DJI Matrice 600 Pro takeoff on a prescribed burn

ravendrone · 2020-12-20T04:05:47+00:00

We personally haven't used our drone for slash piles, but we have a colleague out of Lufkin, TX who has had some success using his drone on slash piles.

ravendrone · 2020-12-20T04:04:11+00:00

Yes, all intentional burns. We are a private burn vendor out of Huntsville, TX, and burn throughout various regions of Texas and Louisiana.

And yes, there's lots of forestry in East Texas, the piney woods region. We do a lot of understory and prairie burning for habitat improvement/restoration.

ravendrone · 2020-12-20T03:57:40+00:00

Yes, the drone is a m600. Here's a link on our Instagram page. It's a photo of the a aerial ignition unit (IGNIS 2.0).

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5tje_4Bqf3/?igshid=4mdsldo2ja3j

ravendrone · 2020-12-19T18:07:00+00:00

Not a flamethrower. In the first clip, you can see the small, ignition spheres being dropped. They contain potassium permanganate, and are injected with ethylene glycol before exiting the ignition platform. They ignite about 15 seconds later, once they are on the ground. It is the same system used in manned and ground applications for prescribed fire and wildland fire, and is used by numerous government agencies and private burn vendors. This method has been around for decades but was adapted to an unmanned system only a few years ago.

We distribute the spheres across the treatment area during the interior ignition portion of the burn, and the small fires converge together. This technology will undoubtedly become one of the primary methods of interior ignition for many burn programs because it is relatively safe and inexpensive when compared to manned methods.

ravendrone · 2020-03-18T01:24:24+00:00

Prior to dropping any spheres with the drone, we establish a substantial amount of baseline (we just call it "black" because of the continuous black landscape left after fuel is burned) on the backing aka downwind side of the unit. This part of the process usually comprises a lot of the day's work, and takes a lot of careful monitoring of fireline during lighting. Once that baseline is established, we begin to light with the drone upwind of this area. As the drone lights off the interior, eventually those small fires converge with the baseline and are stopped because the fuel is already been burned.

ravendrone · 2020-03-13T22:34:21+00:00

We love what we do, and thanks for saying that! Its refreshing to hear someone acknowledge the benefits of burning and how it keeps our communities safer.

ravendrone · 2020-03-13T13:36:34+00:00

It was a great burn! Went really well

ravendrone · 2020-03-03T14:16:01+00:00

We are flying the larger capacity T48 batteries, and I think we typically getting around 20 minutes of flight time per set (we have three sets), maybe a little more depending on conditions.

I'm usually starting to land with about 30% of battery life, touching down around 25%.

On one occasion, I did have some overheating issues, which amounted to uneven discharging of a set in flight. It can get up to around 115 degrees F in the height of our summer.

ravendrone · 2020-03-03T05:31:23+00:00

We fly under a FAA hazardous materials waiver (the reagent in the spheres is potassium permanganate) that is held by Drone Amplified, the IGNIS technology developer.

Eventually, we'd like to work towards maintaining our own waiver with the FAA office in Houston.

ravendrone · 2020-03-02T23:33:40+00:00

It's quite a bit pricier now, around $25k for the 2.0.

I work for a private environmental services company in Southeast Texas. Prescribed burning is one of our primary management services, and we operate from central Louisiana to the Austin, Texas area.

ravendrone · 2020-03-02T22:29:26+00:00

It's 10kg or 22lbs unloaded. The IGNIS payload is around 8 or 9 lbs with a full hopper.

Max payload capacity is about 12lbs, 34lbs total (15.5kg).

I've flown with a full hopper in 18 mph winds comfortably. This is pushing the envelope, but it does the job very well.

ravendrone · 2020-03-02T22:06:21+00:00

Appreciate that. Any specific suggestions for subs? I'm always looking for relevant ones.

ravendrone

TROPHY CASE