- Test one complete incident request.
- Assign readiness and site ownership.
- Evaluate operating approvals and data handling separately from hardware.
A mission begins with a request
Write one supported call type as an actual task: who requests aerial information, which location they provide and who receives the observation. Then follow that request through launch review, flight, observation, communication and closeout.
For the pilot, separate permission to accept a mission from responsibility for interpreting the scene. The dispatcher, remote pilot and incident coordinator may each need different information. Test those roles in one exercise rather than demonstrating an isolated launch.
- 01DispatchTask + location + receiving team
- 02OperateReadiness + mission ownership
- 03CloseAcknowledged observation + record
Test the less convenient conditions
| Exercise | What the team should resolve |
|---|---|
| Location outside the planned service area | Who declines or changes the request. |
| Aircraft or site unavailable | How dispatch sees readiness and uses the alternate process. |
| Interrupted communication or upload | Who handles the mission and the missing record. |
| Observation delivered to the wrong team | How the receiving role is identified and corrected. |
| Mission closeout | Who records the result and controls access to the retained material. |
A Dock site has an owner between missions
Assign power, network, physical access and maintenance responsibilities before selecting a site. Keep readiness checks visible to the team accepting requests. A maintained Dock should not be treated as available solely because it is installed.
Dock 3 is a hardware option for a fixed operating site. A portable crew using Matrice 4T is a different deployment model. Compare them by coverage, staffing and the tasks the organization can actually support.
Approvals and data handling belong in the pilot
An automated system does not itself establish authority for a proposed operation. Check the current FAA guidance and the organization’s approval path for the intended flight conditions. Keep the approved scope visible when dispatch assigns a mission.
Define access, retention and the process for sharing an incident observation. These are implementation decisions for the organization, not features supplied by buying an aircraft. Evaluate a limited pilot against supported requests and successful handoffs before expanding the service area.