# U SER MANUAL

LANCASTER MK

- III REV

- IV1 

## Contents

Introduction to the Lancaster Mk

- III Rev

- IV

................................ ................................ ................................ . 2

Lancaster Mk

- III Rev

- IV Overview

................................ ................................ ................................ ............. 2

Accessories

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................ 4

Futaba RC Handset Overview

................................ ................................ ................................ ................... 4

Software

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 5

Flight Planner

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ 5

Mission Planner

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 8

Aircraft Pre

- Flight

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........ 10

Aircraft Assembly

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 10

Mission Planner Pre

- Flight

................................ ................................ ................................ ...................... 11

Aircraft Pre

- Flight

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 12

In Flight Monitoring

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 16

Tips, Tricks and Troubleshooting

................................ ................................ ................................ ................ 18

Downloading Maps for Offline Use

................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 18

Cannot See Actions Tab

................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 19

Aircraft Not Throttling

................................ ................................ ................................ ............................ 19

Early Landing

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........... 19

Pause Mission

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 21

Resume Mission

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 22

Change Airspeed/Altitude

................................ ................................ ................................ ....................... 23

Failsafes

................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................... 24

Loss of Telemetry (Red X through Signal)

................................ ................................ ............................... 24

`2



## I ntroduction to the Lancaster Mk

- III Rev

- IV

PrecisionHawk’s data collection philosophy resonates with our customers, partners and researchers in a

variety of industries and fields. Our Planes have flown along cliffs on the north shore of Lake Superior

(launched from a boat and landing in the lake), over water courses and ecological preserves and for

researchers at

- 25 o C (

- 13 o F), as w ell as imaging crops and livestock in farms all around the world.

Whether you will be using the Lancaster to monitor your land’s activity or do intensive research over a

period of time, the Lan caster will be your innovative resource to data collection of the highest caliber.

This manual will assist you in your new beginnings with the Lancaster Mk III and the advantages it will

provide you with during your data collecting journey.



## Lancaster Mk

- III Rev

- IV Overvie w

The artificial intelligence of the Lancaste r Mk

- III, Rev

- IV allows for in

- air flight calculation and data

assessment. Weighing in at 4.2lbs/1.9kg with a wingspan of 4.92ft/1.5m this light weight aircraft can

handle a payload capacity of 1.54lbs/0.7kg allowing it carry over 30% of its own weight. It ’s 720 MHz

CPU with Linux OS embedded processing interfaced by USB enables the Lancaster Mk

- III Rev

- IV to have

an artificial intelligence to compute flight calculations and assess data all while being in

- the

- air. Below

are diagrams of the Lancaster Mk

- III Rev

- IV to allow for familiarization of the aircraft.34



## Accessories

The following are accessories you should expect in you Lancaster Mk

- III Rev

- IV Kit.

Item PrecisionHawk

Part Number Quantity Description

1 PCN

- 048 1 APM Airframe Assembly

2 PCN

- 042 1 Vertical Stabilizer Fin

3 PCN

- 04X 1 Horizontal Stabilizer Fin

4 PCN

- 06E 1 APM Right Wing

5 PCN

- 06Q 1 APM Left Wing

6 PCN

- 064 2 PHD Battery Pack

7 PCN

- 0K3 1 Standard Offering Small Parts Kit

8 PCN

- 0ER 1 Battery Charger Assembly

9 PCN

- 0D3 1 RC Ground Control Box

10 HRC

- 003 1 Radio System

– Futaba 6EX, 6 CHAN, 2.4GHz, FASST

11 HCH

- 001 1 Radio System Charger

– Futaba 6EX, 6 CHAN, 2.4GHz, FASST

12 HMA

- 001 1 Radio System Manual

– Futaba 6EX, 6 CHAN, 2.4GHz, FASST

13 HMA

- 002 1 TP610C AC/DC All

- in

- One Charger/Discharger/Cycler Manual

14 P CN

- 03G 1 Custom Cut Foam, Pelican 1740, Standard Offering

16 PCN

- 04E 1 Lancaster MK III Rev IV Operator's Manual



## Futaba RC Handset Overview

Return to Launc h

(Activate = Turn CW) Mode Switch

(Auto = DOWN

Stabilize = UP)

Throttle

( Airspeed )

Rudder

(Heading)

Battery Voltage

Full: 11.4V

Land at: 9.4V Power

(ON/OFF) Charging Port Aileron

(Bank) Elevator

(Altitude)5



## Software

Flight Planner

Flight Planner is the survey planning software tailored for PrecisionHawk. With Flight Planner survey

areas can be set to a customized area or interest.

1. To create a new survey plug in your USB and select New SD Card

2. On your USB, the directory you will need is boot: \ HEFW . Once found, click Select Fold er

.6

3. Now you are ready to make a custom survey! First select New Plan

.

4. A prompt will pop up asking you to name your N ew Flight P lan

. Name your plan in accordance to

what you will be surveying. Save your new plan.7

5. Next, find the address in which you want your survey to be based around by entering either a

place of interest or GPS coordinates into the Address Bar

.

Note: When planning surveys you should have access to the internet to allow search.

6. Once your address is set, draw your polygon by left

- clicking on the map. This will drop points to

build your survey area. Your new surv ey area will be highlighted in G reen

.8

7. Select the required altitude at which you will want to fly and the required ground resolution for

the data to be collected. Save your F light P lan.



## Mission Planner

Mission Planner is the aircraft monitoring software used to monitor the plane while in flight. To obtain

Mission Planner download from www.precisionhawk.com/firmware/9

While the aircraft conducts a mission monitor the Flight Data t ab of Mission Planner. The Monitoring

Hub can allow for this given you know where all the necessary information is located.

1. Air S peed

2. Crosstrack Error Direction

3. Heading Direction

4. Bank Angle

5. Wi reless Telemetry Connection

6. GPS Time

7. Altitude

8. Air S peed

9. Ground Speed

10. Battery Status

11. Artificial Horizon

12. Aircraft Orientation

13. GPS Positional Fix

14. Distance To > Waypoint Going To

15. Pilot Mode

F light plan information is located in the Flight Plan tab of Mission Planner. This is where you can

download maps for offline viewing, read Waypoints and write W aypoi nts

.10



## Aircraft Pre

- F light

Aircraft Assembly

1. Connect both the horizontal and the vertical tail fins together then attach them to the tail of the

plane. Secure in place with a quarter

- turn of the black knob located on the under

- side of the tail

structure

.

2. Install your payload of choice into payload bay. Secure it with a quarter

- turn of the black knob

located on the under

- side of the payload

.

3. Connect the left and right wings together then attach to the top of the fuselage. Secure with a

quarter

- turn of the black knob located on the top side of the wingset

.

4. Using a prop hub and a small screw driver, attach the propeller to the motor of the plane.

Tighten the prop hub by inserting the small screwdriver through the hub and tuning it clockwise

.

5. Plug in USB to fuselage , if it is not already plugged in

.

6. Turn the RC handset ON

.

7. Install the batter y pack LAST into the battery bay. Ensure the black string attached to the battery

pack is hanging down from the battery bay to allow for easy removal. Ensure the RC handset is

turned ON before plugging the battery pack into the aircraft

.

NOTE: No aircraft component is to be removed while the battery pack is installed and the aircraft is

ON

. Ensure to remove the battery pack before disassembling the aircraft

.11



### Mission Planner Pre

- Flight

1. Connect RC Ground Control Box to Surface Pro (or equivalent device) via a USB p ort.

2. Plug the RC Ground Control Box into a Battery Pack

.

3. Open Mission Planner.

4. Ensure The COM Port matches that of the USB port the RC Ground Control box is plugged into.

Use the Device Manager on your Surface Pro (or equivalent device) to confirm the CO M Port

you just plugged into . The COM Port settings are shown below in Pink

.

5. Ensure the Baud Rate is 115200 as shown below in Green

.

6. Connect to the RC Ground Control Box to Mission Planner by clicking the CONNECT Button in

the top, right

- hand corner of the Mission Planner Fight Data screen as shown below in Yellow

.

Note: Ensure the aircraft is ON before trying to CONNECT

.

7. The CONNECT button will now read DISCONNECT confirming that you are connected to the RC

Ground Control Box.12



## Aircraft Pre

- Flight

1. Navigate to the System Status Screen to start the Pre

- Flight Sequence. It should currently read

“Press OK to Continue”. You can select “OK” by clicking the button with a green check mark

beside it. If a t any point you need to cancel

, click the button with a red X beside it.

2. The next screen will show the aircraft detect your payload. Once your payload is detected click

“OK” to continue.13

3. You will then be prompted to choose your mission. Choose wh ich survey you would like to

execute then press “OK” to continue.

4. The altitude and ground resolution for the mission will show up on the next screen. Press “OK”

to continue.14

5. A count down from 10 seconds will appear asking you to keep the aircraft steady as the pre

flight calibration begins. Ensure the Pitot tube cover in on the Pitot tube. During calibration the

aircraft will set a home position (where the plane will try and land) so ensure the aircraft is going

through i ts pre

- flight process on the gr ound and in an area free of obstructions and potentia l

ob stacles

.

Note: You can always adjust the home posit ion after the pre

- flight.

6. After this is finished you will be prompted to blow into the pitot tube. Ensure you blow

vigorously into the Pito t tube to allow you to pass the screen.

7. You will then be asked to flip the M o de S witch up and then back down on the transmitter. Once

this is done, the screen will continue through the sequence.15

8. You will then be prompt ed to “P ress LAUNCH to Fly”

. First fac e into the wind then c lick the OK

button to commence the five

- second count down to launch. Laugh the aircraft after the motor has

reached full speed. Be sure to through into the wind if there is any.16



## In Flight Monitoring

1. Before taking off you will be able to see your survey area under Flight Plan in Mission Planner.

Click Read WPs to read your aircraft ’ s current waypoints. Ensure the area selected for the

survey is appropriate. If you need to adjust the area slightly, left click on one of the main points

of the survey an d drag it to a desired position and then c lick Write WPs

.

2. Once your aircraft has been launched it will proceed to Waypoint 2, loitering over the home

position a t a pre

- set altitude . This is to collect data on wind speed and direction. This allows the

aircraft to calculate for its own travelling speed as well as to determine how to conduct its17

mission. The aircraft will always choose to fly with and against the wind when conducting a

survey.

3. O nce the aircraft has finished loitering you may navigate to the Flight Data tab and select Read

WPs

.

4. O nce your flight plan has been updated you should now be able to see the route your aircraft

will take to complete its mission. Confirm that the landing approach/touchdown location is free

of obstruction. If you need to change the landing location, move yo ur last waypoint and click

Write WPs

.

5. Ensure to constantly monitor your aircraft both via Mission Planner and visually during its flight.18



## Tips, Tricks and Troubleshooting

Downloading Maps for Offline Use

Out in the field you may not have internet access, causing you to require maps for your missions to be

available offline. Follow these simple steps to use maps offline:

1. Open Mission Planner and navigate to the Flight Plan tab.

2. Locate the area to be surveyed and ri ght click. Navigate to Map Tool  Prefetch

.

3. Mission Planner will start to download various zoom levels for the area of interest . If for any reason you

need to cancel the download press the ESC key on your keyboard.19



## Cannot See Actions Tab

If the Actions tab is unavailable under Flight Data during the flight, you can re

- configure it using these

simple steps:

Under the Config/Tuning tab, select the Planner tab and checkmark the box next to Advanced

View

.



## Aircraft Not Throttling

 Disarm the motor and confirm the correct control inputs for the R udder

.

 If incorrect, switch the servo functions for Channels 3 and 4

o On the transmitter use the Mode key to access the Revr (reverse) function.

o Use the Select key to select the channel you wish to reverse.

o Push the Data Input lever downward for 0.5 seconds to reverse ( REV ).

o OR push the lever upward for 0.5 seconds for normal ( NOR )



## Early Landing

What if you started a mission and think to yourself “ Maybe I ’ ll do it tomorrow, but I don ’ t want to

manually land the aircraft

... ” There ’ s a solution ! Follow these easy steps to conduct an early landing:

1. Navigate to the Flight Data tab.

2. Navigate to the Actions tab located under the Monitoring Hub.20

3. Select the 3 rd to last W aypoint and click Set WP to set this as your next waypoint.

4. Click Auto to engage automatic mode.

5. Watch the aircraft land.21



## Pause Mission

I f you r aircraft is already in the air, but you realize you are not ready to conduct your mission, you can

pause the mission. Follow these simple steps to pause your mission:

1. Navigate the Flight Data tab.

2. Navigate to the Actions tab.

3. Select LOITER_UNLIMITED and click Do Action OR click RTL

. Do not do both.

4. Your aircraft will now loiter over its home position indefinit ely

.22



## Resume Mission

I f you have a paused mission and are now ready to resume it, follow these simple steps:

1. Navigate to the Flight Data tab.

2. Navigate to the Actions tab.

3. Select a W aypoint to fly to then click Set WP

.

4. Select Auto to engage automatic mode.23

5. Your aircraft will now continue with its mission.



## Change Airspeed/Altitude

You might need to change your airspeed or altitude manually at some poin t during the flight. Follow

these simple steps to do so:

1. Navigate to the Flight Data tab.

2. Navigate to the Actions tab.

3. Select the wanted airspeed or altitude then click Change Speed or Change Alt

.

Note: Speed is in meters/second and altitude is in meters.24



## Failsafes

Loss of Telemetry (Red X through Signal)