Aerial Photography and

Flight Planning
By: Chris Peters

Objectives
Identify some basic regulations for a flight
under visual flight rules (VFR)
List required equipment
Analyze forecasted weather according to
VFR weather minimums
Interpret aeronautical charts, including
different types of airspace
Identify the difference between pilotage and
dead reckoning
Create a final flight plan that will comply
with VFR regulations, including the use of
navigation systems as backup

What is VFR?
Flight is to take place using visual
references
Must avoid clouds
Normally have a distinguishable horizon
Should have sight of the ground below,
or in some cases, a cloud layer below as
long as it will not cause spatial
disorientation (vertigo)
Flight plan is NOT required

Required VFR Equipment

TOMATO FLAMES acronym

Tachometer
Oil pressure gauge
Manifold pressure gauge
Airspeed Indicator
Temperature gauge
Oil temperature gauge

Required VFR Equipment

Fuel level gauge

Landing gear position indicator
Altimeter
Magnetic heading indicator
Emergency locator transmitter (ELT)
Seat belts

Required VFR Equipment

VFR Weather
Visibility must be 3 miles or greater
Ceiling must be 1,000 feet or higher
Ceiling is defined by broken or
overcast cloud layer (7/8 or 8/8
coverage)

VFR Weather
For photogrammetry purposes, clouds
in the photographs are undesirable.
Can usually tell where clouds will form
by obtaining the temperature and dew
point for the area.
The difference between the two can be
multiplied by 500 for an estimate of the
altitude at which clouds will form
(average lapse rate is two degrees per
1,000 feet).

VFR Weather
For example, if the temperature is 22 C
and the dew point is 18 C:
22 C - 18 C= 4
4 x 500 FT = 2,000 FT
Clouds on this day would form at 2,000
feet. This would probably not be a good
day for aerial photography as your
options would be very limited.
Look for days with a high temperature dew point spread.

Airspace
Class B Airspace solid blue line busy airports
(Miami International Airport, Tampa International
Airport, Orlando International Airport)
Class C Airspace solid magenta line less busy
airports still serviced by major airlines
(Jacksonville International Airport, Daytona Beach
International Airport)
Class D Airspace dotted blue line small airports
with control towers (Gainesville Regional Airport)
Class E Airspace controlled airspace sandwiched
between all of these below 18,000 feet
Class G Airspace uncontrolled airports

Airspace

General Information
Minimum altitude over sparsely
populated area: 500 feet above ground
level
Minimum altitude over densely populated
area: 1,000 feet above ground level
Use your best judgment regarding sparse
vs. dense
Maximum altitude in Class E airspace:
18,000 feet mean sea level (MSL)

General Information
Above 18,000 feet is Class A airspace and
requires special procedures (instrument
flight rules and flight plan no VFR)
Conservation areas request airplanes to
stay at least 2,000 feet above ground
level
Be aware of prohibited, restricted,
warning, and military operations areas, as
noted on the sectional chart

General Information
Minimum airspeed in basic single
engine airplane: 60 knots
Minimum airspeed in light twin
engine airplane: 88 knots
Cruise airspeed in basic single engine
airplane: 120 knots
Cruise airspeed in light twin engine
airplane: 152 knots

General Information
Flying at a slower speed will allow for a
better turning radius
Flying too slow becomes very
inefficient with regards to fuel
Best speed is one where lift and drag
are equal, making it most efficient
Typically, you can plan for there to be
about four hours worth of fuel on board

General Information
Crab: wind coming from the South will
require an airplane flying East to use a
crab angle into the wind in order to fly due
East.
For example, the crab angle may be
determined to be 3 degrees, and the
airplane will need to fly a heading of 93 in
order to achieve a course along 90 East.
This will affect the camera on board the
aircraft. The crab angle will need to be
compensated for in order to photograph
along straight lines on the ground

General Information
Aircraft modifications: extensive
modifications to the aircraft will require
an FAA certificated Airframe &
Powerplant mechanic to record new
weight & balance data
Simple equipment brought on board for
use during flight needs to be accounted
for by the pilot when he or she computes
weight & balance numbers for the flight

Aircraft Avoidance
Because flying height should be constant
for photogrammetry purposes, this may
cause a problem with normal VFR
altitudes related to direction of flight.
A simple way to remember what altitude
you should be flying at based on your
direction is the acronym, ONE. Odd North
East. If you are flying in a general north or
east direction (course between North 0
or 360 and 179), you should be at odd
thousand feet intervals plus 500 feet for
VFR (3,500 feet, 5,500 feet, 7,500 feet).

Aircraft Avoidance
Traffic could potentially be traveling
in the opposite direction at your
altitude if you are heading west when
flying at 3,500 feet.
Yield to the right, and the airplane to
your right has the right of way
(correct your path so as to pass
behind the other airplane)

Creating the Flight Plan

Navigate to http://www.skyvector.com
Pick an area you will be taking aerial
photos of.
Start out from an airport within this
area or near it (i.e., type KGNV, the
airport identifier code for Gainesville
Regional Airport, into the Location
Lookup box
Zoom all the way in for greatest detail

Creating the Flight Plan

Determine the flight lines you will fly
in order to cover the entire area
To set points and create the flight
lines, right click a spot on the map
and select the GPS point
Determine crab angle based on wind
relative to flight path and plan to
adjust camera accordingly

Creating the Flight Plan

Creating the Flight Plan

Because this particular flight plan
would involve flying back and forth
through Gainesvilles airspace, you
would want to let the tower know
your intentions so the controller can
help keep other aircraft separated
from you
You would also want to monitor the
tower frequency at all times

Creating the Flight Plan

Pilotage: flying according to visual
references (landmarks clearly visible on the
ground)
Dead Reckoning: estimating ones location
based on ground speed and elapsed time
between checkpoints
Navigation backup: since most airplanes are
now equipped with some form of GPS, if one
gets lost, he or she can simply press the
NRST button on the GPS equipment and
find the nearest airport (or other
navigational aid) and land the airplane.

References
Code of Federal Regulations Title 14
Volume 2 Chapter I Parts 61, 71, and
91
http://www.skyvector.com
Wolf, Paul R. and B. Dewitt, 2000.
Elements of Photogrammetry with
Applications in GIS. McGraw-Hill.

The End!
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