Drone Team (HIATUS)

DRONES ARE ON HIATUS DUE TO MARKSMANSHIP FOCUS FOR SY  25-26

We started a Drone team for SY 22-23.  The team will compose of 2 teams of 5 Cadets (4 primary, 1 alternate).

Events include:

1st event – Obstacle Course.  This is a one-pilot (1) event; expect 15-20 obstacles arranged/placed around the course. Obstacles will vary in shapes/diameter from 24” to 36” and will be placed at various heights.  The obstacles will be either: horizontal, vertical, or angled, and require the drone to fly straight through, some to ascend or descend, and some to turn laterally to enter.  Course length is five minutes—the team with the fastest time and most obstacles cleanly negotiated is the winner.  Drones should not progress beyond obstacles that were not successfully negotiated; there will be a 30-second penalty assessed for missed obstacles.  Teams will be allowed to “walk” the course prior-to the competition, as well as during the competition.  The drone pilot will remain in a specified area near the course start and finish.  The remaining team members are free to spread out across the course to provide verbal ques in order to assist the pilot with navigating the obstacles.

2nd event – Flight Officer (FO) Challenge.  This is a two-cadet (2) event; expect up-to seven (7) obstacles arranged/placed around the course.  The pilot will be seated so that he/she cannot see the obstacles; the FO will provide guidance/ directions to the pilot to navigate the course.  Course length is five minutes—the team with fastest time and most obstacles cleanly negotiated is the winner.  Drones should not progress beyond obstacles that were not successfully negotiated; there will be a 30-second penalty assessed for missed obstacles.  ONLY the FO will be allowed to “walk” this course in advance of the competition, as well as while competing.

3rd event – Flight Deck Landing Challenge.  TEAM EVENT—all 4 cadets must participate; cadets have 90 secs each to complete the event. The cadet will take off from the designated starting point. They will attempt to fly around a single obstacle and land on a quarter circle broken down into 5 sections each area having a different amount of points hitting the obstacle will result in a loss of 5 points to your teams final score. (Note: if a pilot fails to complete the course in the allotted timeframe, he/she earns “0 pts in 91-sec.”—but the team still competes)\

 4th event – Rotor head Race.  TEAM EVENT—all four (4) cadets must participate; teams will compete in two round-trip laps of the prescribed course, which will have 10-12 obstacles.  Course length is eight minutes—times will be recorded for those that complete the course in less than eight minutes; for those that do not complete the course within the 8-minute time limit, their location will be marked at that time and teams will be ranked accordingly.  Teams will require four (4) cadets—one to pilot the drone from the start line to the turnaround point, a second to pilot it from turnaround point to finish line/ turnaround point for the first leg, a third to pilot the drone from the start line to the turnaround point, and a fourth to pilot it from turnaround point to the finish line.  Pilots should not progress beyond obstacles that were not successfully negotiated; there will be a 30-second penalty assessed for missed obstacles.  The team with the fastest time and most obstacles negotiated is the winner.  In the event pilots do not complete the race within the five-minute competition, teams will be graded/ranked based upon distance traveled, minus penalties.