A Drone Double Play

Beach cleanup and a historic bridge

- PATRICK SHERMAN

QUICK SPECS

Mission Type: Aerial Mapping and Videography

Location: Cathedral Park, Portland, Oregon (N46°10'00” W126°05’10”)

Client: Human Access Project (HAP)

Airspace: Class G to 700 ft. AGL Clearance: None Required

Monitored Frequency: 123.075 MHz (Portland Downtown Heliport)

METAR Text: KPDX 152153Z 290107KT 10SM FEW050 23/01 A3005

Platform: DJI Phantom 4 Pro+, Skydio 2 (backup)

Remote Pilot in Command: Patrick Sherman, Roswell Flight Test Crew

PILOT REPORT

People believe what they see—so if you want them to acknowledge what you’ve done, or maybe even help you do it, they need to see it. Making that happen was the purpose of my mission on behalf of a non-profit group that recruited me to help document a beach cleanup this spring.

The mission was conducted over two nonconsecutive days, which I suppose makes it two separate missions—but they occurred at the same location and were launched for a common purpose, so we’ll treat them as one. I also learned a few things on my first outing that, as it turns out, were critically important to the safety and success of my second operation.

First, a little background: I’ve been working with the Human Access Project (HAP) for years now, although that name still makes me think of a clandestine government program run out of Area 51 to provide alien visitors with psychic access to unwitting human subjects. I suppose that says more about me than it does the organization, which serves much less sinister and more beneficial purpose: providing the citizens of Portland, Oregon, with access to the Willamette River, which runs through the middle of downtown.