Here you will find an example of how you may want to conduct your own department/agency’s training for aspiring Arrowhead operators. This training outline will be broken down into three categories: Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert. Uniform Sierra encourages all operators to become experts of operating Arrowhead, however we understand that this is a time commitment not all operators can complete. Because of this we recommend all Arrowhead operators reach the Intermediate skill level at a minimum. Please note that it is presumed that an operator has reviewed all the appropriate digital training videos prior to beginning this flight training. Feel free to create your own adjustments to the below outlines for your specific use cases, as well as creating “assessments” for each training level for an operator to prove proficiency.
At the beginner level, all training will be conducted in Position mode (except when practicing Turtle mode). To ensure Position mode is consistent throughout we recommended flying in something like a well lit conference room. Safe enough that the pilot can’t damage anything important, large enough to practice maneuvers, and with plenty of objects like tables and chairs for Arrowhead to hold Position mode with. For brand new drone operators we recommend a minimum of 8 hours of practice at this level, while those drone operators coming from a DJI Mavic, or Avata likely only need 1-2 hours at this level.
Start by making sure you are comfortable with the GCS (controller). Power on the GCS and then power on Arrowhead. Once connected, without arming Arrowhead, find a comfortable position to hold the GCS and try switching between the different flight modes, and camera views. Next try moving the sticks around to get use to them as well. Becoming comfortable with the GCS is an important first step for any UAS operation.
Now that you are comfortable with the GCS in your hands, go ahead and ensure Arrowhead is placed in an area free of obstructions, announce that you are going to arm the aircraft, and the press the arming buttons. Announcing that you are arming can help make sure people do not immediately get in the way of Arrowhead on takeoff. Once armed raise the left stick up until Arrowhead is 3-4ft in the air. Take your hands off the GCS and let Arrowhead hover in place. Gaining confidence with Arrowhead hovering is important, as you must be capable of responding to the things around you as an operator as well. While hovering practice only switching between the video feeds. Once getting comfortable with that lower Arrowhead to the ground, and remember to keep holding down on the stick as the aircraft touches the ground until the motors disarm.
Go ahead and arm Arrowhead and raise it 3-4ft off the ground. Once Arrowhead is hovering in place practice yawing the aircraft by pushing the left stick to the left and right. While trying this do your best to not raise and lower Arrowhead, you just want it to spin, as if around a pole through the middle of the aircraft.
Once you get comfortable with this, rotate the aircraft to face away from you (i.e. camera facing the same direction you are facing). Now practice moving Arrowhead back and forth (pitch) by moving only the right stick up and down. While practicing this keep your hands off the left stick, and only focus on moving the right stick. Return Arrowhead to its starting point, and now begin just moving the right stick to the left and right, to practice rolling the aircraft. After becoming comfortable with these independent movements go ahead and land Arrowhead.
In this exercise practice combining the movements you have tried so far. Examples of this would be to try flying in specific shapes such as a square, triangle, or circle. Start slow at first. Don’t worry about about being fancy. As you try combining movements make sure to try those movements at different heights above the ground. You can also try flying around or under some simple obstacles as well. As you become comfortable with these movements try performing them by only watching the live feed on the GCS screen. It is also important at this stage to begin exclusively looking at the GCS screen. When operating in reality you won’t be able to see Arrowhead with your own eyes as you clear rooms. To simulate this, face away from Arrowhead to force yourself to look at the screen for all your movements.
In this exercise you are going to practice some of the standard features of Arrowhead that you might not use every time. This primarily refers to the emergency disarm and Turtle mode features. For the emergency disarm practice disarming Arrowhead when it is 2-3ft off the ground. You can do this in conjunction with trying to land on specific spots such as chairs or tables. After practicing this try practicing Turtle mode recoveries. Place Arrowhead upside down or leaned up against the wall and practice getting Arrowhead repositioned correctly (this is the only case where you may need to put Arrowhead into Altitude/Stability mode for Beginner training). While these features may not be needed every time you operate, they are still important to understand and practice for when you do need them.
Beginner-Arrowhead-Flight-Training-20241216.mov
At the intermediate level, training will be conducted in a mix of Position and Altitude flight modes. We recommended flying in something like a well lit large conference room. Safe enough that the pilot can’t damage anything important, large enough to practice maneuvers, and with plenty of objects like tables and chairs to practice more complex maneuvers inherent of real world operations. For brand new drone operators we recommend a minimum of 6 hours of practice at this level, while those drone operators coming from a DJI Mavic, or Avata likely only need 2-4 hours at this level.
Altitude mode is a flight mode that is designed to use a mix of the tracking camera and barometer to only hold Arrowhead’s altitude instead of its exact position. In Altitude mode Arrowhead will move quicker than in Position mode, as it does not have the same speed restrictions set. Knowing how to control Arrowhead in Altitude mode is important as if Position mode fails or is unavailable Altitude mode is the fallback.
To get an initial feel, first arm Arrowhead while in Position mode, and raise it to be 3-4ft off the ground. Once Arrowhead is in a good hover, switch to Altitude mode, and try to perform some basic maneuvers. You will find that it is necessary to more finely move the sticks, and that counter-movements are sometimes necessary if the aircraft is accelerating too quickly. Take some time to get a feel for Altitude mode, but if at anytime you get uncomfortable you can immediately switch Arrowhead back to Position mode. Once you have started to get the hang of this put Arrowhead back into Position mode, and land.