On a large tower inspection project, not all remaining sites are created equal. Some are in Class G airspace and can be flown anytime with no authorization required. Some have instant LAANC auto-approval up to a sufficient altitude. Some need 72-hour LAANC coordination. Some require a DroneZone COA. Some are already scheduled. And some have TFRs or restrictions that make them unflyable right now.
When those distinctions are buried in a spreadsheet, making smart sequencing decisions requires sorting, filtering, and cross-referencing data across multiple columns. When they’re on a map with color-coded pins, the whole picture is visible in thirty seconds.
How the Color Coding Works
FlightDeck’s interactive map — available in both the Map Remaining Flights tool and the Forecast Scheduler — displays each unflown site as a colored pin. The color reflects the airspace authorization status at that location.
Solid green means the site has a Forecast Date assigned — it’s scheduled and ready. This color overrides all other categories, so scheduled sites stand out regardless of their airspace type.
Dark red means a DroneZone COA is required. These sites can’t be flown via LAANC, and flying them without the COA in place isn’t an option. They’re the sites that need the most lead time and shouldn’t be left until the end of the project.
Orange means the site needs 72-hour LAANC Further Coordination. The operating altitude exceeds the instant-approval ceiling, and the authorization requires a coordination window before the flight date. These need to be submitted with adequate lead time.
Light blue means the site qualifies for instant LAANC auto-approval — the planned altitude is within the available grid ceiling, and authorization can typically be obtained the same day.
Light green means the site is in Class G airspace with no authorization required. These are the simplest sites from a regulatory standpoint.
Gray means airspace data hasn’t been populated for that site yet — it needs to run through the Airspace Checker before it can be sequenced.
Scheduling from the Map
In the Forecast Scheduler, clicking a pin opens a popup with the site’s key details: site ID, tower type, tower height, ICAO for the nearest airport, current weather conditions, airspace classification, authorization status, COA status, and whether the site has been flown or scheduled.
Clicking a site in the Forecast Scheduler lets you assign a forecast date directly from the map — you don’t have to go back to the spreadsheet to schedule individual sites. You can look at the map, see which orange sites need 72-hour coordination this week, select them, set dates, and move on to the light-blue sites that can be scheduled for the days after.
Sequencing Logic
The map makes a sequencing strategy visible that’s hard to execute from a spreadsheet alone. Dark red COA sites need to be identified early and moved into the authorization pipeline immediately — the processing time for a DroneZone COA means you need those applications submitted long before you plan to fly. Orange LAANC72 sites need to be submitted 72 hours before the flight date, which is a manageable lead time as long as you’re not scheduling them the day before.
Light blue and light green sites can be sequenced more flexibly around weather, crew availability, and geographic efficiency. The map groups the green and blue sites visually so you can cluster the easy-authorization sites into efficient geographic routes.
The Map as a Planning Tool
Most project planning decisions that involve sequencing, route optimization, and authorization status benefit from seeing the spatial picture rather than reading rows in a spreadsheet. The color-coded map is how FlightDeck makes that picture available without requiring a separate GIS tool or manual map layer creation.
It’s also the fastest way to answer the question a project manager will eventually ask: “What’s the status across the whole project?” A screenshot of the map answers it more clearly than any summary table.