David and Andy drove up from York on Monday morning, arriving at about 10:30, to be met by Nigel, Jon and Andrew, as well as two others who were there for training at the same time.
After a swift cup of tea, the briefings began, including being introduced to the UAV that we’d purchased a few weeks ago. We also started the first of many sessions on the simulator. The simulator is a fairly impressive piece of software, giving a real sense of what it’s like to fly a Quest UAV.
Much of the day’s training was focussed on getting to grips with the flying checklist, and exactly what needs to be done before a successful flight.
After a brief lunch we headed out to the flying field for the first actual flight. It was a beautiful day (see picture), although was pretty windy and blustery (as well as being very cold!).
Nevertheless, the UAV was impressively stable and coped well in the high winds. It launched pretty easily (see: http://youtu.be/o0d2yt6coG8 for a short clip showing Nigel and Andrew launching the York UAV). Also impressive was Andy managing to perform a couple of successful landings.
Although pretty exciting and exhilariating, we got pretty cold pretty cold, so welcomed a coffee back in town and the chance to chat more about the work we hope to do.
This was followed by more time on the simulator before heading off to our hotel for the evening.
Overall, the day was pretty rewarding and insightful, and I think it’s fair to say that we’re both excited about tomorrow.
Mapping the Midtre Lovénbreen in 3D with Fixed Wing UAV 