Preparing to fly

Before flight checklist

Although the HEIFU® is capable of flying with minimum requirements, it is advisable that you check a few things before each flight to ensure that the flight will be safer and more enjoyable. The checklist presented below was prepared so that you can do a basic checking without the feeling that something was forgotten or left behind.

Checklist:

  • Missing or broken parts: Make sure that the drone has no missing or broken parts. Also, check if there are loose screws or nuts;

  • Cabling: Make sure the cables are firmly tightened and connectors are correctly plugged;

  • Batteries: Ensure that the batteries (both the drone and the operator control ones) are fully charged;

  • Arms and propellers: Confirm that the arms are firmly unfolded, and the propellers are also unfolded and properly tightened;

  • Rotors: Make sure that there is nothing obstructing the rotors free spinning. When ready to fly, make sure that the rotors start properly and normally. If any of the rotors signal an anomaly or present abnormal behavior, don’t fly, as this increases the chances of failure while flying;

  • Calibration: If needed, perform a calibration (see section Drone Calibration);

  • Drone direction: The drone is pointed in the right take-off direction;

  • Pilot: When in manual mode, make sure that the person in charge of piloting the drone is over 16 years of age and has the knowledge needed to correctly control the drone. Also, make sure that he/she is not under the influence of alcohol or drugs as this might affect his/her ability to fly the drone.

And also,

  • Safe distance: As soon as the drone is activated and ready to fly, keep a safe distance for the drone as soon as it gets ready to fly (at least 3m);

  • Air space: If possible, chose an open-air, free of obstacles, space for flying. Don’t fly near airports, helipads, military facilities or other no-fly zones determined by local authorities;

  • Safety information: Have in mind the safety information presented in chapter Safety information.

Arming the drone

The HEIFU® flight controller has a special safety mechanism to avoid accidental activation of the drone. This mechanism relies on a safety switch (located on the back of the drone – please see section HEIFU®) that must be pushed in order to arm (activate) or disarm (deactivate) the drone.

The safety switch should only be pushed when the “before flight checklist” is fully checked and all the safety measures were considered (please see chapter Safety information).

Warning

Pushing the safety switch (and thus arming the drone) implies that the drone was deemed ready to fly and will only be waiting for the take-off command. So, as soon as this switch is pushed you should move away from the drone take-off area to avoid the possibility of serious injury.

Although the drone may seem ready to fly, the flight controller may abort the drone’s activation if for some reason the conditions for a safe flight are not met. The conditions it demands to be fulfilled before flight are as follows:

  • Rotors: there are no reported failures on the rotors;

  • Calibration: the drone’s sensors were successfully calibrated;

  • Safety switch: the safety switch was pushed, signaling that the operator is ready to fly the drone;

  • Battery Level: the drone’s battery is above a set threshold.

At this stage, the drone is ready to be armed by using the Operator’s Control. Click the arm button on the bottom bar (please see section Operator Control) and confirm that you want to arm the drone on the pop-up. Note that you should do this only if the drone is within your view range and in a suitable space to fly.

Warning

When in autonomous mode, please be aware that the drone can be remotely and asynchronously armed and take-off without local intervention. So, if your drone is planned to be able to carry out these missions, you should not come close to it without ensuring that it is safe for you to do so.

Rotors start/stop

When ready to fly and upon an arm (activation) command, the drone’s rotors will start spinning with a speed that matches the throttle joystick position and the flight mode on the Operator’s Control. From here on, you can control the rotor’s spinning speed by using the throttle joystick as well as stop and restart the rotors.

Note

When commanding directly the rotors’ speed, one has to be aware that if the they reach a take-off speed, the drone will take-off.

Test flight

There are several circumstances under which you should make a test flight before starting using the drone for whatever mission you have. Please refer to the situations below, when Beyond Vision recommends that you perform a test flight:

  • On its first flight after unpacking and setup;

  • After repair from some serious anomaly;

  • After a SW update;

  • After a calibration procedure (as instructed in section Drone Calibration).

  • After adding new accessories.

When in test flight, the drone should not be pushed too hard, as this flight’s purpose is to test if the drone can fly safe and smoothly. It is advisable that this flight be controlled by someone with experience and greater sensitivity to detect abnormal behavior at first glance. In case of abnormal behavior, please avoid using GPS-based modes.

If the drone doesn’t behave as expected, land it as soon as possible and try to correct the anomaly. If you are unable to correct it, please contact Beyond Vision’s technical support to help you.