FISCHER 26 STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

Pre-Flight Checklist

In-Flight: Relay Operations

Once Fischer 26 is on station (loitering at planned altitude), it serves three roles simultaneously. Its Jetson runs YOLOv8 on the camera feed, detecting and classifying targets. Its MANET radio (Silvus SL5200 or equivalent) receives telemetry from FPV drones below and forwards it to Lisa 26 via Starlink. And the directional jammer on the dorsal pan/tilt mast autonomously locks onto hostile drones after whitelist.py verifies they are not friendly (IFF heartbeat mismatch) — threat_tracker.py commands servo_pantilt.py to point the antenna and jammer_control.py activates the appropriate frequency band. Fischer 26 carries no sub-drones or offensive payloads. The Fischer 26 pilot monitors battery, altitude, Starlink link quality, and EW engagement log. If Starlink drops (satellite handover, brief outage), data is buffered onboard and transmitted when link returns.

Emergency Procedures

← Del av Fischer 26 Whitepaper

Post-Flight Procedures

After landing: immediately disconnect battery to prevent drain. Remove SD card from Jetson for debrief processing. Visual inspection of airframe: check wing spar bolts (vibration loosens M4 nylon locknuts after 10+ flights), inspect fuselage belly for landing damage, verify all control surface hinges move freely. Log flight time in the maintenance record (cumulative hours determine when structural inspection is due — at 100 hours, 200 hours, and every 100 hours thereafter). If any anomaly was observed during flight (unusual vibration, EKF3 innovation spikes, unexpected battery sag), record it in the AAR before memory fades.

Try the interactive Link Budget Calculator →

Implementation

# Fischer 26 Pre-Flight Checklist Script
#!/bin/bash
# Run on ground station laptop before every launch

echo "=== FISCHER 26 PRE-FLIGHT CHECK ==="

# 1. Battery voltage
BATT_V=$(mavproxy.py --master=/dev/ttyUSB0 --cmd "status" | grep "battery" | awk '{print $2}')
if (( $(echo "$BATT_V < 44.0" | bc -l) )); then
    echo "❌ BATTERY LOW: ${BATT_V}V (need >44.0V for 6S full)"
    exit 1
fi
echo "✓ Battery: ${BATT_V}V"

# 2. EKF3 health
EKF=$(mavproxy.py --cmd "ekf_check" | grep "OK")
if [ -z "$EKF" ]; then
    echo "❌ EKF3 NOT HEALTHY — wait for convergence"
    exit 1
fi
echo "✓ EKF3 healthy"

# 3. MANET connectivity
NEIGHBORS=$(silvus-cli show neighbors | wc -l)
if [ "$NEIGHBORS" -lt 1 ]; then
    echo "❌ NO MANET NEIGHBORS — check antenna"
    exit 1  
fi
echo "✓ MANET: ${NEIGHBORS} neighbors"

# 4. Jetson YOLOv8 loaded
YOLO=$(ssh jetson "pgrep -f yolov8" | wc -l)
if [ "$YOLO" -lt 1 ]; then
    echo "❌ YOLOv8 NOT RUNNING on Jetson"
    exit 1
fi
echo "✓ YOLOv8 running on Jetson"

echo "=== ALL CHECKS PASSED — CLEAR TO LAUNCH ==="

Standard operating procedure execution ensures consistent mission quality regardless of which crew operates Fischer 26. The procedure covers every phase from component inspection through post-flight data extraction. Following the procedure prevents the most common field errors that have historically caused drone losses.

Each step in the standard operating procedure has been refined through hundreds of field operations. The procedure includes mechanical inspection, avionics verification, mission briefing, launch, and recovery. Following the procedure consistently is the single most important factor in mission success rate — units that deviate from procedure experience three times more equipment losses.

Open the interactive Mission Planner →

Open the interactive Link Budget Calculator →

Related Chapters

Sources

ArduPlane documentation (ardupilot.org). Starlink Mini specifications (starlink.com). T-Motor datasheets. NATO STANAG 4671 (UAV Airworthiness). Fischer 26 design documentation (FSG-A internal).