Time: 90 min ground + self-study to memorization  |  PQS rows: HL.I.1, HL.I.5

Objectives

From memory, with zero error: (a) recite all 18 memorization-bank items (PQS §2); (b) given any flight scenario, state which limit or failsafe applies and what the aircraft will do on its own.

Why these numbers are memory items

A Heavy Lift at gross weight is an 80-kilogram machine with eight spinning propellers and eight 570 Wh lithium-polymer packs aboard — roughly 4.5 kWh in total. When something goes wrong, it goes wrong at the speed of electronics, and the aircraft will act on its own programming — failsafes fire whether or not you remember what they do. A pilot who has to look up what happens at critical battery voltage discovers the answer by watching the aircraft land itself somewhere it shouldn’t. These eighteen items are the numbers and behaviors that must be produced cold, because in flight there is no time to be reminded.

Each item gives the value, the source, and the why — memorization sticks when a number is attached to a consequence.

Group A — Mass and power (M-1 to M-3)

  • Maximum takeoff weight: 80 kg (HL 2.2.1). The aircraft with batteries is 50 kg; that difference is your payload budget. Exceeding MTOW erodes the thrust margin the flight controller depends on for gust response — the same margin the Potential Thrust Loss alarm is watching.
  • Maximum payload weight: 30 kg (HL 2.2.1). The structural and performance limit for what hangs underneath. Weigh the payload; never assume.
  • Primary power minimum voltage: 79.2 V (HL 2.2.2). The floor of the power system’s operating range. You should never see it in flight — the battery failsafes act first — but it defines “empty” for planning and for recognizing a battery that should never have been installed.

Group B — Battery failsafes (M-4, M-5)

These two are a pair; learn them as a ladder.

  • Low battery: below 30% or 43.4 V → persistent warning, no automatic action (GCS 6.1). The aircraft nags; it does not act. The decision — and the accountability — is the pilot’s. Course standard: treat the low-battery warning as a return commitment, not information.
  • Critical battery: below 10% or 42.3 V → aircraft enters land mode and lands in place (GCS 6.2). Wherever “in place” is — water, traffic, a crowd. This is why the low-battery warning is a commitment: the critical failsafe removes your choices.

Group C — Link and control failsafes (M-6 to M-8)

  • RC failsafe: loss of stick/switch data from the HHC → RTL if GPS is available, land mode if not (GCS 6.3). Note what this is: loss of control input, which is not the same event as loss of the DGCS data link — they can fail separately.
  • C2 link loss: not re-established within 5 seconds → autonomous RTL, land, disarm (GCS 5.16). Five seconds is the number; announce “Comm Loss” and start link recovery immediately, because the aircraft is already counting.
  • The RTL catch: RTL only works if GPS lock was established before takeoff; without it, the aircraft performs a forced emergency landing where it is (GCS 5.16). This is why the pre-takeoff HDOP check exists — you are arming your own rescue system.

Group D — Landing and navigation numbers (M-9 to M-13)

  • Maximum descent rate, emergency landing: 2.5 m/s (GCS 5.7).
  • Maximum horizontal velocity at touchdown: 0.2 m/s (GCS 4.6). Drift at touchdown on an 80 kg aircraft is a tip-over, and a tip-over is a propeller strike and a battery quarantine.
  • Landing gear auto-extends below 5 m AGL (GCS 4.6). Pause your descent near 5 m and verify — the check costs two seconds.
  • GPS HDOP for launch: 1.7 or lower (GCS App. B, 1.2). Above this, position quality is not good enough to trust the automated modes you may need in a hurry.
  • Compass recalibration triggers — all five (HL 6.2.3): DGCS alarm · flight site more than 500 km from last calibration · heading reporting incorrectly · abnormal flight behavior · any tip-over, crash, or impact. Miss one on the exam and you have missed the item.

Group E — Prohibitions and irreversible actions (M-14, M-15)

  • Potential Thrust Loss alarm: no Loiter, no automated modes, no auto-RTL (GCS 5.4). The alarm means one or more motors are commanded to full power; automated modes command aggressively. Attitude mode, under 2 m/s, no climb.
  • Flight termination cannot be aborted (GCS 5.8). The stick-and-button sequence stops all motors and the aircraft falls. It is a last resort with no undo, which is why the decision criteria are part of the memory item.

Group F — Battery ground handling (M-16 to M-18)

  • Maximum charge current: 30 A (HL 3.2).
  • Storage 20–25 °C; permanent damage above 65 °C (HL 3.3). The manual also says never store batteries in a vehicle, even in a flame-retardant container (HL 3.1).
  • Swollen or damaged battery: stop, disconnect, isolate outdoors away from property, vehicles and combustibles, observe at least 15 minutes (HL 3.1). LiPo chemistry is not instantaneous — a battery that took a hit in a crash may ignite later, which is also why the post-crash procedure quarantines batteries.

Study standard

Make flash cards or use the practice quiz until you can clear all 18 twice consecutively without error. The Topic 1 exam presents every memory item, every attempt, and is graded to 100% on them.

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