Static Current above 100 Feet’s in HT Cables~

Previously I tried to bring High Tension cables and towers to be consider very cautiously when flying drones in open or rural area! You may have often seen giant towers holding long hanging power cables from one village to another when travelling across country side but never thought why there are no homes or any human activities nearby in topography they have been laid. Planning first commercial Droneport in Punjab brought this issue to be addressed by authorities to lay down HT Cable towers in current VFR Charts, amending VFR charts for all flight operations in Punjab region will help drone pilots to fly in North region of Indian Airspace.

I brought this chapter again citing one of the report that I submitted to head office after I was asked to do so~ I was working as HSE officer on a construction project where nearby area we had HT Cables and towers passing from through our project line and apparently we have steel yard in one corner where whole pile of steel always there, you can imagine the power of electricity and how conductive iron is! We have spectrometers and small electrical meters not much advance back in 2006, technology was just on spike to take off glory of internet that world broke after Facebook and google hit the record of top richest companies in the world.

The project fence was near about 50 Feet far and the top line I would say more than 100 feet. I prepared chart with co-ordinates and given measures static electrical current that was measured constantly. The current was not strong enough at any point that could spark but was there in the circumference of that power grid. It sparked me in flying what about the current upwards in those cables that we never measured so far, at Martianis Engineers are working in innovative ways to motivate & well train young pilots. Flight planning is very essential part that includes the visual survey also known topography survey of the land over where flight will take place, put in simple words you should know the area before you before you fly there~

Static current can certainly effect many ways the aircraft frame and systems and can cause vast damage to aircraft or property or it may become lie endanger for humans! Drone Pilots must understand VFR Charts and on top of that I can take visual inspection of area where flying regardless LOS or BVLOS flight operations. At Martianis flight club, we train students how to read & ride sky highways from vector to victor~