[Midair]

This week Transport Canada launched and published new guidelines for operators of RPASs and drones.

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviatio...i-uav-2265.htm

Peter

[Mark Winstanley]

does anyone realise that this guideline introduces;

line of sight
daylight only
a 300 ft (90m) height restriction?

This could be a bad day for us all.

Mark.

[Midair]

Hello Mark:

I published this thread before I realised that one was already started a couple of days ago. Apologies to all for the duplicate. On to your comments - we've always been required to fly our UAV/drones and model aircraft within line of sight; that's not really new. The guideline to not fly at night is interesting, but it's only a guideline and flies (no pun) in the face of MAAC guidelines that allow night flying of our model aircraft, under specific conditions. That same guideline also states "...Only fly your aircraft...in good weather (not in clouds or fog)." Because there's no definition of "good weather" (VFR, IFR, marginal VFR?) I suspect that is only a guideline, not a regulation. Same goes for the 300' height restriction; if effective for hobby R/C pilots this would not be good, especially for glider and soaring pilots. It appears that the document has specifically targeted the UAV/drone population and not the R/C hobbyist (I hope).

Peter

[excelsiuss]

Looks to be directly targeted to the Drone community.

I guess MAAC is going to be very busy in communications with Transport Canada soon

[stardustertoo]

An excerpt from that document.....

Do
•Only fly your aircraft during daylight and in good weather (not in clouds or fog).
•Always be able to see your aircraft with your own eyes – not only through an on-board camera, monitor or smartphone.
•Make sure your aircraft is safe for flight before take-off. Ask yourself, for example, are the batteries fully charged? Is it too cold to fly?
•Know when to apply for a Special Flight Operations Certificate
•Respect the privacy of others – for example, avoid flying your aircraft over private property or using it to take photos or videos without permission.

Don’t fly:
•Any closer than 5 miles (8 km) from any airport, heliport or aerodrome.
•Higher than 300 feet (90 metres) above the ground.
•Within restricted airspace (such as military bases, prisons, forest fire areas).
•Closer than 100 feet (30 metres) from vehicles, boats, buildings, structures or people.
•In populated areas or near large groups of people (such as at sporting events, concerts, festivals, firework shows).
•Where or when you could interfere with any first responders (fire department, police, etc) as they conduct their duties.
•Near moving vehicles. Avoid highways, bridges, busy streets or anywhere you could endanger or distract drivers.

Its really not as bad as it first sounds, under the Do column, not flying in clouds and beyond line of sight is not very smart to begin with. Besides, hasn't the line of sight thing been around forever?

The 'daylight only' I disagree with. I haven't tried night flying with lights and stuff, but it does look like fun, and not that dangerous if done with care.

The Don't column, well most of those are simple common sense as well....for most people (I do recognize that common sense is a dying thing) However, the 300ft altitude limit is ridiculous. That effectively shuts down soaring, pattern contests, beginner who want need to be a 'few mistakes high', most any aerobatics with any kind of vertical maneuvers.

Avoiding highway and roads......how about all those clubs right beside a highway......Vernon BC comes to mind (and a certain 'Superman incident that I have heard tales of). Within 5 miles of an airport, well that makes sense too...sort of. I used to belong to a club that was 0.5 miles from the end of the runway and about 0.5 to one side. There were never any conflicts because we would phone the tower before flying and stay below 500ft.

Other than that, its really not anything new. The same rules most intelligent people have been following for years. This is fairly typical TC though, I have been working in the aviation industry for nearly 15 years now, and its pretty normal for them to have a kneejerk reaction to something and impose new guidelines or rules without stopping to think about it or do any research.

I guess MAAC is going to be very busy in communications with Transport Canada soon

I sure hope so!!!!

EDIT: I see there was some more replies while I was typing.....ignore duplicated points! LOL

[Midair]

Originally Posted by excelsiuss

Looks to be directly targeted to the Drone community.

I guess MAAC is going to be very busy in communications with Transport Canada soon

I believe that Richard Barlow is still a member of CARAC, the board that's developing/has developed Canadian UAV regs; he represents the modelling community to Transport Canada. When I was a member of that board he always provided thoughtful and valuable input, insight and advice. I trust that he will continue in that vein.

Peter

[Mark Winstanley]

It might be aimed that way but it is a typically broadbrushed aim. It defines unmanned aircraft as:

"Unmanned aircraft (no pilot on board) go by many names—unmanned air vehicle (UAV), remotely piloted aircraft system, model aircraft, remote control aircraft, and drone".

So the expected "do's and don'ts" seem to apply to all of us.

Can MAAC chime in here and tell us what is going on please?

Mark.

[Mark Winstanley]

Peter; thanks for your response. Can you post a link to the other thread please?

[Midair]

Originally Posted by Mark Winstanley

Peter; thanks for your response. Can you post a link to the other thread please?

Hello Mark:

The only link that I have is the one introduced in my initial post. "Stardustertoo" posted the excerpt in his response above.

Peter

[Narly1]

Originally Posted by Mark Winstanley

Peter; thanks for your response. Can you post a link to the other thread please?

https://www.rccanada.ca/rccforum/showthread.php?t=285825

Earl "Narly1" Anderson