News & Information

Georg DeCock (ASOG Member and ASOG Ambassador) asked to share this video with his fellow ASOGers. Georg is one of many folks from different companies taking part in this world tour. Currently, they just completed the African leg of the trip and now heading to Asia. The next stop is Singapore Airshow (11 – 16 Feb).

If you want to check out the aircraft and learn more of the integrated special mission kit, reach out and contact Georg via the ASOG Network page for a member to member engagement opportunity.

From an ASOG perspective, this is an excellent opportunity to network and learn something new regarding aerial remote sensing capabilities.

Also, if you want to track the bird as it travels the world, the tail number is C-GVKI. Maybe you’ll have the chance to catch it at an airfield near you.

ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick)

Based on inputs and feedback from members, the group will focus on the following areas for 2020:

• ASOG – General
• Networking
• General Professional Standards
• Training
• Certification
• Career Support
• Safety
• Aircraft, Equipment, and Systems
• Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures

Again, the rationale of the ASOG Focus Areas is to help manage everyone’s interest and efforts regarding individuals participating and outcomes. However, at any time, if you want the group to focus on something new that relates to our profession or expand on one of the established areas, please let me know.

Patrick

ASOG 2020 Focus Area: Disseminate and share information related to Aerial Work (AW) aircraft, systems, and equipment.

AVBuyer and GA Buyer Magazine have just launched a new initiative to focus on the Aerial Work or Multi-Mission aviation industry sector. In the past, they concentrated on general aviation and air transportation. Now, they’ll add focused relevant information or intelligence related to specialized services (manned and unmanned) like Aerial Mapping and Surveying, Flight Training, Glider Towing, Airborne Law Enforcement, Aerial Photography and Cinematography, Aerial Fire Fighting, Aerial SAR, COCO C4ISR and more, i.e., what we as ASOs do for a living and the aircraft, systems and equipment we use.

From an ASOG perspective, it’s great to see a media organization focus on our community and provide information that helps with our specific professional development. Also, it’s great that AVBuyer recognizes and supports the efforts and purpose of the Airborne Sensor Operators Group.

If you’re interested, you can view their webpage or subscribe for a paper copy. The webpage is:

Intelligence - Multi-Mission Aircraft Hub

ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick)

***Outstanding*** Per the folks at TerraSense, they want to give a big Thank You to all the ASOG members, followers, and connections that helped with their request. Quote “Thank you very much for posting our wanted ad - we've had a tremendous response from some very well-connected group members.”

As MD of ASOG, I also want to say thank you to everyone who supported, and I’m very pleased with how our community/network responded.

TerraSense Analytics is looking to charter an aircraft (with Airborne Sensor Operator and Pilot) equipped with Wescam MX-15 (or similar) EO/MWIR sensor package to collect maritime target data for testing a software product.

While our firm is Canadian, we are open to travel anywhere in the world.

For more information on the project, please contact admin@terrasense.ca and visit https://www.terrasense.ca/mist/

Like last year, it’s time to review ASOGs focus areas and set new ones for 2020. The due date for inputs is 15 Jan 2020...it would be great to get your feedback and thoughts. The main Categories are:

• ASOG – General
• Networking
• General Professional Standards
• Training
• Certification
• Career Support
• Safety
• Aircraft, Equipment, and Systems
• Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures

The specific focus items are broken-out below. Review and recommend changes or additions. The rationale of the ASOG Focus Areas is to help manage everyone’s interest and efforts regarding individuals participating and outcomes.

Again, ASOG is an open platform/network for professional individuals (like you) to share their experiences and knowledge to help individual career efforts, advance aircrew operations, and improve the aerial remote-sensing profession.

If you have an input, you can easily respond here on the blog page or send me a separate message no-later-than 15 Jan 2020:

As I promised last month regarding the AVBuyer’s Leaders Roundtable Event, here’s a quick recap.

However, before I press forward, I would like to say thank you to those ASOG members who sent topics to bring up or discuss, e.g., standards and training. Also, I would like to say thank you to one of our members - Astrid Ayling - for making it possible for a representative from ASOG (even though I was a non-UK participant) to attend….”Good on you, Astrid!”

The Aviation Leaders Roundtable event took place on 20 Nov 2019 at the Phyllis Court Members Club outside of London. The meeting consisted of representatives from all aspects of UK Aviation: Fixed & Rotor wing Aviation, Multi Mission, Drones, Product & Services, and Associations. Plus, government officials from Westminster and the DfT.

Even though this was a UK focused aviation round table discussion, I believe, based on my engagement with many of you from around the world, the issues and concerns are the same North & South and East & West.

The main topics discussed at the round table were:

• The current state of UK General Aviation and Aerial Work Aviation
• Economic issues within UK Aviation
• Education, Training and the Next Generation
• UK Aviation electronic conspicuity
• UK Drone operations and integration
• DfT “Aviation Ambassadors” and “Reach for the Sky” programs

Overall, the round table event, from an Airborne Sensor Operator perspective, was very interesting and informative, especially in the areas of standards, training, and setting the stage for the next generation of aviators. Some of the challenges highlighted in the discussions and many ways effect the ASO profession were:

• Aviation operations are over regulated and over charged in all aspects;
• Economic and access issues regarding recruitment, training and job opportunities in aviation;
• Standardizing General Aviation and Aerial Work electronic conspicuity; and
• Inconsistency between manned and unmanned aircraft regulations and implementation.

Regarding solutions, the members of the round table highlighted the need for both the aviation community and government to work together to narrow efforts on the following challenges:

• Regulations and Fees – Review, streamline and balance regulations in proportion to local needs & aviation sectors, and be competitive with other countries' aviation programs, i.e., attract students, aviators, and businesses from around the world with high quality, affordable and easily accessible UK aviation programs.
• Recruitment, training, and job opportunities – Implement campaigns to market career opportunities in aviation (especially at the education level), promote best practice training programs concerning next-generation learning intake, and encourage competitive incomes to mitigate people avoiding the aviation industry sector as a career choice.

If you’re interested to know more about this Round Table and/or want to share more of your concerns related to our ASO profession, just let me know. We can add it to ASOG’s 2020 Focus Areas.

ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick)

ASOG Members, one of our members (Derrick Brydges, Linewise Aerial) is looking for a used FLIR Corona 350 or a SWE Quad 400 for Powerline Inspection in Canada, U.S. and Central America. If you know of any available system, please reach out to Derrick, i.e., you can find him in the ASOG members area or drop me a line and I’ll forward accordingly.

ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick)

ASOG Members,

ASOG was invited to participate in this year’s AVBuyer Aviation Leaders Roundtable discussions on the 20th of November in the United Kingdom. The event aims to provide a platform for the exchange of views on the current Aviation Industry, which in-turn shared with government organizations. The meeting will see representatives from all aspects of Aviation: Fixed & Rotor wing Aviation, Multi Mission, Drones, Product & Services, and Associations.

In the past, General Aviation (GA) was the primary focus. However, the organizers for this year’s event want to expand discussions beyond GA and include the Aerial Work sector of Aviation (a.k.a. Special Missions, Multi-Mission, aerial remote sensing, etc.).

This event is a great opportunity for our profession to have a say at a higher level regarding the importance of Airborne Sensor Operators, how they make a difference in Aviation today and in the future, and what our profession needs concerning government regulations, standards, training, and certification.

As an Airborne Sensor Operator Group member, we would like to get your inputs on issues (both Manned and Unmanned) that you think are important to help you as an ASO to do your job safer and better, especially in the civil and public safety sector. Even though this event will have a European perspective, we believe our inputs apply to every corner of the globe (N. America, S. America, MENA, Africa, Asia, ANZ).

So, here’s your chance to make a difference. Send your thoughts and inputs to me (pryan@aso-group.org), and I’ll bundle them up and present them at the Roundtable. Also, please have your inputs to me no later than 18 November so I can get them organized, etc. Furthermore, I’ll provide a post report after the event so you can see what concerns aviation leaders have and feedback on your inputs.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thank you, everyone,

Patrick

ASOG 2019 Focus Areas: Networking, Professional Development, Trending Technologies

Top Right Photo: L to R, Harry MacLeod, Patrick Ryan, Maxwell Field, Allister Wragg
Bottom Left Photo: L to R, Gustavo Duarte, Georg DeCock, Patrick Ryan

It was a great honor for ASOG and its members to participate in this year's Global Defence Helicopter meeting (Dresden, Germany, 29 -31 Oct). Per our ASOG 2019 Focus Areas, members were able to network, expand their professional knowledge, and track trending technologies. Overall, it was interesting to see the plans, programs and challenges military organizations are dealing with regarding their combat helicopter programs and how industry is trying to fulfill those requirements or mitigate the service's challenges.

Last but not least, I want to give a big thanks to Defence Leaders (Harry MacLeod, Maxwell Field) and Airborne Technologies (Gustavo Duarte) for recognizing the importance of the Airborne Sensor Operator profession and inviting us to this year’s event. Based on cross talking with Defence Leaders Directors (Harry & Max), anticipate more ASO/ASOG focused topics in their event programs. The next applicable event on their schedule that ASO’s can professionally benefit from is the Maritime Search & Rescue Conference (Tallinn, Estonia, 12 – 14 May 2020)....See details on the ASOG Event page.

ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick)

ASOG 2019 Focus Areas: Professional Development

To stay current on the latest in aerial remote-sensing, I love to check out publications (especially free and open-source) that focus on the three domains Airborne Sensor Operators make a living in (Civil, Public Safety, Defense). One small-business open-source publication I’ve been checking-out for the last eight years is the Police Aviation News. This publication is focused primarily on police aviation but also dives into the other sectors of airborne public safety, i.e., who’s doing what, which flight departments have (or going to buy) certain aircraft/systems, etc. From my perspective, this periodical doesn’t give you the standard five-lines of information but also embeds a certain level of mature operator perspective/commentary in its information. I’m sure the editor has “Ruffled a few feathers” since its publication, but sometimes, a necessary service.

So, if you’re interested, here’s the link, walk-through the pages, and check-out the monthly magazines and special reports. Also, you can find this link in the “ASOG Link-Library”:

Police Aviation News

ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick)

ASOG 2019 ASOG Focus Areas: Networking

It was great to finally meet Michael Sheehy in person, i.e., not via e-mails or Skype but in person. Michael was one of the first ASOG advisors to join the group and was instrumental in writing the ASOG “ASO Search and Rescue (Public Safety / Maritime / Fixed Wing) Guide” to help future generations and transitioning professionals into our career field, especially the Maritime SAR community.

Michael called me out of the blue last week and said he was in the area working on the Viking Air Guardian 400 World Demo Tour aircraft, i.e., finalizing the installation of the Sentient Vision Systems ViDAR sensor. I was able to hook-up with Michael and spend a good amount of time talking about many different topics across a wide spectrum of the ASO profession…Wow, what a great wealth of knowledge Michael has regarding the ASO profession, sensors, CONOPS, and the airborne maritime domain. If you ever have a question regarding maritime operations, send a note to Michael via ASOG messaging.

Image: L to R, Michael Sheehy and Myself

Patrick

ASOG 2019 Focus Areas: Career Support and Management

ASOGers, 2Excel just sent this new job requirement to ASOG:

“Hi guys, we’re looking for additional SOs. UK based and operating in our PA31 & King Air Special Missions Aircraft. Could you repost our job link please? We’ll be going public with an amazing SAR King Air next month, I’ll send you the details when they’re available..
Do you have experience in operating Wescam/FLIR EO/IR systems?
Would you like a rewarding role, with a great package?
We need additional Sensor Operators for a new UK based contract - full-time, part-time & contractor positions available.” (Matt Tones)

Job - Special Missions Systems Operator

If you’re interested, review their job posting and contact them directly.

ASOG Career Center

ASOG Focus Areas: Professional Development

ASOGers – I thought this would be a good professional development share. If you’re part of the process of deciding on what manned aircraft to acquire or modify for your aerial surveying operation or you want to have professional knowledge regarding aircraft selection, this is a good article to read. Lyndon Yorke (I was honored to meet Lyndon at InterGeo 2019, plus, he’s an ASOG member) does a good job of highlighting current factors that decision makers face and a review of the leading aircraft operating in today’s aerial remote sensing industry sector.

If you have any questions for Lyndon, look him up in the member's area.

Aerial Survey Flying - What are the Options?

AVBuyer | Lyndon Yorke | 15th January 2019

ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick)

ASOG 2019 Focus Area: Technology Trends and Application

Maybe some of you might find this interesting. I came across this PPT briefing (see below) the other day when researching a different topic. The briefing reviews four different airborne de-mining trial projects. It’s a bit dated (1996 to 2004); however, it was interesting to see the testing process of how aerial remote sensing could support this requirement, i.e., airborne mine field detection. Speaking of dated, does anyone know if any of these projects have gone beyond test and experimental?

M. Bajic, Aerial survey for mine action: the paradigm, validation, recommendations for standardization, Workshop Inventory and analysis of operationally validated results related to mine action space -and airborne surveys, Scientific Council HCR and CTRO Ltd., Zagreb, Croatia, 30 November 2005.

ASOG Desk Editor (Patrick)

ASOG 2019 Focus Areas: Advocacy

Again, big thanks to AV Buyer for helping the ASO profession and the multi-mission aviation industry do things a “little bit better.” This latest article highlights the “So What” of adding more rigor to the Airborne Sensor Operator profession. In this case, it relates to those aircrew members working a sensor/mission management system and aviation safety. You can find the article below (hyperlinked) on page 3 (one flip) in the October 2019 GA Buyer Europe magazine.

There’s a Gap in Aviation Safety – GA Buyer Europe Magazine (October 2019)

ASOG 2019 Focus Areas: Professional Development

If you’re looking to expand your professional geospatial footprint and want to participate in an association or society in your part of the world, here’s a great website that appears to have identified and cataloged a great number of organizations from around the globe.

So, if you’re a civil aerial surveying and mapping Airborne Sensor Operator or a mil ASO wanting to transition to the civil side of aerial remote sensing, this is a very good site to help you in your professional development.

World Directory

ASOG 2019 Focus Areas: Professional Development, Career Management, Networking (Aerial Mapping & Surveying)

If you’re an aerial mapping and surveying ASO, this event would have been a great professional opportunity (minimum - only 40 EUR for one day to walk the show). This year’s InterGeo 2019 Conference & Exposition was held at the Messe Stuttgart exhibition center in Stuttgart, Germany (17-19 Sept). If you didn’t know, InterGeo/InterAerial conference and trade fair focuses on geodesy, geoinformation, and land management. If you walked the floor(s), you would have seen the full spectrum of the commercial sector that makes up the European geospatial industry (from hardware and software developers to plenty of service providers).

Besides the full spectrum, there was a healthy level of participation by the aerial mapping and surveying sector (something that an ASO would find interesting, informative, and career enhancing - both manned and unmanned). One of the main highlights for ASOG members who attended was the launch of the European Association of Aerial Surveying Industries (EAASI). EAASI’s focus is to represent the European aerial surveying industry in all its facets. One of their working areas is education, standards, and certification, i.e., which includes Airborne Sensor Operators or Aerial Sensor Operators. If you’re interested to learn more, look at their webpage at https://www.eaasi.eu/. Also, from an ASOG perspective, we might be able to help them with the depth of experience in our group…more to follow.

In addition to getting exposed to who’s who and trending technology, the event was another great opportunity for ASOG members to meet in person and share past experiences and open new opportunities. One of the great dynamics (besides having fun) that takes place when ASOG members meet at events like this is the sharing and connecting of our individual professional networks with one another which in-turn expands those networks two-fold. I want to give a big thanks to Philippe Debru, Frederic Batrelle, Bob Moll and Lyndon Yorke for taking the time to meet, walk, talk and connect with others. Plus, I enjoyed getting feedback on how to make ASOG better for themselves and our professional community.

Patrick

ASOG 2019 Focus Areas: Technology trends

As many of you know, ASOG is not a commercial project. When we post or share commercial white papers or press releases, it’s for the purpose of helping individual ASOs with professional development, i.e., what’s trending in the different ASO industry sectors, career management and technology, i.e., “keeping you ahead of the aircraft!”

The article below was shared by Astrid (new ASOG member) regarding trending technology. In this case, after flying many hours and collection data, turning that raw data into something that end-users can appreciate. Also, even though the article is focused on drone operations, some of the baseline points the author (Picterra) makes can apply to manned operations.

How Big is the Drone Services Market?