Zephyr: A High Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Air Vehicle ...

The flight engineer monitors the aircraft systems to ensure all the telemetry is beingcontinuously displayed and recorded. They keep the aircraft functioning and monitorpower usage and aircraft performance.The navigator/meteorology analyst monitors the aircraft position and path of theaircraft from the telemetry data, and monitors the current and future weatherconditions. If there is any risk of the aircraft flying outside a set boundary, thenavigator can command an immediate rapid descent.The GCS engineer monitors and maintains the ground control station to ensureeverything is working correctly. It is also their duty to ensure an adequate radiofrequency link is maintained with the aircraft at all times.The payload operator is the person who controls the camera on board the aircraft andis in charge of its operation.2.6 PayloadAlthough it’s not critical to the flight of Zephyr, it’s the payload that gives the aircrafta purpose. The payload on Zephyr is a camera and is controlled from the GCS fromwhich the commands are sent to the avionics on board which are connected to thepayload via the payload controller board, the PCB. The PCB provides the payloadwith a regulated power supply at the required voltage and ensures the correctcommand and control communications are transferred to the payload.24