Autonomy Achieved: Grass Landings and Mission Success at Airdrie

After lots of planning and preparation, we headed out to the Airdrie Flying Club for a critical flight test session. With our vehicle Orca loaded and ready, the day’s goals were to capture the final footage for our flight readiness video and verify whether the aircraft could safely land on grass. The mission started with a manual takeoff to above 50 feet AGL, after which we transitioned into an autonomous mission lasting roughly 6000 meters. The mission ended with a smooth transition back to manual mode and a successful grass landing, confirming that our aircraft is runway- and grass-ready.

GCS operators also screen recorded the Mission Planner interface to estimate cruise speed during the autonomous leg. Despite a few minor delays, the test went smoothly, with balanced CG and efficient setup times. With this flight, we’ve officially completed the autonomous mission segment of our flight readiness checklist.

Key Achievements:

• Completed a ~6000 m autonomous mission with successful mode transitions.
• Executed a stable grass landing, confirming multi-surface landing capability.
• Captured footage of the autonomous mission for the flight readiness video.
• Maintained balanced CG and quick setup despite minor challenges.

Learning Lessons:

• Having a LiPo battery chart on hand helped monitor voltage in real time.
• We plan to integrate voltage estimation into our custom GCS.
• Landing bounce highlighted a need to refine the main gear damping.

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