RUAS have a successful week of EVLOS Training

RUAS Commercial Operations team have had a successful week of EVLOS Training, they have made the most of the fantastic weather to perfect their skills with their annual Extended Visual Line of Sight (EVLOS) Training.

What is EVLOS?

EVLOS operations allow the flight of a drone Beyond Visual Line of Sight of the Remote Pilot by using ‘trained observers’ to keep the drone within their view, collision avoidance is still achieved through the ‘unaided visual observation’ of a human.

EVLOS operations may only be conducted in the Specific Category under the terms of an Operational Authorisation issued by the CAA based on a risk assessment, here at RUAS we have permission to fly EVLOS with various aircraft out to a maximum distance of 1km using RUAS trained observers. The Air Observers must not be sited more than 750m away from the Remote Pilot to give a degree of overlap.

Extra considerations

There are various factors that must be taken into account when planning to operate using EVLOS, safety of third parties must be of prime importance at all times, you must have procedures in place for collision avoidance and have all the kit and equipment required to enable the RP and AO to operate safely at increased distances.

Pre-planning is important, it is vital that the task is achievable and that VLOS is maintained at all times either by the RP or the AO. A handover location must be decided and a full and detailed brief must be given to ensure all Air Observers are fully conversant with the operation and the emergency procedures.

There are extra emergency procedures that must be considered including ‘Loss of Communications’ between the Remote Pilot and the Air Observer, a primary means of open communications is required, such as hands free radios.  A secondary means is needed in case the radios fail, such as mobile phones. If both were to fail it is sensible to have an ’emergency method of communications’ for this we use an air horn – the team at RUAS are fully conversant in the air horn procedures and have a code to dictate different actions including ‘Land Now’, ‘Return to Home’ and ‘Collision Avoidance’.

Annual Flight Assessment

As a result of the successful training period all RUAS Remote Pilots that took part successfully passed their EVLOS annual Flight Assessment and look forward to utilising these skills on commercial operations in the future.

Our talented RUAS Remote Pilots are trained in a multitude of drone applications click here to explore all of our commercial services.

At RUAS Training Academy we offer various means of bespoke flight training, for more information or to book – email [email protected]

If you are just starting out your career in flying drones and require more information regarding our A2 CofC and GVC courses please click here.

More information relating to EVLOS can be found in CAP 722 published by the UK CAA.