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Mission Plan
The Kauai Coffee Plantation was selected as the test site for our UAV demonstration due to its large scale of production (4-5 million lbs/yr) and close proximity to Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in western Kauai. The PMRF is located in the island's wind and rain shadow where weather patterns are most amenable to Pathfinder-Plus takeoff and landing operations. This Deployment Phase was designed to build confidence in the use of UAVs in national airspace. Equipped with a transponder and assigned to a specific flight level, our operation of Pathfinder-Plus in national airspace was carefully coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration.
During our demonstration, the UAV climbed to flight altitude (21,000 feet) within PMRF-controlled airspace, and transitioned to FAA national airspace above southern Kauai and the plantation. At this time, regional air traffic controllers in Honolulu seamlessly integrated the UAV into routine traffic monitoring operations. After four hours of data acquisition, the UAV returned to PMRF airspace for descent and landing. No safety or performance anomalies were noted by the aircraft operators during the 12 hour flight. Both cameras performed successfully throughout the mission. About 50 Kodak and 300 DuncanTech scenes were acquired over the KCP, totaling in excess of 2 GB of image data.
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