The first BVLOS (beyond-visual-line-of-sight) flight by a UAV under FAA Part 7 rules, has been successfully undertaken in Alaska.
The BVLOS flight was carried out by The University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration, who chose the Skyfront Perimeter 4 UAV for the mission.
Skyfront Perimeter 4 Drone
What was particularly significant about this BVLOS flight, was that it was conducted under FAA Part 107 rules. The FAA scrutinised and approved all aspects of the flight including system setup, planning and GCS operation and equipment.
The long-range hybrid gas-electric drone successfully flew a round-trip flight along 4 miles of the Trans-Alaska pipeline with consent from the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company and monitored by the FAA.
Maintaining an above-ground altitude of 400 feet, the Skyfront long-range hybrid utilised the Casia collision avoidance system by Iris Automation, to effectively navigate the mountainous terrain.
Echodyne’s ground-based detect and avoid systems observed the flight, monitoring climbs of 1000 feet on 45-degree slopes. As expected with this type of performance multirotor drone, which is designed especially for endurance and BVLOS flight, telemetry and control links were uninterrupted.
Skyfront’s Perimeter 4 and 8 gas-electric multicopters are used worldwide for inspection and surveillance applications and did not fail to disappoint on this BVLOS mission which necessitated constant communications throughout.
As hoped, the BVLOS flight, flown under FAA Part 107 rules, marks an important advancement in the future safe integration of UAVs into USA national airspace.
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