President Rick Boardman and NAAA Coordinator of Government and Public Relations Sterling Wiggins were present for a jam-packed Operation S.A.F.E. Fly-In hosted by the Colorado Agricultural Aviation Association in La Junta, Colorado Oct. 1 – 2.

After a morning delay due to fog, things revved up quickly as over half a dozen ag aircraft from the area flew in to have their spray equipment tested, and learn about various safety topics.

The first day began with a demonstration by Agribotix of their Enduro UAS, their latest unmanned aircraft system. The unit is designed to carry a lightweight GoPro camera that can be used for aerial imaging. The UAS is currently operated under a Section 333 exemption under the 2012 FAA Reauthorization Act that allows the FAA to grant use of commercial UAS’s by exempting them from certain Federal Aviation Regulations. Constantin Diehl of UAS Colorado and Tom McKinnon of Agribotix fielded questions from the crowd about the way they use their aircraft and how they work with local aerial applicators.

Agribotix demonstrates their Enduro UAS for the crowd.

Agribotix’s Enduro UAS is designed to carry a light payload such as a GoPro camera.

When asked by Dr. Dennis Gardisser of WRK Arkansas LLC whether they’ve considered ADS-B for their aircraft, McKinnon said it’s something they’re looking into it, but they’re waiting for the weight of the systems to decrease. NAAA is urging the FAA to require visible strobe lighting and tracking technology such as ADS-B Out systems be equipped on all UAVs.

Following the demonstration, Jennifer Rodi of the NTSB gave a presentation on the safety risks associated with UAVs, as well as what UAV accidents the agency has the power to investigate. According to Rodi, the NTSB only has the power to investigate UAS accidents when the UAS is 300 pounds and over, or involved in a very specific circumstances.  The NTSB will investigate any accident with a UAS is if involves a manned aircraft.

Jennifer Rodi of the NTSB discussed the agency’s investigatory power as it relates to UAVs.

Following Rodi’s presentation, the weather cleared up enough to allow the Operation S.A.F.E. aerial application equipment testing clinic to occur. The clinic is designed to allow aerial applicators to enhance the precision of their application equipment and to showcase the technological sophistication of aerial application services to its farmer/customers. Leading the calibration clinic was aerial application analyst, Gardisser, assisted by fellow veteran analyst John Garr of Garrco Products Inc.

Aircraft start to arrive once the weather clears up.

Aircraft from all over the region test the accuracy of their equipment through Operation S.A.F.E. clinics.

The ground crew fills CoAAA President Same Rogge’s Ag Husky with water and soluble dye to allow spray pattern testing.

John Garr of Garrco Products Inc. looks over the results.

Following the clinic, Ben Marcus of Airmap presented the company’s app. The app provides a map visualization of all of the flight plans so that everyone can keep tabs on where other aircraft and drones are operating. Clicking on a flight plan on the map brings up a chat window so that operators can coordinate with each other to avoid collisions.

Ben Marcus of Airmap demonstrates the company’s app that allows manned aircraft pilots and drones to see each others planned flights.

The second day began with first responder training, where local first responders learned the basics of ag aircraft and such things as how to shut off the aircrafts pumps and how to safely approach the aircraft. The first responder training concluded with a video that covered the basics of ag aviation.

Local responders learn the basics of ag aircraft.

Following the first responder training, the highlight of the fly-in began with UAV visibility testing. The testing program was led by Greg Griffit of Avian, LLC and CoAAA President Sam Rogge.  Each pilot was briefed that the UAV would only be inside the boundaries of one or two of the: Fields Alpha, Bravo, or Charlie and it would be flying at an altitude either above or below the manned aircraft.  The pilot was instructed to perform a survey pass at a specific altitude and stay outside of the three fields’ boundaries.  The survey pass allowed the pilot to survey the area looking for obstacles without the distractions of performing a spray pass.  This means the cockpit had a much lower amount of task saturation than a normal work pass for the pilot.  Even with the pre-flight briefing and low task saturation the pilots had an extremely difficult time visually acquiring the UAV or maintaining visual contact once the UAV was acquired.

There were 5 test fields total. Field Alpha had nothing, fields Bravo and Charlie had Agrobotix UAS’ flying, and fields Delta and Echo had ground markings that consisted of large tarps that said “UAV,” as a means to make manned aircraft flying above and nearby aware of the UAVs presence. UAVs flew at 100 feet and pilots were told to maintain an altitude above 100 feet.

Five aircraft participated in the study.  The UAV visualization results were as follows:

• Duster 1: Cessna Husky piloted by Mark McCuistion from Jet Stream Ag Aviation.  Pilot did not spot any UAV's.  Pilot was able to clearly read the UAV on the orange tarp for a ground marking, however he almost disregarded the tarp as an irrigation dam or as a cement ditch.  Suggestion was to find a brightly colored tarp other than orange or blue to differentiate the marking. 
• Duster 2:  AT 402B piloted by Matt Reck of AgOne Application.  Pilot did not spot any UAV's.  The tarp was very visible but again the pilot almost disregarded it. 
• Duster 3: AT402B piloted by Matt Schulze of AgOne Application.  Pilot was able to spot one UAV due to its reflecting sunlight, but was unable to visually track the UAV for more than a few seconds. 
• Duster 4: Cessna Husky piloted by Todd Leach of Jet Stream Ag Aviation.  Pilot did not visually acquire any of the UAV's.  He reported that the tarp was visible as a ground marking but he had to be directly overhead to make out the text. 
• Duster 5: Robinson R44 helicopter piloted by NAAA 2015 President Rick Boardman with Gaylon Stamps as the visual observer.  Pilot was able to visually acquire both UAV's but reported that it was extremely difficult to maintain visual contact with the UAV.

Fields Bravo and Charlie contained UAVs, although pilots were told UAVs could be located in any of the first three fields. Fields D and E contained a ground tarps warning of UAVs.

“Duster 2” flies past the UAV at Bravo field but does not visually acquire it.

“Duster 4”, a Robinson R44 piloted by NAAA 2015 President Rick Boardman with Texas NAAA board member Gaylon Stamps spots the UAV, but has difficulty maintaining visual contact.

The results of the test show that UAS are indeed difficult to see. “What I heard from a majority of the pilots was that we knew UAVs would be difficult to see, but it turns out they’re more difficult to see than we thought,” Sam Rogge said. “It’s clear that it will take a cultural change on both our parts [ag aviators and UAS operators] if we’re going work cooperatively in the airspace… operating line-of-sight isn’t enough to mitigate safety issues.”

NAAA President Rick Boardman agreed. “Right now, we’re not going to see one of these things until we hit it,” he said.

There was consensus that these results were just a first step in solving the problems associated with UAS use at low altitudes, and with this information ag aviators can now go to the FAA with some proof that UAS are indeed difficult to see, even when operating within line-of-sight.

All-in-all the fly-in was well attended and all participants walked away with some new knowledge they didn’t have before. NAAA will continue to keep members updated on the status of UAS integration and efforts to mitigate the hazards they pose.