What Each Site's Flights Have to Show
| Site | Where FlybyOps keeps it | What the record has to show | The rule behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wind farms | Where FlybyOps keeps itA custom field for the rule that allowed flight above 400 ft, the rotor-stop confirmation attached to the flight plan, weather on every flight | What the record has to showWhy the aircraft could fly above 400 ft, and who confirmed the rotor was stopped | The rule behind it14 CFR 107.51(b), the 400 ft structure allowance; the stop follows the site's own procedure |
| Solar farms | Where FlybyOps keeps itLocation and mission objective on the flight, custom fields for block and irradiance, the report attached | What the record has to showWhich blocks were flown, and the irradiance and conditions behind each thermal finding | The rule behind itPart 107 for the flight; IEC TS 62446-3 and the O&M contract for the inspection |
| Well sites and compressor stations | Where FlybyOps keeps itThe mission objective on the flight, with the approved method's paperwork and the report attached to its log | What the record has to showWhether the flight was the methane rule's screening or an ordinary inspection | The rule behind it40 CFR 60.5397b and 60.5398b (EPA OOOOb) |
| Pipelines | Where FlybyOps keeps itA project per line; date, time and location on every flight; the append-only audit log | What the record has to showThat each patrol met its interval, and what it saw | The rule behind it49 CFR 192.705 and 195.412; gas transmission patrol records kept at least 5 years under 192.709(c) |
| Refineries and gas plants | Where FlybyOps keeps itThe site's permit attached to the flight plan; date, pilot, aircraft and location on the flight | What the record has to showPermission to fly near the plant's classified areas, and the inspection's date, inspector, equipment, method and result | The rule behind it29 CFR 1910.119(j)(4)(iv) for the inspection; the permit is the site's own, with classified areas documented under 1910.307 |
Most US wind turbines reach past 400 ft at the blade tip. On a solar farm, a hot spot's temperature difference grows with the sunlight on the panel (irradiance), so two findings only compare at similar irradiance. IEA PVPS recommends imaging above 600 W/m² in steady conditions.
Under EPA's methane rule, a screening flight counts only if it uses a method EPA has approved. One of the 19 approved methods flies on a small drone. PHMSA's rules allow gas pipeline patrols by "walking, driving, flying or other appropriate means", and hazardous liquid rights-of-way must be inspected at least 26 times a year, no more than 3 weeks apart. In a refinery, the flight record sits beside the inspection record that OSHA's process safety rule requires.
FlybyOps keeps the evidence. Meeting each rule stays with the operator.
Our Own Wind Campaign Ran in FlybyOps
We're the team behind FlybyOps, and we've flown commercially since 2018, wind turbine and solar inspections included. This year our pilots inspected 1,047 wind turbines in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Faroe Islands. For one client, from mid-September to late October, that meant more than 100 turbines across all five, and the whole campaign ran in FlybyOps.
Each country was a project and each turbine a job, holding its serial number, the client's order number, the turbine type, the site, the tower height and a mapped flight area. Pilots knew what they were flying before they reached the site. Each inspection was submitted, then approved, before its turbine counted as done.
The client processes the video and images in its own inspection platform. FlybyOps ran the operations, and it can store the footage too when a client wants it kept.
Mixed Crews Across Many Sites
Each site, or each group of assets, can be its own project. People see only the projects they're assigned to, so a contractor's crew flying a solar farm doesn't see your pipeline work.
A contractor's lead holds the Operations Lead role and staffs their own pilots and ground crew on jobs in the projects they're given. When the contract ends, an admin removes each of their people in one action, and the flights they logged keep their names.
Flights from DJI Pilot 2 controllers are logged automatically through Flight Sync, whoever flew them, and count towards each aircraft's hours and maintenance schedule. Flights on other aircraft are entered by hand.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Where do inspection findings go?
- Reports and images attach to the flight log they came from. A finding that needs managing goes on the risk register, scored on the SORA 5×5 severity and likelihood matrix with an owner and a review date. When an incident is filed, admins and the project's managers are notified automatically.
- We already run flight and dock software. Where does FlybyOps fit?
- Next to it. Energy programmes usually have one tool that flies the aircraft and runs the docks, and another that turns images into findings, such as thermal hot spots, methane readings or blade damage. FlybyOps holds the operations record: who flew, on which aircraft, under which permit, and what happened to each finding. A flight flown from a DJI Dock uploads as a DJI flight log, and the dock itself sits in the equipment registry as an asset. Automatic recording of dock flights is planned.
- Can a flight record be rewritten after the fact?
- It can change, but never silently. The append-only audit log, on every plan, keeps a history of operational activity and sensitive changes, and who made them. Changes made through a connected AI assistant are logged under the person's own name.
- Can we try it on one site first?
- Yes. Set that site up as one project in the 14-day trial. After the trial, Professional is $999 per workspace per month for up to 15 users. Once contractors fly across many of your sites, Business, from $2,500 per workspace per month, adds contractor access controls, flight approvals, pilot currency tracking, anonymous incident reporting and API access.