Back to Basics: Normal FAA Part 107 operations

Under FAA Part 107 operations it is a requirement for the Un-crewed Aircraft (UA) to be operated in a manner where the Remote Pilot in Command (RPIC) and/or a Visual Observer (VO) can maintain un-aided visual contact with the UA during flight operations.

In addition to maintaining visual contact with the UA, the RPIC and VO also can view the surrounding airspace to maintain situational awareness regarding maintaining separation and yielding to manned aviation traffic. Under these operations, the RPIC and VO are co-located and able to converse verbally without aide.

Innovation. At the core of what we do, Percheron’s teams across all integrated services are continuously looking for innovative solutions to provide the best service to our client.

Over the last few years, UAV technology has revolutionized the industries we serve. The introduction of drones has allowed Percheron’s survey team to more efficiently and accurately capture detailed data from pipelines to facility inspections, roadways to electric transmission lines, and renewable energy projects. Our state-of-the-art fleet fly lower and employ higher resolution cameras for video and images than traditional aerial options.

Stay tuned next month for Part 2 in our series on UAS innovation

Fall = football, and around the country people are cheering on their favorite teams! From your kiddo’s pee-wee games to Friday night lights, weekends dedicated to your alma mater or favorite pro team, football is in full swing. And with each game, anticipation builds to find out who is the “Best.”

Have you ever taken a kid’s drawing and said, “I can make something with this?” Then you use that drawing as the blueprint and make that vision a reality? That’s basically the job of a survey technician. You know what the surveyors in the field are doing, but there’s a lot more to a survey team than just those working in the field.

My wife is a PGA Golf Professional.  She’s also an adjunct distance-learning teacher at The Yost Household Kindergarten and Middle School for our 6 and 13-year-old’s, but that’s a story to be shared with other parents in the same boat…over one (or three) glasses of wine.   Her career as a golf professional is slightly different from that of the golf pro that runs a country club, who sets up tournaments, merchandises, and schmoozes members.  She chose long ago that her passion was to provide solutions to help golfers become better golfers.  She’s a golf instructor, a golf driving range owner, and the golf coach for the men’s and women’s teams at Fairmont State University in West Virginia, a small Division II school.

Through this strange year of 2020, puzzles seem to have made a serious comeback.  One strategy to complete: identify the outside pieces and build the framework, then fill in the rest.  The outside pieces are the easiest to find and put together.  But you don’t get the full image until you fill in the complicated middle pieces.  What good is a puzzle with just the framework?

I spent a good part of my childhood growing up on a farm in West Virginia, both on our farm and my grandparents’ farms.  We had friends down the road who had a small herd of Guernsey cattle that they would milk, by hand, twice a day (this was the late 50’s and early 60’s).  Milking was quite an interesting process for the outsider (me) to watch as, in this case, the farmer, his older children, and a helper worked diligently to milk all the cattle as quickly as possible.  Cattle were brought into the barn, milked, and then lead out like clockwork.  One of the simplest (but essential) tools used in the milking process was a three-legged stool. 

We wait in anxious anticipation for the latest iPhone to arrive.  We tell Alexa to turn off the lights, so we don't have to get up.  Self-driving cars are becoming more of a reality than a sci-fi fantasy.  In a day where we "expect" constant advancements, it's essential to understand that the newest shiny "toy" doesn't always get the job done. 

In today’s climate, service companies are tasked with 3 “simple” requests for each project: Fast, Accurate, and Cost-Efficient.  Seems “simple” enough……

But with complexities that go along with any land project, the key to truly realizing those 3 “simple” requests: Innovation.

Integrated vs. À La Carte Land Services - 

When you plan a multi-phase project, do you take the integrated or à la carte approach to your land services?  No phase or stage of a project is an island unto itself.  Many stages of a project build on the deliverables created and provided in earlier stages.  Each is mutually supporting as they are elements of a larger and more complex goal – the successful completion of the project.  So why not allow a single land company to manage each of those stages?