Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By ls8pilot
#1808430
Not sure it has got much publicity but if you fly over North Wales you might want to read this:

https://airspacechange.caa.co.uk/PublicProposalArea?pID=287

Proposal by Bristow to establish a TDA (activated by Notam) for UAV trials (SAR Related). Not such a bad idea as enhanced SAR over the mountains will be a benefit to many. It is a complex area much of which is out to sea, but does come over Snowdon and is predicted to be in use 2-3 days/week.


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I understand that, in consultation with the paragliding clubs, Bristow are looking to reduce the circle to 3nm rather than 4nm and consulting with the CAA to see if it can be 4000ft to 8000ft rather than SFC-8000'

As I read it access would be possible under control & the Drone is ADSB equipped ( :roll: wait for inevitable comments). Just makes me wonder how many of these will spring up in the near future - given the one near Westbury. I hope at sometime CAA will rethink how these are handled, maybe via mandatory conspicuity area or something, as large numbers of danger areas does'nt seem a viable way forward.



BTW if you want to respond deadline is 17th Nov.
Last edited by ls8pilot on Wed Nov 11, 2020 12:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
By GAFlyer4Fun
#1808438
Whilst SAR is a worthy use of uav and it probably needs more space during development, I hope the evolving airspace usage policy for the UK does not have such large blanket low level altitude bands when it comes to domestic/commercial deliveries by drone as GA is already squeezed in some areas by CAS.
ls8pilot liked this
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By xtophe
#1808445
The big question is how the CAA see the TDA. There is worrying wording in his latest TDA policy and all the UAV TDA ACP refer to it as segregated airspace. So effectively a RA(T).

On the other hand just following SERA, as the pilot I only have to convince myself I'm not putting my a/c and its occupants in danger.
So I'd argue that having call for DAAIS, I know roughly where the UAV is and then when I go closer I'll use ADSB and eyes to deconflict.


If the former prevails, I'd oppose all these ACPs. If the latter is accepted my the CAA, I'm fine with these ACPs
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By Tim Dawson
SkyDemon developer
#1808448
The CAA have shown in a few places that they believe Danger Areas are areas in which flight is restricted.
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By Shoestring Flyer
#1808460
It has been in place for a few months now.
I have been over a couple of times now without any hassle.
I just did a proper preflight brief, talked to Caernarfon and Valley to confirm Drone /DA status when airborne and it wasn't a problem.
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By xtophe
#1808463
Shoestring Flyer wrote:I have been over a couple of times now without any hassle.


Do you mean "over" that way or "over" the top of the TDA ? The top of the circle at Snowdown (OA3) is 7000ft.
By BoeingBoy
#1808497
Thin end of an very big wedge I suspect. The TDA will seriously limit recreational flying for those of us who use the area often. Two to three days a week will soon become an established permanent DA which the CAA will no doubt revere with the same importance as a nuclear power station. :(

It's not the only area affected. This appeared on Facebook this morning;

Snowdonia Aerospace Future Flight Challenge

Snowdonia Aerospace is pleased to announce that we have received a grant award from UK Research & Innovation for an 18-month drone development programme in partnership with Swiftflight Avionics as part of the UK Future Flight Challenge, a £33.5m element of the Government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

The primary objective of our Project “Gold Dragon” is to accelerate development and testing of an active detect-and-avoid solution for light drones, typically less than 150kg take-off weight, enabling their safe and full integration into the UK aviation system. Our aim is to achieve approval for regular and routine beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations in non-segregated airspace by the end of the project so we can start to deliver commercial drone services in Wales and beyond.

We have already built a successful relationship with the Welsh Ambulance Service via our recent proof-of-concept demonstration for delivery of a mini-defibrillator by drone to a remote rural location and will continue to prioritise health services in remote and rural communities as part of this project along with the wider NHS Wales network.

The UK survival rate for an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is only 8.6%. Resuscitation Council guidelines recognise that survival rates of 50 to 70% could be achieved with defibrillation within 3 to 5 minutes of OHCA, but each minute of delay reduces the probability of survival by 10%, and in the UK fewer than 2% of victims have a defibrillator deployed before the ambulance arrives. The situation is most acute in remote and rural locations.

Flight testing in the unique operational environment provided at Snowdonia Aerospace Centre will also allow us to involve other potential emergency response stakeholders such as the Police, Fire, Coastguard, and Mountain Rescue, and we have already begun engagements to capture their key requirements.
Lee Paul, CEO of Snowdonia Aerospace said: “We are delighted to be awarded funding through the Future Flight Challenge programme. The grant will enable us to continue the development of our proposed drone service provision in support of the NHS and other emergency services initially across Wales. Our earlier work demonstrated the advantages of using drones to support remote and rural areas with the drone covering 4.5km in under 3 minutes compared to an equivalent road journey of 20 minutes. The time saving being critical in cases where early defibrillation is required.

As the UK's leading aerospace R&D test centre, the airfields environment, facilities and infrastructure will also support a range of other companies looking to develop their own Future Flight programmes in a safe operating environment and we look forward to working with them also.” Dr. Phil Geoghegan, MD of Swiftflight Avionics said: "This project is an exciting application of UAV active sensor technology, with the aim of routine point-to-point BVLOS UAV flight. We see this as a game-changer for UAV operation. We are delighted to be working with the test and evaluation specialists at Snowdonia Aerospace Centre and the Welsh Ambulance Service."

Councillor Gareth Thomas, Cabinet Member for Economy and Community, Gwynedd Council, said:
“We are delighted to see that the drone technology trialled earlier in the year from Llanbedr to transport medical defibrillators to remote communities will now be further tested for other responses by the emergency services. We also look forward to linking this work to the STEM Gogledd programme, which supports and promotes STEM education across north west Wales” Dr. Nigel Rees, Head of Research and Innovation for the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, said: “The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust is looking forward to continuing this exciting development which has the potential to improve the care we provide and save lives.”

John Whalley, CEO of Aerospace Wales, said: “Aerospace Wales is working closely with Welsh Government on the strategy for Future Flight in Wales and we are delighted that Aerospace Wales member, Snowdonia Aerospace, has been successful in its bid to the UK’s Future Flight Challenge phase 2 competition. The “Golden Dragon” project, in partnership with Swiftflight Avionics, builds on the highly successful BVLOS emergency medical response drone trial carried out earlier this year. This continuing development places Snowdonia’s airfield at Llanbedr right at the heart of BVLOS development in the UK.”
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By ls8pilot
#1808570
BoeingBoy wrote:Thin end of an very big wedge I suspect. The TDA will seriously limit recreational flying for those of us who use the area often. Two to three days a week will soon become an established permanent DA which the CAA will no doubt revere with the same importance as a nuclear power station. :(



I agree, this is just the first of many. IMHO this is what's really driving the EC initiative (not the MAC risk for GA to GA). Drones are going to have such an economic advantage for many uses (and SAR is clearly a worthwhile one) that we will either be faced with losing access to vast areas of airspace or have to tolerate universal EC equipage.

As I understand it there is already the right software and hardware to allow a drone to automatically avoid an EC equipped aircraft ?
By Shoestring Flyer
#1808593
I think it would be good to know and I think it would be a reasonable request to be told by the CAA exactly what type of EC these BVLOS UAV's are equipped with and have on board and are emitting at the time that a Notam is issued or a UAV Danger area is established?
Do they have ADSB on board?..Or Flarm?..Or Fanet?
Or maybe they don't have any EC on board being emitted at all?
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By ls8pilot
#1808606
Shoestring Flyer wrote:I think it would be good to know and I think it would be a reasonable request to be told by the CAA exactly what type of EC these BVLOS UAV's are equipped with and have on board and are emitting at the time that a Notam is issued or a UAV Danger area is established?
Do they have ADSB on board?..Or Flarm?..Or Fanet?
Or maybe they don't have any EC on board being emitted at all?


The Bristow document covers this, indeed they state that one of the objectives of the trial is to "Trial and evaluate emerging airspace management and OEM derived detect and avoid solutions with a view to evolving concepts of operation for wider UAS integration in UK airspace."

They go on to say that their drone is equipped as follows :

24.5 Electronic conspicuity is provided by a dedicated transponder module consisting of a Mode S transponder and optional ADS-B transponder. The Bristow UAS ground station is also equipped with a VHF radio to allow UAS crews, air traffic control agencies and other manned aircraft to communicate directly on the appropriate channel. In addition to its surveillance payloads the S-100 is also fitted with a forward-looking camera, permanently displayed and monitored in the ground control station to assist in terrain, obstacle and traffic avoidance.

I would expect the CAA to go down the ADSB route (unlike in some parts of Germany/France where Flarm is used)
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By ls8pilot
#1808611
NDB_hold wrote:Presumably this is the cute little helicopter thingy I was admiring as I ate my lunch at Caernarfon a few weeks back?

From the ACP document


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