MINUTES
WELLINGTON BRANCH
TRAINING AND NETWORKING EVENT
held on
Wednesday, 9th May 2018 at 4:00pm
at
Wellington Central Fire Station, 38/2 Oriental Parade,
Oriental Bay, Wellington 6011
Welcome:
Wayne Goodfellow – Wellington Branch Chairperson
Attendance: Jon Astwood (Holmes Farsight), Tim Watson (Holmes Farsight), Bruce Symon (Realsure), Mark Fitzpatrick (Wellington City Council), Leon Smith (Kapiti Coast District Council), Sam Drury (BOINZ), Yolandi Sutton (BOINZ), Nicola Hakes (BOINZ), Nick Hill (BOINZ), Tom Edhouse (BRANZ), Jeremy Lincoln (Kapiti Coast District Council), Peter Webb (BRASL), Wayne Goodfellow (FENZ), Richard London (MBIE), Mike Reedy (MBIE), Gary Higham (MBIE), Murray Usmar (MBIE), Thomas Wutzler (Helfen)
Apologies: Craig Watson (Kapiti Coast District Council), Sharleen McArtney (Kapiti Coast District Council), Barry Harlen (Wellington City Council), Steve Kallahar (Wellington City Council), Maggie Kay (Wellington City Council), Michael Portenes (Realsure Ltd), George Mason (Porirua City Council), Rob Tierney (Holmes Farsight), Richard Nation (NPI), Adrian Cullen (South Wairarapa District Council), Chris Scott (Wellington City Council), Katharine Wheeler (Kapiti Coast District Council), Matt Grant (MBIE), Natalie Hardy (Holmes Farsight), Craig Ewart (Hutt City Council), Bruce Glasgow (Artisan), Brad Hislop (MBIE), Derek Kerite (Hutt City Council).
Minutes and Matters Arising:
The previous minutes were accepted as an accurate record of the previous meeting and have been made available on the BOINZ Website.
Moved: Tom Edhouse Seconded: Bruce Symon
Correspondence In/Out:
Discussed informally during training event
• The 51st BOINZ Conference 2018 is Next Week see you all in Dunedin.
• Training Calendar is available on the BOINZ Website
General Business:
• Nick Hill introduced the two new qualifications developed for Building Control Officers an ‘in employment’ 2-year level 6 qualification (240 credits) and a level 4 certificate (60 credits).
• Members were also introduced to the team from head office, Sam, Yolandi and Nicola.
• Nick also gave members an update on ACRS steel certification and the work they are doing to certify steel.
Main Presentation:
Ryan Groves
Drones - Capability, Capacity, Coordination and Developments in the Built Environment
In the 1800s Austria sent unmanned, bomb-filled balloons to attack Venice. The drone as seen today started innovation in the early 1900s and was originally used for target practice to train military personnel. It continued to be developed during World War I with the earliest attempt at a powered unmanned aerial vehicle in 1916.
Today the use of drones is expansive with more organizations than ever utilizing the ability to manage and maximize information on sites which are inaccessible, unsafe, in use or in development/construction. Recent examples have been bush fires, site investigations, site surveys, building assessments and even delivering pizzas.
Today’s workshop gave members the opportunity to understand and realize the benefits, the limitations, the experience and the use of drones in the built and compliance environment. It also provided members the opportunity to question and test where the use of technology is going and to understand the impacts on our everyday working and social environment.
The workshop consisted of a presentation and a demonstration with a question and answer session with Ryan Groves a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) drone pilot trainer and drone professional, based in Wellington.
Figure 1: Ryan Grove - Director RPA Skills
Figure 2: Close up of the DJI Inspire 1 (capable of 80Km/hr) and stable in 50Km/hr winds (18 minute flight time)
The afternoon session started off with Ryan giving members a rundown of drone terminology. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s) or drones are categorised into two main types visual line of sight (VLOS) and Beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). Both require a private pilot licence (PPL) which is now covered by the CAA rules Part 101 and 102. Until a few years ago the drone industry was missing drone specific laws to regulate them. This included up to full sized crop dusting drones. Developments in battery technology and micro electric motors have seen a huge increase in the sale and use of drones. The CAA along with Airways NZ have been promoting safe use of drones and providing pilot education programmes for recreational pilots. This includes people of all ages and professions ranging from professional videographers to children playing with a Christmas toy to search and rescue and even farmers mustering stock.
Members learned that owning a drone doesn’t mean you can legally fly it. There are specific rules that need to be followed and penalties for non-compliance. There have been over 250,000 drones sold in New Zealand.
The easiest licence to get is a CAA Part 101 licence, this has a number of restrictions including a maximum flight height for 400ft and line of sight control of the drone. Each flight a pilot makes requires a flight plan, which can be notified by an online app Airshare. Any land or airspace you are flying over or in requires the permission of the owner to do so. There are also special rules for flying near airports (within 4kms). Pilots have to request permission from air traffic control to fly within these zones. To fly at the Central Fire Station four agencies had to be notified of the flight plan.
Figure 3: Members interacting and asking questions about the presentation
Ryan discussed the responsibilities of drone pilots and how dangerous they can be. Ryans racing drones are capable of 160Km/hr
Ryan introduced the 12 keys things that are required under CAA Rules Part 101 – Pilots must
1. Not operate an aircraft that is 25kg or larger and always ensure it is safe to operate
2. At all times takes all practicable steps to minimise hazards to persons, property and other aircraft
3. Fly only in daylight
4. Give way to all crewed aircraft
5. Be able to see your aircraft with your own eyes (not using binoculars, smartphone or other types of monitors)
6. Not fly your aircraft higher than 120m above the ground (note sloping sites could suddenly cause you to go above this)
7. Have knowledge of the airspace restrictions that apply to the area you want to operate
8. Not fly closer than 4km from any aerodrome
9. When flying on controlled airspace notify air traffic control to obtain clearance to do so Airshare is a freely available app to log your flights
10. Not fly in special airspace without the permission of the controlling authority (eg military operating areas)
11. Have consent from anyone you want to fly over
12. Have consent of the property owner or person in charge of the area you are wanting to fly above.
For commercial drone pilots these rules are relaxed as they have to go through a higher qualification and hold a 102 certificate. There are currently over 100 commercial 102 certified drone pilots in New Zealand. This gives pilots more scope to fly in different areas and conditions but comes with more responsibilities.
Members heard about some of the exciting developments that drones are being used for, including construction, site surveys, LIDAR mapping and inventory. Currently drones equipped with LIDAR are used in the transmission gully project to calculate cut and fill along the gully. They are also used for inventory stockpiles of gravel and road surfacing materials. There have even been displays of drones working together in a swarm to carry equipment in cargo nets. The largest display of drones swarming was with a 1000 UAV’s all flying together. In the future the need to physically visit a site may be reduced as camera technology and infrared mapping could map a site and the progress of construction.
After the presentation members moved outside to see the drone in action, the wind had got up but Ryan was still confident the drone could fly and remain stable.
Figure 4: Drone ready for take-off out the back of the Central Fire Station
Figure 5: Group photo from the drone zoomed in from 30m up
Figure 6 & 7: Drone flying up at the clock tower in the wind and the video remained steady
After the flight members were able to finish up with questions and answers over refreshments and snacks.
Ryan Groves bio:
Ryan has been a professional health and safety advisor, trainer and auditor in the construction industry for the past 16 years and spent 15 years as a volunteer and senior firefighter.
In 2001 he completed his fixed wing Pilots training and holds a PPL. Ryan flies in many model aircraft competitions and currently flies turbine powered jet models. Being involved in the model aircraft industry for over 30 years, he is now a qualified instructor and assessor.
Three years ago, he saw a need to provide the emerging drone industry with a robust training programme that new pilots could gain knowledge and skills from. Approaching the CAA due to the shortfall of trainers in the market, they were delighted to gain his assistance to help teach the current law. Three years on, New Zealand has about 5 training companies delivering a varied amount of training with Ryan continuing to fly drones on a week by week basis.
Recently Ryan attended a breakfast show talking about the rules and incidents with drones as they started to grow, with the bulk of Ryan's work being referrals for training through the CAA.
Further information about RPA Skills can be found at https://www.rpaskills.com/
More information regarding Civil Aviation Authority requirements can be found at here
Special Thanks to:
• Ryan Groves –Director RPA Skills
• Fire and Emergency New Zealand for refreshments and the use of their meeting room at Wellington Central Fire Station
Wayne Goodfellow the Wellington Branch Chairperson closed the meeting at 6.00pm
Richard London
Wellington Branch Secretary
Richard.London@facio.co.nz
