Creating and Configuring Flyzones

1.1 Drone Operation Center – Flyzones Overview

Before you start:
A crucial part of mission planning is defining the airspace in which your operation will take place. Flyzones and their associated buffers allow you to create a clear, compliant, and safe operational plan, helping both pilots and supervisors maintain situational awareness and reduce risks.

AirHub allows you to define multiple layers of operational boundaries:

Flyzone (Operational Volume)
This is the main area in which your drone operation will occur. Defining this volume ensures the aircraft remains within its intended flight boundaries and helps you plan safe and compliant flight paths.

Contingency Volume
This is the safety buffer surrounding your flyzone. It accounts for unplanned deviations, such as when the drone performs a return-to-home manoeuvre. This zone should always be reviewed for obstacles or potential airspace conflicts.

Ground Risk Buffer
This is the outermost buffer, extending beyond the contingency area. It represents the total area that could be affected on the ground in a worst-case event, such as a complete loss of control.
A simple and conservative way to calculate this area is by using the 1:1 rule, which assumes that the drone could travel horizontally the same distance as its height above ground. The buffer can be estimated using the following formula:

Ground Risk Buffer = Contingency Height + (0.5 × Drone Size)

Where:

• Contingency Height is the maximum height of the contingency volume.

• Drone Size refers to the aircraft’s characteristic dimension (for example, its rotor span).

This means that if a drone operates at 100 metres, the ground risk buffer should extend roughly 100 metres beyond the contingency volume. This simple approach ensures a clear and measurable margin for ground safety, forming a key input for risk assessments such as SORA (Specific Operations Risk Assessment).

1.2 How to Draw a Flyzone

1. Open an existing mission or create a new one from the sidebar.

2. Navigate to your intended flight location by scrolling on the map or entering a location in the search bar at the top right of the screen.

3. In the action bar located above the map, click the Draw Flyzone icon.

4. Choose whether you want to draw a Polygon or a Circle.

5. Click on the map to begin drawing:
   • For a Polygon, click to place each point and double-click the last point to close the shape.
   • For a Circle, click once to set the centre and drag outwards to define the radius.

6. Once drawn, the Flyzone will appear on the map and will also be listed under the Flyzone tab in the mission planner.

1.3 How to Configure Buffers and Settings

After creating a Flyzone, you can define its safety buffers and adjust its properties.

1. In the mission planner sidebar, click on the Flyzone tab.

2. Click on the Flyzone you created (for example, Flyzone 1) to open its settings panel.

3. Configure the following properties:
   • Name: Assign a clear and descriptive name, for example Main Operational Area or Survey Zone East.
   • Contingency Volume: Enter the buffer distance (in metres) for your contingency zone.
   • Ground Risk Buffer: Enter the additional buffer distance (in metres) for the outer ground risk zone.

These buffers define the operational and safety boundaries that form the basis of a compliant mission plan. They help ensure your mission is conducted safely, even in the event of an unexpected deviation or system failure.

1.4 Summary

Flyzones and their associated buffers are essential for defining where and how your drone can operate safely.
By setting the Flyzone, Contingency Volume, and Ground Risk Buffer, AirHub helps you create a complete and compliant operational plan that aligns with both safety requirements and regulatory standards.