First BVLOS Flights at the glider airfield Winterthur (LSPH)

16.09.2024

After months of intensive work, the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) issued the authorisation for the Swiss Standard Scenario (CH-STS) over sparsely populated areas at the end of 2023. This authorisation allows drone flights to be carried out beyond the pilot's visual line of sight (BVLOS). In June 2024, the first BVLOS flight was successfully carried out at the Winterthur glider airfield (LSPH).

From the standard scenario to SORA: A transition process

The standard scenario offers the opportunity to gain valuable experience with BVLOS operations in a controlled environment while working on a SORA application in parallel. The transfer of the experience gained from the standard scenario makes it possible to precisely organise the safety analysis and risk assessments, which in turn leads to the smooth continuation of our drone operations. The aim is to obtain a SORA before the end of this year.

Safety measures

A key aspect of BVLOS operations in Winterthur is the integration of an airspace observer. The airspace observer has the task of monitoring the airspace throughout the operation and informing the remote pilot of potential dangers. The observer may be a maximum of 1 km away from the remote pilot and must have additional means of communication if he is out of earshot. In addition, the aircraft radio frequency is listened to in order to be informed in good time about the flight movements of manned aircraft and to be able to react accordingly. Manned aviation always has priority over drones.

Qualification of pilots and equipment

In addition to comprehensive internal training and qualifications, the drone pilots have also successfully passed FOCA examinations and hold a remote pilot licence for categories A1/A2/A3. The ZHAW Centre for Aviation currently uses the following drones for BVLOS operations:

• DJI Matrice 300 RTK

• DJI Mavic Enterprise Dual

Both drones are equipped with a Flight Termination System and a Parachute Rescue System to ensure the safety of people on the ground. In the event of a crash, these systems prevent an unbraked impact of the drone and thus protect not only people and infrastructure on the ground, but also the drone itself.

First impressions

Here are some impressions of the BVLOS operations in Winterthur. These flights mark an important milestone in the development and demonstrate the potential of new technologies for many applications. Since the first BVLOS flight, regular flights have taken place at LSPH.

Matrice 300 RTK before and during the BVLOS flight, equipped with parachutesystem and HT20 camera as payload
Final preparations for take-off after the pre-flight check of the Matrice 300
The Remote Pilot and the Airspace Observer during a mission focussing on their tasks
The flight area: Winterthur LSPH glider airfield seen from the Matrice 300

Here are a few more shots from a drone perspective.

The following image illustrates the ETH with a focus project on the runway of LSPH. The fixed wing UAS was also airborne, where coordination with the multicopter UAS was successfully carried out.

Note that the UAS’ were flown in VLOS and in the open category.

The pictures were published with the consent of ETH.

Stay tuned to our website for further updates and developments.