we can determine a bunch of things:
1. The spatial relationship between the aircraft and points on the earth
2. The relationship between our aircraft and other aircraft
3. The relationship between our aircraft and terrain
4. The relationship between our aircraft and targets
5. The weather around the aircraft
6. The health and status of the aircraft
7. Threats to the aircraft
This is not to say that we can't determine these things in unmanned flight also, but the way we determine them is very different when it comes to developing SA. Our tactile senses of touch and smell still work, but the sensation does not necessarily mean that what we are feeling and smelling in any way equates to what the aircraft is actually doing. Even our sense of hearing gives us different clues to what's going on in the aircraft as opposed to what's going on in the GCS.
So how do we actually know what's going on out there while we are flying? We rely pretty much solely on sight to receive information, and we rely on the Air Vehicle to tell us that information. In essence, the Air Vehicle has its own levels of SA. One difficulty of receiving this information is limited or inaccurate unmanned vehicle sensing capabilities, particularly when compared to a humans' rich sensing capabilities. Couple these factors with the fact that these sensors tend to provide an output that is often not presented in a human-friendly format, thus placing a high cognitive demand on the human. This can lead to cognitive overload and a loss of the human side of SA in the Human/Machine interface.
My personal opinion is that this is why some regulatory organizations such as the FAA or Transport Canada in my case, are placing restrictions of "visual line of sight operations only" on entry-level or smaller UAVs in order to give operators an extra level of SA that makes up for the lack of automation on the Air Vehicle.
So in unmanned operation, we have to rely on the machines having a rudimentary level of SA to make up for our lack of sensory input. As UA systems become more intricate, the level of SA that is built into the machine may outweigh the level of SA required to operate it.
Stage 2- - The comprehension of the perceived information
We comprehend information in different ways. We can have that seat of the pants feeling when we are flying in a manned aircraft. We can see horizon changes for turns and altitude, we can feel the aircraft around us and perceive that information in a completely different way than if we are is a stationary GCS. It is difficult to understand how UAV pilots mentally processed 3D spatial awareness relationships, including predicting where the aircraft would be flying in the next few minutes from the little amount of Spatial SA that they have. Still, they can fly and do operate safely, which would indicate that either they are developing their SA from other inputs OR the machine is providing SA to the pilot.
So basically SA means knowing what's going on around you, and if that's a correct definition, how do we perceive SA in an environment where the operator may not even be co-located with the air vehicle (i.e., remote/split operations) or where the operator may not feel the same sense of self-preservation flying unmanned as opposed to manned aircraft. Do unmanned operators even think about the vulnerability factor of their aircraft? How does an operator maintain his SA when they are flying a mission in the morning and taking little Johnny to soccer practice in the afternoon?
Firstly, a lot of training has to go into making an unmanned operator and (again, my personal opinion) is that it's easier to train an unmanned operator from square one than it is to convert a manned aircraft pilot into an unmanned AV operator. Sure, not to give him or her the wherewithal to actually fly, but you have to mentally switch the way an unmanned operator thinks as opposed to a manned operator. It's the way that we think as unmanned operators, which leads us into the third stage of having SA.
Stage 3- The projection of their status in the near future
So we gather all of this information over a period of time and devise a plan on how to put that information into practice. Some of that information is gathered by the human operator and some of it is presented by the unmanned vehicle itself.
I think that the information presented by the Air Vehicle is important for one very good reason. It's digital. It's a one or a zero, and there is no grey area. The vehicle tells us exactly what is going on with itself, and it's up to us to interpret the information. Yes, we have all seen instances where the information presented to us turned out to be false in the end, but at that time, this is what the AV is "feeling" for lack of a better word.
Recently we were doing flight testing on an Air Vehicle when there was a warning of a high EGT. We carried out the checklist for high EGT and recovered the AV without incident. The Post-flight analysis showed that a wire on the EGT sensor has broken, and the sensor did what it was supposed to do, which was shown a high temp reading. So, in essence, there was no real EGT overtemp, but the AV didn't know that, and its built-in safety sensing did what it was supposed to do. It gave us a warning. The AV itself projected its status in the near future, and we acted upon it.
Loss of SA
There's a lot of material you can read about what SA is and how we can lose it. Perhaps there's not so much on regaining it, but aviation might be unique in the sense that once we identify loss of SA, there are some things we can do to help us regain it.2
Once we realize we've lost some portion of our SA, we need to identify the reason we lost it in the first place. Distraction, fatigue, and inattention are likely causes, and each has obvious remedies. Whatever the reason, it seems useful to focus on the things we don't know about the flight: How much fuel do we have remaining? What's the ETA? How's the destination weather holding up? If I had to land right now, where would it be? These always are important things to know and form a foundation of good SA in the cockpit, and this doesn't matter if you are in a manned or unmanned aircraft. Focusing on these questions and their answers is a pretty good place to start regaining your SA.3
In addition to being a critical component of aircraft operation, situational awareness is fundamental to risk management. Pilots cannot assess or mitigate risk without a clear understanding of their situation, and this works for both manned and unmanned operations.4
Improving Situational Awareness
No one has perfect situational awareness—there's always some aspect of a complicated task or operation we forget. Consider these recommendations on ways to improve your SA:5
Predict the Future
Think ahead of the airplane. Where will it be in five minutes? Ten? What likely will happen when it reaches decision altitude on the approach you're about to fly?6
Identify Threats
Monitor, detect and recognize the events and factors that pose a risk to your flight. Once you react to them, how will they respond?7
Trust Your Gut
If something tells you things are not right, maybe things are not right. Be suspicious and verify your perceptions, then respond.8
Minimize Task Overload
Trying to configure the airplane for an approach as you cope with bad weather and a failed landing gear position indicator is a recipe for failure. Do one thing at a time, and if you are flying unmanned, don't become too reliant on automation. You're still the pilot, and you're still in control.9
References & Sources:
1. Wikipedia, Situational Awareness, Endsley, 1995b, p. 36
2 thru 9. A Bartlett, Situational Awareness, Aviation Safety Magazine, December 2019
ASOG Article of the Month - June 2020
ASOG Author: Gareth Davies; Image: Commons.wikimedia.org & unspash.com
Hands down, aviation safety is an essential part of the ASO profession and the aerial remote sensing industry sector. Gareth Davies brings light to one critical part of the safety process – responsibility and management.
Let’s Start With…
H.W. Heinrich (I’ll talk more about him later), he makes a very good point about responsibility and management. What he said is:
“Responsibility for a fault of control over the operating conditions and forces’ in an industrial establishment can be assessed only against the centre of management. This center is that individual or small group of individuals who exert the directing will in that concern. In this centre is the managerial skill which makes for success; while its lack leads on to failure.”
If you remove industrial establishment and insert it with just about anything, it reads the same. If you replace it with any government or military organization, any commercial activity, any flight operation, any sporting concern, any ‘body’ that has management control over other ‘bodies.’ It reads the same. Without saying, this ought to be the first thing management should learn, day 1, hour 1, minute 1 in management 101. It isn’t!
A Perfect Example
In 1988 at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) Darmstadt, Germany. ESOC was controlling two satellites that were operationally being used by Inmarsat. It was discovered that two of the four Bolometers (sensors for keeping geostationary communications satellites pointing at the earth) had glitches that occasionally breached its parameters and if two of the four failed then the satellite goes into what is known as ESR (Emergency Sun Requisition) this mean that the satellite effectively ‘flips’ over and the main Communications dish is now pointing at the sun with the main payload switched off. Happy as Larry, all the power (literally ) in the world, with no payload drain.
Two issues here
The satellite is not doing its job, these things are not cheap, but more importantly, the thousands of ships that use the satellite are not doing theirs either because while they are on route, their cargos are being bought and sold on the appropriate spot markets, and at some point during their voyage, you have to tell them which harbor to aim for. In other words, lots of loot involved.
Now, if there was a severe glitch in the sensor, then clearly ESR is the best place for it, lots of sun power no payload, just hang about until the ground boys figure out the problems. If not, and it’s an ESR because of a glitch, then lots of unnecessary costs.
When an ESR is triggered, you have 15 minutes to figure out if there is a serious issue or just a sensor glitch. With that much at stake, 15 minutes will disappear faster than ice cream on a hot day.
As already indicated, ESR was the bogey man ESOC lived with. Its handling and the Brobdingnagian ramifications of getting it wrong, terrified a young operational ESOC.
Aside from the prime ground station antenna (in Belgium), you immediately configure a second antenna. The term ‘Spacecraft Emergency’ is the space equivalent of the nautical ‘Mayday.’ All ‘hands’ to the rescue, in this case, a second antenna (indeed all available and useable antennas).
“Houston, we have a Problem!”
The MARECS (MARitime European Communications Satellite) spacecraft controller, in this case, Fred Blogs, calls the Network Controller (the positions that controller and coordinates the ground antennas and the in-house computers) which is me. I react, call the ground station to configure the second antenna, and wait.
Chatter and noise within the MARECS control room (all voice loops are open) makes me realize something is not right. It takes me 25 seconds (please don’t forget ice cream on a sunny day) to realize to my horror that I have asked the ground station to configure their antenna (a 30-meter dish, so not a switch) for the wrong satellite.
I issue a ‘break break finger trouble my end’ command and get the ground station to configure the correct antenna for the right spacecraft, get that online, all within 90 seconds. As it happened, it was a glitch, but if because of a glitch and not enough time to ascertain the same and had not stopped an ESR…..I know the proverbial hitting the fan is on its way.
What Went Wrong?
The grilling was appropriate. I was asked if Fred Blogs had got it wrong. I knew F.B. well and knew him to be a top-notch controller, so I was not prepared to go there. What was I thinking? What was my mindset?
In any event, all the voice loops were recorded and would come out in the transcripts, and did. F.B. had indeed asked me to configure for MARECS.
The management was good enough to want to get the bottom of this as I was.
F.B. has clearly said MARECS and not the OTS (Orbital Test Satellite that EOSC was still controlling but also had the same bolometer glitch issue, so had often called for a second ESR avoiding antenna).
Light bulb moment. F.B. had been on OTS for five years; he was OTS. He had recently been promoted to MARECS, but no-one had officially informed the rest of the operations department.
Because of the ESR Bogey-Man, we were all attuned to speed. I had associated F.B. with OTS, and not his clear request for a MARECS configured antenna and had configured for his voice and not what he had said.
These were unmanned missions, but the ramifications are clear when such an ‘event’ can jeopardize lives.
Brilliant Management
Suffice it to say all promotions after that were published, and I survived being promoted into that very control room some 12 months later.
Their point was to point at my manager (which in this case was them) and ask that if we are his managers, why don’t we know what he doesn’t know!
Look Past the Coal Face for Answers
Looking back at the recent comments I made on the IIMC incident in California article in March, I wonder what the management mindset was (perhaps still is) regarding the transportation of VIPs in such conditions, especially when you consider that the nearby LA ASU had grounded their fleet. I have met some of the LA ASU boys, safety first, all day long.
For those who have never heard of H.W. Heinrich, he was not at ESOC or anywhere near operations per se. Nor was he military or in any branch associated with the military.
The interesting part of this story, H.W., was an occupational safety researcher for a major insurance company whose clients were complaining about excessive insurance premiums. He wrote, suggesting, here is the kicker, that if you show more concern for your workforce, the accident rate and therefore insurance premiums go down.
This, then off the wall, ‘truism,’ and more lifesaving thinking gems can be found in the seminal work ‘Preventing Industrial Accidents, ’ which was published in, wait for it………. 1935! Today, some of you may know it as the Heinrich Pyramid.
So, if you’re looking to improve your knowledge of aviation safety and how it could apply to your job, I highly recommend you search the internet for gems like H.W. or review current safety programs that might just help you save a few jobs or, better yet, a lot of lives.
ASOG 2020 Focus Areas: General
As promised, here’s last months poll and quiz results. From my professional ASO perspective, I enjoy learning what’s trending regarding the community’s thoughts and knowledge. FYI: A new batch of poll and quiz questions are up and running, i.e., June Poll and Quiz.
May 2020 POLL:
Certification & Accreditation - Who should regulate and issue ASO certifications and ratings?
• Government - Civil Aviation Authorities - 40%
• Industry – Trade Organizations - 0%
• Non-Government - Professional Associations or Guilds - 60%
• Other (tell us in the comment section) - 0%
Professional Classification – When working with an unmanned civil rated aircraft Pilot or Operator, is an Airborne Sensor Operator part of a civil/commercial flight crew?
• Yes - 67%
• No - 0%
• Don't Know - 17%
• Other (tell us in the comment section) - 17%
Comment 1: Charlie Locke - If the Sensor is operating the turret on the UAV - then yes
Comment 2: Wayne Dahlke - It depends on what they are doing. If they are actively controlling the sensor and have to coordinate with the pilot to ensure correct collection, or other parameters, then yes. If they are passively collecting data, with no input to the sensor during flight then, no.
Aerial Remote Sensing Industry - Hiring in 2020 – Is your organization or are you Hiring?
• Yes, adding ASO(s) in Training - 0%
• Yes, adding ASO(s) with 2-6 years of experience - 0%
• Yes, adding ASO(s) with 6 or more years of experience - 17%
• Yes, but only temporary/sub-contractor help with experience - 0%
• Possibly, but no permanent positions - 33%
• I would if I could find qualified applicants - 0%
• No additions and no changes in staff - 50%
• No hiring, may make temporary cuts - 0%
• No hiring, and permanent staff reduction likely - 0%
May 2020 QUIZ:
Airmanship/Medical factors – If a crew member suddenly becomes confused, slow to react, and nauseous during flight, he is most likely experiencing symptoms of:
• Cyanosis - 0%
• Hyperventilation - 0%
• Hypoxia - 100% (Correct Answer)
• Hypothermia - 0%
Active Sensors Systems and Capabilities - The basic design of a radar system consists of:
• Transmitter, Duplexer, Receiver, Radar Antenna, initiator - 0%
• Transmitter, Duplexer, Receiver, Radar Antenna, Indicator - 75% (Correct Answer)
• Transmitter, Duplexer, Receiver, Radar Antenna, waveguard - 25%
• Transmitter, Flux Capacitor, Receiver, Radar Antenna, Indicator - 0%
Meteorology - Which weather briefing product would contain information about embedded thunderstorms and squall lines?
• Airmet Sierra - 0%
• Sigmet - 14%
• Convective Sigmet - 86% (Correct Answer)
• Weather Depiction Chart - 0%
Manned & Unmanned Aircraft Systems & Capabilities – What is not a standard component of a commercial aerial surveying & mapping drone quadcopter?
• Battery, Electronics and Power Distribution Cables - 0%
• Radio Transmitter - 0%
• Tether - 100% (Correct Answer)
• Electronic Speed Controller (ESC) - 0%
If you’re interested in contributing a question for either the ASOG Poll or Quiz, please e-mail it to deskeditor@aso-group.org.
ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick Ryan)
ASOG 2020 Focus Areas: Information sharing
Last week we posted a general consolidation of webinars that relates to our profession and your professional develop. From that post, one of our members (Marcus Gurtner, member since 2017) shared that he’ll be conducting a webinar on 10 June.
The theme of the webinar is: Converting a GA or Transport aircraft into a Search & Rescue Aircraft. If you are interested, let Marcus and his Team know, i.e., register at http://www.sar-sensorswebinar.com
***Side Note***: I want to say thank you to everyone at Airborne Technologies. It’s great that they think of ASOG and support by providing informative information to ASOG members & connections. I know its part marketing but it is also professionally informative, i.e., whats trending regarding tech, capabilities and who does what in the aerial multi-mission sector.
ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick)
ASOG 2020 Focus Area: Information Sharing
The other day I was cleaning out my in-box and realized I hadn’t shared this article. It was published this month in the GA Buyer Europe magazine. The focus is on those aircraft that do Aerial Work operations vs. GA and Transportation, i.e., it relates to the office of an Airborne Sensor Operator…both manned and unmanned aircraft.
Article on Page 33: GA Buyer Europe, May 2020
ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick)
Hello Everyone,
Here is a follow-up video from last month. I thought the technical aspect would be interesting for some of you. My boss Mr. Wolfgang Grumeth does a walk around of a Vulcanair P68 Observer we converted to a Multi-Sensor Surveying and Mapping aircraft. Actually, it was the second aircraft we did for the same client. If you have any questions, please let me know. I hope you enjoy the video.
