[oxxyfx]

I, the chair of the MAAC FPV Committee, am happy to announce and to post that MAAC approved and implemented new guidelines and safety code for FPV activities which affects all MAAC members.

The documents have been approved by the MAAC executive committee on Thursday, July 26th and we are now in progress of posting these on the MAAC website.

We are the first country to have completed, approved and started to implement a full set of guidelines for FPV which take in consideration the use of new technologies and are a good compromise between a fully liberated FPV and safe and insured FPV flying for recreational purposes.

Other countries were eagerly waiting for us to get these documents approved and in effect, so they can start working on their own set of FPV guidelines based on our work.

Click on the following link to read the documents:

http://www.maac.ca/view_news.php?itm=491

Rick, if you could make this a sticky topic, I would really appreciate that.

Well, it seems the documents cannot be posted becuase of the size limit on PDF files, but it can be downloaded from the above link.

Thank you,
Zoltan Pittner
MAAC FPV Chair

[Max]

Great work, Zoltan.

Stickied......

[buffythesaint]

Too bad about France. They have the hardest rules of all. Only flying at sanctioned fields and 100m radius limit, for multis, that I know.

[stegl]

Just came back from Zone C AGM last Saturday and the discussion came up about FPV flying and the requirement of having a current Ham Radio operator at the flying site when flying FPV. The video power and frequency transmission to the ground receiver was not brought up but I will go out on the limb and say anything over 100mw requires a ham radio licence or a Ham operator at the flying site.

To own FPV equipment ; anyone can ; but to operate is another matter. Comments please.

[Midair]

Interesting and, for the most part, commence sense driven, however I have a number of questions and concerns about the "new FPV pilot exam." I was unable to review the last doc on the MAAC website, the "MAAC FPV Safety Code," (I experienced the dreaded "404" error) however, I doubt that my questions would be answered therein. My questions are as follows:

a. Will the exam apply only to "new" FPV pilots and are experienced FPV pilots grandfathered?

b. Will the exam be applied in practical or written form, or both?

c. Who will comprise the "Club Examining Committee." What kind of credentials will they require in order to sit in judgement of another pilot? Will they be required to be FPV qualified pilots before becoming a member of the examining committee? Although not a FPV pilot, I personally would take exception to anyone passing judgement on me if they themselves are inexperienced or none FPV pilots.

d. Will there be a common, to all clubs/MAAC, score sheet for the committee to follow.

e. Once successful, will the new FPV pilot receive an FPV certificate? Official? Who will retain FPV qualified pilot records? MAAC?

f. What are the consequences of exam failure? Will there be a minimum waiting/training period before the "new" FPV pilot may again attempt the exam?

I'm not particularly fond of this guideline and suspect that the mechanics of it's implementation and potential consequences were not thoroughly considered. Unfortunately, by including this requirement as an officially endorsed and directed MAAC initiative it will become binding for all MAAC sanctioned clubs.

Peter

[bcsaltchucker]

Originally Posted by stegl

Just came back from Zone C AGM last Saturday and the discussion came up about FPV flying and the requirement of having a current Ham Radio operator at the flying site when flying FPV. The video power and frequency transmission to the ground receiver was not brought up but I will go out on the limb and say anything over 100mw requires a ham radio licence or a Ham operator at the flying site.

To own FPV equipment ; anyone can ; but to operate is another matter. Comments please.

the legal transmitting power for non-HAM license individuals is not for 100mW and over. Not even close. It is way way lower power.

HAM license is required for any radio equipment that emits over a fraction of 1 mW power power ... and actually it is more complex than that, but no way you can emit 50mW, or even 10 mW without HAM and be close to 'legal'

'licensed' radio equipment usually does not require any HAM license. This applies to your cell phone, your Spektrum RC transmitter. Unlicensed equipment is not allowed to be used ... however there is an exemption for HAM licensed individuals who build their own equipment. Now we as FPVers tend to do a lot of DIY and basic electronics building (note that the RTF DJI equipment guys do not do this), so it arguably could be considered a DIY radio system, and eligible for HAM license exemption. Depends you you ask, get a different answer from HAMs and Industry Canada folks too.

Bottom line is ... you are much more legal if you have HAM. And a MAAC club can get by with only having one person with a HAM license on site. But that person becomes responsible for the radio transmissions of course. This person has to be able to ensure the radios are on legal frequencies, as some FPV equipment have illegal frequency channels mixed in with legal ones. They ahve to ensure the transmissions do not interfere with any other users in the area - not just FPVers but anyone - Wifi, HAM, government.

It is a bit of an ambiguous issue, this HAM license use. Since FPV was not conceived of decades ago when the HAM license regulations were drawn up, it is not even clear that it is fully legal to put a radio on a model plane in the first place. But also not illegal, depending on who you ask. At any rate, the Prime Directive for all HAM radio use is: do not cause interference to other users, and also you must have the knowledge of how to determine and prevent this.

Yes, I got my HAM a couple years ago

[stegl]

Originally Posted by bcsaltchucker

the legal transmitting power for non-HAM license individuals is not for 100mW and over. Not even close. It is way way lower power.

HAM license is required for any radio equipment that emits over a fraction of 1 mW power power ... and actually it is more complex than that, but no way you can emit 50mW, or even 10 mW without HAM and be close to 'legal'

'licensed' radio equipment usually does not require any HAM license. This applies to your cell phone, your Spektrum RC transmitter. Unlicensed equipment is not allowed to be used ... however there is an exemption for HAM licensed individuals who build their own equipment. Now we as FPVers tend to do a lot of DIY and basic electronics building (note that the RTF DJI equipment guys do not do this), so it arguably could be considered a DIY radio system, and eligible for HAM license exemption. Depends you you ask, get a different answer from HAMs and Industry Canada folks too.

Bottom line is ... you are much more legal if you have HAM. And a MAAC club can get by with only having one person with a HAM license on site. But that person becomes responsible for the radio transmissions of course. This person has to be able to ensure the radios are on legal frequencies, as some FPV equipment have illegal frequency channels mixed in with legal ones. They ahve to ensure the transmissions do not interfere with any other users in the area - not just FPVers but anyone - Wifi, HAM, government.

It is a bit of an ambiguous issue, this HAM license use. Since FPV was not conceived of decades ago when the HAM license regulations were drawn up, it is not even clear that it is fully legal to put a radio on a model plane in the first place. But also not illegal, depending on who you ask. At any rate, the Prime Directive for all HAM radio use is: do not cause interference to other users, and also you must have the knowledge of how to determine and prevent this.

Yes, I got my HAM a couple years ago

As I said I wasn't too sure on the wattage being transmitted but other than that we are pretty much in agreement as I said with an on site ham radio operator that would be willing to monitor the FPV units; not an issue. At one time (40-50 years for sure) anything under 100mw and depending on frequencies ; ie 27mhz CB did not require licencing... As you mentioned Cell phones ; at one time the cell providers used to charge licensing fee that went to the licencing of each unit but not sure if they still do this now. Probably built into the fee structure.
As for R/C radios ; that was the whole thing with the IC number being on radios used in Canada ( FCC for the US) is showed that the radio design was within any tolerances allowed by Industry Canada.

Yes things will evolve slowly as with any government body. At the moment they are still sitting on the FPV and quad-copter issues.

[Max]

Originally Posted by Midair

Interesting and, for the most part, commence sense driven, however I have a number of questions and concerns about the "new FPV pilot exam." I was unable to review the last doc on the MAAC website, the "MAAC FPV Safety Code," (I experienced the dreaded "404" error) however, I doubt that my questions would be answered therein. My questions are as follows:

The pilot certification requirement described in the FPV safety code is meant to act as a guideline for clubs. Like the MAAC wings program, your club describes how FPV pilots are to be certifed AT THAT CLUB

Originally Posted by Midair

a. Will the exam apply only to "new" FPV pilots and are experienced FPV pilots grandfathered?

Whatever your club decides to do. It would be wise to have a cut-off point for your grandfathered fliers based on the skill level they have demonstrated to date. Those that do not meet the skill-level cutoff should have to go through your clubs FPV certification process, in the manner your club describes it.

Originally Posted by Midair

b. Will the exam be applied in practical or written form, or both?

Again, its up to your club to decide how it wants to do it. How does your club currently do its wings testing for beginner fliers?

Originally Posted by Midair

c. Who will comprise the "Club Examining Committee." What kind of credentials will they require in order to sit in judgement of another pilot? Will they be required to be FPV qualified pilots before becoming a member of the examining committee? Although not a FPV pilot, I personally would take exception to anyone passing judgement on me if they themselves are inexperienced or none FPV pilots.

Its up to your club to decide. If they do not have any skilled FPV pilots, then at least get some seasoned, skilled and respected fliers to comprise the initial club examining committee. These members should be familiar with the interpretation of the MAAC FPV safety guidelines so that they can at least observe the FPV potentate to the requirements of the guidelines. Once your club has enough experienced and skilled FPV fliers, then they can take on the responsibility of the FPV examining committee

Originally Posted by Midair

d. Will there be a common, to all clubs/MAAC, score sheet for the committee to follow.

No! Like the requirement for the wings program, a club can follow the one recommended by MAAC or come up with their own.
At the present, I do not think MAAC has produced any recommended examination/score sheet for FPV. As for my club, I created one similar to our clubs wings and heli logbook(which contain the FPV exam guideline) based on the MAAC FPV safety guidelines.

Originally Posted by Midair

e. Once successful, will the new FPV pilot receive an FPV certificate? Official? Who will retain FPV qualified pilot records? MAAC?

Again, its up to you.You can give a certificate, a handshake, or a slap on the back and a "CONGRATULATIONS"
I wanted something nicer, so I took the MAAC wings and had "FPV" engraved into them. Here is a picture of the concept I gave to the engraver so he knew what I wanted.

Originally Posted by Midair

f. What are the consequences of exam failure? Will there be a minimum waiting/training period before the "new" FPV pilot may again attempt the exam?

Whatever your club decides

Originally Posted by Midair

I'm not particularly fond of this guideline and suspect that the mechanics of it's implementation and potential consequences were not thoroughly considered. Unfortunately, by including this requirement as an officially endorsed and directed MAAC initiative it will become binding for all MAAC sanctioned clubs.

Peter

No, the beauty of the MAAC FPV guidelines is it lays the foundation of what the clubs should do to make FPV a safe activity at the club. It does not, nor is it intended to be a rigorous, and un-flexing step-by step method of how to certify FPV members at your club. They left it open ended to allow the cubs to tailor the certification process to fit the needs of the clubs.

[Max]

Originally Posted by Midair

Interesting and, for the most part, commence sense driven, however I have a number of questions and concerns about the "new FPV pilot exam." I was unable to review the last doc on the MAAC website, the "MAAC FPV Safety Code," (I experienced the dreaded "404" error) however, I doubt that my questions would be answered therein.

Funny. Maybe you have an old link? I checked the links in the first post and they still work. At least they worked for me

I also went directly to the MAAC site and I found it in the MAAC documents page.

Here it is again, if you want to check it out:
http://www.maac.ca/docs/2012/maac_fpv_guidelines.pdf

[stegl]

So according to the link as of 2012 anything over .75mw fpv transmitting power on analogue subject to having a HAM licenced operator at the field ... monitoring.....Re item F in the link.