What Are Flight Reference Cards?

Flight Reference Cards (FRCs) contains technical information about your drone and checklists that you should follow before, during, and after any flights.

You will need to write Flight Reference Cards for every drone that you plan on flying commercially.

You may have been given a template by your NQE training centre, if not, you will find a guide that outlines the basics below.

What Informations Should I Include?

Technical Specifications

Type: The make and model of your drone, including the serial number, the developer/supplier/manufacturer. Whether it is a fixed wing UAV or quadcopter, hexacopter, etc..

Technical Specifications: Include details such as the weight, dimensions, maximum take off mass (MTOM), power source, the limitations of your drone, etc..
This a very detailed section and it may pay to put this information in tables to make reading it easier.
You will be able to find a lot of this information in your drone’s handbook, or on the internet where necessary.

Flight Characteristics: This section is where you would detail your drones characteristics, such as: maximum operating speed, maximum flight time, launch type, GPS mode, ATTI mode, etc..

Camera or Payload: State the specifications of the camera or payload that your drone will be carrying.

Battery Specification: The voltage, capacity, operating temperature range, maximum charging power, net weight, energy, and capacity specifications of your drone’s batteries.

Flight Planning and Briefing

Detail your flight planning process and your briefing format.

Loading List

Use this section to list all of the equipment that you will need to bring with you on a job.
Include everything from spare propellers to PPE equipment. If you will need it for a job list it here so that you do not forget to pack it when preparing your equipment.

Checklists

This section will cover your pre-flight, in-flight, pre-landing, and post flight checklists.
You will have to detail every step of the process in the correct order. For example, your pre-flight checklist may include checking your airframe for damage, checking your propellers, unfolding the antennas on your remote control, removing the lens cap on your camera, etc..

Emergency procedures

Detail what steps you will have to take in different emergency situations.
You will need to have a very good knowledge of your aircraft for this section; for example, what happens in the event of a loss of control frequency and what steps would you undertake if that were to happen?
This is a combination of risk assessment and emergency planning.

 

FRCs will vary between aircrafts, however, once you have written one set you will find it much easier to write another set for a different aircraft.
They should be designed so that they are clear and concise and aid with the safe and efficient operation of your drone.