The Ultimate Flight Planning Software FlightPlanner User Guide Spatial Scientific Pty. Ltd PO Box 520, Blackwood, SA 5051, Australia Phone +61 405 141 647 [email protected] www.aerosci.info Facebook / Twitter: @aeroscientific Document Information Document title: FlightPlanner User Guide Release date: July 2020 Document description: This document forms the installation and user guide for FlightPlanner Classic, Pro and Ultimate. Related documents: Aviatrix user guide Further information: See www.aerosci.info Revision history: Version Author Date Changes 1.00 P. Dare July 2015 Initial version 1.1 P. Dare Jan 2018 New features added 1.2 P. Dare Jul 2020 New features added ALL USERS MUST READ THE SAFETY NOTICES AT THE END OF THIS DOCUMENT BEFORE USING ANY PRODUCTS PROVIDED BY SPATIAL SCIENTIFIC PTY. LTD. (OWNERS OF THE AEROSCIENTIFIC BRAND). FlightPlanner User Guide Page 2 of 94 Table of Contents Document Information ........................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... 3 Background ............................................................................................................................................. 6 Step-by-Step Guide ......................................................................................................................... 6 About FlightPlanner ........................................................................................................................ 7 FlightPlanner Versions..................................................................................................................... 8 Updates and Upgrades .................................................................................................................. 10 System Requirements ................................................................................................................... 11 Software Installation ..................................................................................................................... 12 Unlocking the Software ................................................................................................................. 14 Installation — Troubleshooting and Issues ................................................................................... 15 Basic Operation and Import Functions ................................................................................................. 17 Flight Planning Workflow Overview .............................................................................................. 17 Starting FlightPlanner: Online/Offline Mode ................................................................................ 18 Importing Background Maps ......................................................................................................... 19 Importing a Polygon or Path ......................................................................................................... 21 Importing a KML/KMZ file ............................................................................................................. 22 Drawing a Polygon ......................................................................................................................... 23 Drawing a Path .............................................................................................................................. 24 Importing Background Polygons ................................................................................................... 25 Importing a Text File ..................................................................................................................... 26 Flight Planning (Polygons) ..................................................................................................................... 32 Creating a Polygon Flight Plan ....................................................................................................... 32 Camera, Imaging & Misc. Parameters (Polygons) ......................................................................... 33 Choice of Run Direction (Flight Orientation) ................................................................................. 34 A Typical Polygon Flight Plan ......................................................................................................... 35 Key Runs ........................................................................................................................................ 35 Camera Stations/Trigger Points .................................................................................................... 36 Footprints ...................................................................................................................................... 36 Capture Boundary ......................................................................................................................... 37 Flight Plan Information .................................................................................................................. 38 Selecting Points or Lines ................................................................................................................ 39 Additional Flight Plan Information ................................................................................................ 40 FlightPlanner User Guide Page 3 of 94 Modifying a Polygon Flight Plan .................................................................................................... 41 Modify Your Flight Plan View ........................................................................................................ 42 Flight Planning (Paths) .......................................................................................................................... 44 Creating a Path Flight Plan ............................................................................................................ 44 Project Parameters (Paths) ........................................................................................................... 45 A Typical Path Flight Plan .............................................................................................................. 46 Other Features ...................................................................................................................................... 47 Calculating Mission Time ............................................................................................................... 47 Exporting Flight Plan ..................................................................................................................... 50 Export to Flight Plan File(s) ........................................................................................................... 51 Export to KML File (Google Earth) ................................................................................................. 53 Save Map ....................................................................................................................................... 55 Measurement Tool ........................................................................................................................ 56 Adjust Flight Planned Height ......................................................................................................... 57 Infill Flight Lines ............................................................................................................................. 58 FlightPlanner Settings ................................................................................................................... 59 Using Terrain Models ............................................................................................................................ 61 Creating and Exporting a Digital Terrain Model ............................................................................ 62 Using a DTM in Flight Planning ...................................................................................................... 65 Flight Plans with Lines at Different Heights .................................................................................. 69 Free-draw Flight Plans .......................................................................................................................... 72 Using the Free-draw Tool .............................................................................................................. 73 Free-draw: Replicating Lines ......................................................................................................... 74 Free-draw: Rotating and Adding ................................................................................................... 75 Free-draw: Lengthen, Shorten, Move ........................................................................................... 76 List of Free-draw Hot Keys ............................................................................................................ 77 Help Menu ............................................................................................................................................ 78 Hotkeys .......................................................................................................................................... 79 About ............................................................................................................................................