Bramor Training a Field Outing Report (Week 11)

Picture 1: C-Astral Combox with Frequency

 My first flight with the Bramor finally took place in the Week 11 Bramor field outing. My flight crew (flight crew 3), was assembled in an unorthodox fashion. One of my flight crew members went down with an illness hours before the 9:30am flight lab at the north end of the Martell Forestry Center. Because of this, another AT209 student filled in because they also had no flight experience. Because the two original members, plus the fill-in were not experienced in all areas of the Bramor assemblage process, a fourth experienced member was added to help assist the crew. The assembly was marked by technical difficulties and prolonged by a lack of overall experience and time away from the field.

As mentioned earlier, the main issues with the assembly was a lack of experience overall coupled with a technical setback. The technical issue at hand was due to the wrong preprogrammed tablet being placed in the wrong Bramor case, unbeknownst the the class until the lab. The issue was troubleshooted by powering off both the Bramor aircraft and the tablet, then Bluetooth connection was disconnected then reconnected. Finally, it was noticed that a wrong frequency was being transmitted by the combox. 

Despite the hang-up the flight crew continued at a slow pace, however, eventually the Bramor was finally set up and ready for flight. The weather was mostly clear and sunny, good day for flight. Wind was minimal and was barely noticeable. So, the Bramor was facing its normal position overlooking the area of flight (Martell prairie-like field) and away from other classmates.

The flight was 15 minutes, and the aircraft maintained a rally point orbit for most of the flight. The chute was deployed successfully and the Bramor landed without any issues. Despite the slow setup, the flight and post-flight went smoothly and without any issues.

Flight Crew

Flight dur.

Temp and wind

Comm box

Tab Batt

UAV Batt

UAV Comm

GPS GNSS

TO, Landing

Rally

Grant (PIC), Jared (chklst), Jose and Abdul (setup)

10:41-10:56

4.8 C, none

14.1

96%

16.4 V

-51 dB

12

101m – 16 m/s – rad.126m 

56m – 15 m/s

55m- 16m/s – rad. 100m

Figure 1: Week 11 Flight table


Conclusion

As I write this conclusion a week after the lab I realize that flight crew 3 has made some interesting milestones. My flight crew set the record for the longest setup of the Bramor last Friday. As embarrassed and disappointed as I was, my flight crew was determined to nail the setup the next time we got the chance. Knowing that we had an opportunity to prove ourselves the next week, we practiced hard on Wednesday and hammered down roles for each person in the crew based on previous experience. Safe to say, that work paid off, as we once again set a record for Bramor setup, this time for being the fastest in setup. Unfortunately, this will be our last experience with the Bramor for the foreseeable future as both Bramors have been marred by incidents and broken parts. However, I am pleased with my flight crew and eagerly looking forward towards the next weeks of the class. 


Assessment

My assessment of this lab was that it was a great learning point for the flight crew. Though it was tough during the moment, looking back it was great overall and largely helped with future CRM.








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