Sky-Futures offshore operations
Making waves (pun intended) Chris from Sky Futures tells sUAS News all about recent ship borne operations.
Sky-Futures has recently taken an impressive leap forward in the commercial use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Operating off the east coast of England aboard a wind turbine service support vessel, Sky-Futures flew one of their rotary UAS from the stern of the ship. This was a test exercise in conjunction with one of the major wind turbine service support companies. Operating from a 21 metre ship in the rolling seas was quite a task but we are pleased to report that no UAS or UAS operators were harmed in the trial!
Sky-Futures prides itself on an impeccable safety record built on a foundation of safety first. We undertake extensive flight trials and operational planning before we carry out any work we deem to be challenging or potentially hazardous. James Harrison, Sky-Futures Commercial Director said, “Our client was very keen to press ahead with some work offshore using vessel launches, but we needed to be sure that we could do it in a safe and professional manner. In light of this, the operations team was mobilised and their task was to develop the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) before going offshore”.
In preparation for the testing our offshore certified UAS operator prepared and tested our UAS aboard the ship in the calm water of the harbour. This enabled us to develop our ship borne SOPs before venturing outside the safe haven of the port and in to the wild that is the North Sea.
In developing our SOPs there were a number of considerations: small ship, the ship’s communications frequencies, the ship’s structure, the weather and, of course, the rolling sea. Once these variables were understood the Sky-Futures operator explored both the bow and stern areas as possible launch and recovery sites. A number of flights were made and the systems and processes that make up our SOPs were refined. Given the potential for rough sea and a strong, yet consistent, wind we imposed tougher operational limits on launching. Our onshore SOPs have a fixed ground wind speed above which we will not launch due to the variations in wind at height. The initial test flight also helps reinforce this. Once the team were happy and confident in the systems we had in place it was time to head offshore.
The Sky-Futures team successfully flew a number of flights from the service support ship with her both stationary and moving. The pictures attached to this article will give the reader an idea of what we achieved. The trial saw the successful development of safe and robust offshore SOPs for UAS ship operations and Sky-Futures are now ready to support the offshore energy industry with a proven capability. Chris Blackford, Operations Director commented, “Sky-Futures continue to innovate and develop new techniques using UAS to support our existing clients and to demonstrate to potential clients what we are capable of. We have very competent UAS operators and systems in place that allow us to exploit our technology, experience and expertise to further the commercial UAS industry.”
