Audience
The lesson I am planning to teach will be titled, Aerial Photography and Flight Planning, as part of the Geomatics Programs SUR4350C Advanced Photogrammetry course [1]. It is normally offered during the Fall semester by Dr. Bon Dewitt. Most of the students in the Geomatics Program are older-than-average community college transfers. In fact, it is not uncommon for Geomatics undergraduate students to be older than me. Many of them worked in the surveying business and started taking night classes until they met all of the requirements to apply to our program. Several students are from more rural areas than urban areas. No students that I know of have a pilot license or flying experience. Geomatics is as demanding of a degree program as engineering and shares many of the same principles. In fact, Geomatics was formerly located under the Civil Engineering department at the University of Florida. For this reason, the students are fairly intelligent and hard-working. Their learning style would best be described as learning the theory of certain subjects or topics during the lecture, then working on an assignment or project in one of the computer labs using the appropriate software. Often, they will need to borrow Geomatics equipment to collect data, transfer the data to a computer in the computer lab, and then complete the assignment
Objectives
Identify some basic regulations for a flight under visual flight rules (VFR)
List required equipment
Analyze forecasted weather according to VFR weather minimums
Interpret aeronautical charts, including different types of airspace
Identify the difference between pilotage and dead reckoning
Create a final flight plan that will comply with VFR regulations, including the use of navigation systems as backup
Content Outline
What is VFR?
Flight is to take place using visual references
Must avoid clouds
Normally have a distinguishable horizon
Should have sight of the ground below, or in some cases, a cloud layer below as long as it will not cause spatial disorientation (vertigo)
Flight plan is NOT required
Required VFR Equipment
TOMATO FLAMES acronym
Tachometer
Oil pressure gauge
Manifold pressure gauge
Airspeed Indicator
Temperature gauge
Oil temperature gauge
Fuel level gauge
Landing gear position indicator
Altimeter
Magnetic heading indicator
Emergency locator transmitter (ELT)
Seat belts
VFR Weather
Visibility must be 3 miles or greater
Ceiling must be 1,000 feet or higher
Ceiling is defined by broken or overcast cloud layer (7/8 or 8/8 coverage)
For photogrammetry purposes, clouds in the photographs are undesirable.
Can usually tell where clouds will form by obtaining the temperature and dew point for the area.
The difference between the two can be multiplied by 500 for an estimate of the altitude at which clouds will form (average lapse rate is two degrees per 1,000 feet).
For example, if the temperature is 22° C and the dew point is 18° C:
22° C - 18° C= 4
4 x 500 FT = 2,000 FT
Clouds on this day would form at 2,000 feet. This would probably not be a good day for aerial photography as your options would be very limited.
Look for days with a high temperature - dew point spread.
Airspace
Class B Airspace solid blue line busy airports (Miami International Airport, Tampa International Airport, Orlando International Airport)
Class C Airspace solid magenta line less busy airports still serviced by major airlines (Jacksonville International Airport, Daytona Beach International Airport)
Class D Airspace dotted blue line small airports with control towers (Gainesville Regional Airport)
Class E Airspace controlled airspace sandwiched between all of these below 18,000 feet
Class G Airspace uncontrolled airports
General Information
Minimum altitude over sparsely populated area: 500 feet above ground level
Minimum altitude over densely populated area: 1,000 feet above ground level
Use your best judgment regarding sparse vs. dense
Maximum altitude in Class E airspace: 18,000 feet mean sea level (MSL)
Above 18,000 feet is Class A airspace and requires special procedures (instrument flight rules and flight plan no VFR)
Conservation areas request airplanes to stay at least 2,000 feet above ground level
Be aware of prohibited, restricted, warning, and military operations areas, as noted on the sectional chart
Minimum airspeed in basic single engine airplane: 60 knots
Minimum airspeed in light twin engine airplane: 88 knots
Cruise airspeed in basic single engine airplane: 120 knots
Cruise airspeed in light twin engine airplane: 152 knots
Flying at a slower speed will allow for a better turning radius
Flying too slow becomes very inefficient with regards to fuel
Best speed is one where lift and drag are equal, making it most efficient
Typically, you can plan for there to be about four hours worth of fuel on board
Crab: wind coming from the South will require an airplane flying East to use a crab angle into the wind in order to fly due East.
For example, the crab angle may be determined to be 3 degrees, and the airplane will need to fly a heading of 93° in order to achieve a course along 90° East.
This will affect the camera on board the aircraft. The crab angle will need to be compensated for in order to photograph along straight lines on the ground
Aircraft modifications: extensive modifications to the aircraft will require an FAA certificated Airframe & Powerplant mechanic to record new weight & balance data
Simple equipment brought on board for use during flight needs to be accounted for by the pilot when he or she computes weight & balance numbers for the flight
Aircraft Avoidance
Because flying height should be constant for photogrammetry purposes, this may cause a problem with normal VFR altitudes related to direction of flight.
A simple way to remember what altitude you should be flying at based on your direction is the acronym, ONE. Odd North East. If you are flying in a general north or east direction (course between North 0° or 360° and 179°), you should be at odd thousand feet intervals plus 500 feet for VFR (3,500 feet, 5,500 feet, 7,500 feet).
Traffic could potentially be traveling in the opposite direction at your altitude if you are heading west when flying at 3,500 feet.
Yield to the right, and the airplane to your right has the right of way (correct your path so as to pass behind the other airplane)
Creating the Flight Plan
Navigate to http://www.skyvector.com
Pick an area you will be taking aerial photos of.
Start out from an airport within this area or near it (i.e., type KGNV, the airport identifier code for Gainesville Regional Airport, into the Location Lookup box
Zoom all the way in for greatest detail
Determine the flight lines you will fly in order to cover the entire area [2]
To set points and create the flight lines, right click a spot on the map and select the GPS point
Determine crab angle based on wind relative to flight path and plan to adjust camera accordingly
Flight plans that involve flying back and forth through an airport's airspace would encourage letting the tower know your intentions so the controller can help keep other aircraft separated from you
You would also want to monitor the tower frequency at all times
Pilotage: flying according to visual references (landmarks clearly visible on the ground)
Dead Reckoning: estimating ones location based on ground speed and elapsed time between checkpoints
Navigation backup: since most airplanes are now equipped with some form of GPS, if one gets lost, he or she can simply press the NRST button on the GPS equipment and find the nearest airport (or other navigational aid) and land the airplane [3].
Activities for Teaching and Learning
I will teach this lesson live in Gainesville, where students in the Gainesville section of Advanced Photogrammetry will be. The satellite campuses will connect via Polycom and create a videoconference where the Gainesville students and I can interact with the students at the satellite campuses. A powerpoint presentation will be e-mailed to the distance students before the lecture in case they wish to follow along live. I will configure Polycom to send content from the computer to the satellite locations. At the end of the lesson, I will assign the students to create a flight plan based on what they have learned, to be submitted at the beginning of the following class. I will also pass out lesson evaluations and ask that students at the satellite locations complete evaluations as well. The satellite locations have the same lesson evaluation forms, and they can be scanned and e-mailed to me, or sent by regular mail. I will provide full feedback to the students on their assignments so they understand what they can legally plan for as if they were all pilots themselves. I will address questions from students by e-mail or telephone. Students will be free to interact with each other and with me for as long as they wish to [4].
Materials and Media
PowerPoint Presentation | Videoconference
PowerPoint was chosen because it contains a good combination of text and pictures to teach my lesson. Polycom was chosen because it creates a great distance education experience [5]. Dialogue will be high because of the live video conference method. Because students in other locations can ask me a question live in the moment as if they were in the same room, there is little transactional distance [4].
Lesson Evaluations
To check the quality of my lesson, a number of factors will be considered. First, I will assess how many students are enrolled in Advanced Photogrammetry, which will include students in Gainesville, Plant City, and Ft. Lauderdale. I will also determine if the students are Geomatics majors, non-Geomatics majors taking the course as an elective, or non-degree seeking students. Next, I will rate student achievement based on how well they perform on their flight plan assignment and meet the overall objectives of the lesson. I will pass out evaluation forms so I can assess both student satisfaction and faculty satisfaction [4].
References
1. http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/geomatics/geomatics_courses.htm
2. Wolf, Paul R. and B. Dewitt, 2000. Elements of Photogrammetry with Applications in GIS. McGraw-Hill.
3. Code of Federal Regulations Title 14 Volume 2 Chapter I Parts 61, 71, and 91
4. Moore, Michael and Kearsley, Greg. Distance Education: A Systems View.
5. Greenberg, A., 2004. Navigating the Sea of Research on Video Conferencing-Based Distance Education: A Platform for Understanding Research into the Technology's Effectiveness and Value.