FLIGHT PLANNING

Photographic mission must be carefully planned and faithfully executed to the

flight plan. Flight plan is generally of two parts. The flight map and the outline
of specification.

1. Accuracy of Flight map shows the location of the project area and its
extent i.e. its size. It also indicates the flight lines along which the pilot
must fly in order to obtain the desired coverage. It is usually prepared
from the existing map of the area or small-scale photographs of the area.
For a successful photographic mission, the flight planning is based on
the flight map.
2. Specification is a detail outline of materials and equipments to be used
for the mission and also the procedure to be employed. These specific
requirements include flying height above datum, photo scale, exposure
stations, ground spacing between flight lines, fore and side laps, tilt, crab
and drift tolerance, camera and film requirements.

A flight plan, which gives optimum specifications for a project, can be prepared
only after careful consideration of all the many available that influence aerial
photography.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE CHOICE OF DIRECTION OF FLIGHT LINE

1. Cardinal points direction – If magnetic compass is used to assist

navigation, it is advantageous to fly in east-west direction. This is
because the compass needle tends to settle in the north-south direction.
2. Terrain (Topography) of the country. If the area is rugged, it is better to
fly in the direction parallel to the mountain ranges so as to have constant
overlap.
 3. Project area dimension – It is economical to have flight lines parallel to
the longer side of the project area to be flown. This reduces the number
of flight lines to the minimum.
4. Time duration – It is better not to fly for a long time as the pilot may
become bored and tired.
5. Coastal areas – When flying in this area, it is advantageous to fly parallel
to the coast line so that the last set of principal points do not fall within
the water area. But if it is compulsory to fly perpendicular to coast time,
it is better to plan for 80-90% overlap.
6. Premarked ground control – It is advantageous to use premarked ground
controls to plan for flight instead of the natural features which at times
may not be available in the area.
7. Cost
8. Personnel
9. Weather condition
10. Etc

Since it is not always easy to satisfy all the above requirements, efforts should
be made to meet the maximum number of them hat will give optimum
advantage and economy.

TIME OF PHOTOGRAPHY

The ideal photographic day is one in which the air is free form clowns, smoke,
haze, smog & dust. The sun is high enough to shorten objectionable shadows
that may obscure details. The wind velocity and air turbulence at flight attitude
should be at minimum.

PROBLEMS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC SORTIE

1. Critical definition (image movements) – this occurs when images of

objects appear in form of lines on the photograph and lie in the direction
of flight. Image motion compensation is used to correct for this.
 2. Blurring of images – this occurs when the shutter speed is too low,
aircraft speed is too great and the altitude is too low.
3. Weather condition – Haze, fog, and cloud affects the quality of the
photograph and tat times make navigation impossible.
4. Crab and Drift – Crab is the angle formed between the flight lines and
the edges of the photograph in the direction of flight. This is caused
when the focal plane of the camera is not in alignment with the direction
of flight at the instant of exposure.

Drifting is caused when the aircraft fails to maintain the predetermined flight
line due to wind blow or air turbulence. It causes gaps between adjacent strips.

COMPUTAITON OF FLIGHT PLAN

Data required to compute the number of exposures that will be taken, number
of strips to be flown and determine time interval between successive exposures.

1. Flying height above damn.

2. Focal length of camera lens.
3. Format size of photograph.
4. Size of project area.
5. Ground speed of aircraft.
1. Overlap

Endlap PE = ( G−B
G )
×
100
1

Sidelap PS = ( G−W
G )
×
100
1

2. Ground distance between successive principal points.

Length of photo format × (1 – P)
Scale of photograph
3. Ground distance between adjacent strips
 Width of photo format × (1 – S)
Scale of photograph
4. Number of flight lines
Width of project areas + 2
Distance between adjacent – strips

5. Number of photographs per strip/run

Length of project area + 4
Ground dist. between successive principal points
6. Time interval between Exposures
Ground dist. Bw pp in km × 3,600 Seconds
Ground speed of aircraft (km/h)
7. Total Number of photographs
Number of flight lines × Number of photos per strip.
PLATFORMS