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Genesis Lawns UAV Flight Operations Manual 

UAV Flight Operations Manual 

Introduction 

This manual describes the operations of the Genesis Lawn and Landscaping LLC. Quadcopter. 

This includes:

Roles and responsibilities, mission phases and emergency procedures. 

The document outlines basic procedures required during a mission. It will act as a reference 

point for pilot and photographer. 

Roles and Responsibilities 

Pilot 

● Flying the UAV in Manual or FBW mode. This may include takeoff, landing or during 

emergency procedures (when the UAV is circling Airfield Home and needs to be landed) 

● Assembling the UAV (Wings, Tailplane, Hatches) and acting as a point of contact on 

the flight line during pre-flight checks 

● The Pilot will be the only team member on the flight line 

● Monitors overall progress of the UAV through all phases of mission 

● Performs pre-flight checks of the Yuneec ST-10 ground station

● Issues commands to the UAV 

● Issues flight termination command 

● Monitors the state of the UAV - altitude, speed, roll, pitch, etc 

● Monitors the UAV's progress through the mission waypoints 

● Ensures that the correct waypoints have been loaded 

● During emergency situations, ensures the UAV diverts to the correct waypoint/loiter 

● Monitors the time, ensuring the UAV will finish the pattern within the allocated time 

limit. 

● Monitors position of UAV relative to the geofence, particularly in Manual mode 

● Ensures team is following the Procedures and Operations Manual 

● Monitors the RF Link Quality 
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Camera and Payload Control 

● Confirms the Camera is capturing correcting 

● Monitors the camera capture and image processing 

● Makes the call as to where pilot is located 

Genesis Lawns UAV Flight Operations Manual 

Setup 

Assembling the UAV 

● Check for physical damage 

● Check all electronics present and connected 

● Check for working flight surfaces 

● Confirm all batteries charged 

● No physical damage to airframe, engine, propeller or avionics 

● Launch area clear of unnecessary personnel and debris 

Setup of the Ground Station 

● Radio links active and working 

● All Ground Station operators confirm 

● Batteries are all checked. 

● Video down link range tests are done. 

Pre start up checks 

● Verify 

○ All servos and flight control surfaces responsive 

○ ST-10 controller running 

○ RC radio link working 

● Confirm GPS Lock 

● Confirm compass enabled 

● Confirm Altitude lock 

● Ensure flight mode AUTO 

● Airspeed calibration and check 

● Receiver failsafe check 
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Post start up checks 

● Motors running nominally

● Ensure flight mode SMART

● Confirm IMU gives the correct orientation 

● Double check barometric sensor is showing 0m altitude 

Flight Phases 

Takeoff 

● Takeoff will be in automatic or manual mode. 

○ For automatic takeoff, the pilot switches to SMART via right switch then takes off 

○ For manual takeoff, allow the pilot to set to ANGLEmode. After takeoff and when 

the UAV is at least 5m off the ground. Once the UAV has stable flight, the pilot 

switches to SMART. 

● Once the UAV is in stable AUTO flight, the Pilot will disable stick mixing. 

○ The UAV manoeuvres correctly (good parameters) 

○ GPS has a solid lock (check for a signal strength / # of satellites locked?) 

○ Signal on both radios is acceptable 

○ Camera is showing good quality images 

Landing 

● Landing may be automatic or manual, depending on weather conditions. 

Genesis Lawns UAV Flight Operations Manual 

● By default it will automatically land 

○ In automated mode, the GCS will keep a careful eye on the speed and altitude of 

the UAV 

○ The pilot will confirm when the UAV is in visual range 

○ The pilot will switch to the RC transmitter when they are confident of Manual 

control. They should ensure the Transmitter is set to the right modes/switches 

before power-on. 

○ If, at any point during the landing, we are not confident in the auto landing the 

pilot 

will manually take over (only if the UAV is in visual range though) 

○ During a manual landing, the Pilot will call out the airspeed and altitude. 

Emergency Procedures 

Loss of Data-Link 

● Occurs if the both data-links are lost (no heartbeat) for more than 10 seconds 
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○ If combined with a loss of GPS, the UAV must terminate 

○ The RC link fails during manual flight, the UAV must terminate 

● The UAV will fly to the Landing Zone Hold waypoint and loiter to 2 minutes 

● If the link is not re-established in this time, the UAV will terminate 

Loss of GPS 

● If the GPS reports a loss of lock, this mode must be activated immediately 

● The UAV will automatically loiter around the point of GPS lock loss (via dead 

reckoning) for 

30 seconds. 

● The UAV will navigate to the Landing Zone waypoint (via dead reckoning) 

● RC control will be established and the UAV landed, otherwise flight termination 

APM Software crash (Failure of Autopilot software / Failure of SAS) 

● If no heartbeat is heard from the APM for more than 1 second, this mode is activated 

● Flight termination must be immediately activated 

Geofence breach 

● If the Fence is breached, flight termination will be immediately activated 

UAV Performance Info :

Maximum Airspeed - 15 mph

Cruise Airspeed - 3 mph
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Endurance at maximum airspeed - 19 mins

Genesis Lawns Media UAV Flight Operations Manual 

Endurance at cruise airspeed Estimated 30 minutes 

Maximum take off weight 5 lbs

Airframe dimensions 16.5 x 16.5 x 9.5”

Aircraft platform and configuration Quadcopter