During preflight a remote pilot finds one pack at 60 percent charge and no time to charge it. What is the correct approach?

Part 107 requires the pilot to determine before flight that there is enough available power for the intended operation and to operate safely to a landing, and the calculation starts from the energy actually in the pack rather than from what the mission would like. Sixty percent charge means roughly sixty percent of usable energy, and after subtracting the reserve needed for the approach, the landing and a contingency, the flyable portion of the mission is well under sixty percent of the plan. The right response is to fit the mission to the energy: shorten the flight, split it into segments, reposition the launch point to cut transit time, or reschedule the part that will not fit. The wrong responses all involve making the number appear larger than it is — flying the full mission while watching the percentage, treating cool weather as compensating, or assuming a lighter payload converts a partial charge into a full one. It does reduce power required, but it does not add energy that is not in the pack.

The preflight requirement is that available power cover the intended operation and a safe landing, so the mission must be planned around the energy actually present plus the required reserve.

Part 107 requires the remote pilot in command to determine before flight that there is enough available power to operate for the intended operational time and to land safely, accounting for conditions that reduce usable capacity.

Fit the Mission to the Energy, not the energy to the mission. Sixty percent is sixty percent.

Reserve is planned, not discovered. Any option that involves monitoring your way down to it is the wrong answer.

• •Planning the full mission and relying on monitoring
• •Treating payload reduction as equivalent to added capacity
• •Assuming favourable temperature offsets a partial charge