The UAV/Personal Drone thread

[Fuzz]

I'd like to know what constitutes a "drone" in their mind. I fly RC planes in a school field, that is empty 99% of the time. It's within 9km of the airport, but my planes are zero threat real planes. Hopefully I don't get burned on this.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Well. That's almost a death blow for the hobby. For those of us that flew small ones FPV in parks, that's gone. Thankfully I live near the edge of the city.

That night ban is awful. Flying in empty parking lots at night was a ton of fun. Man I really pick the wrong hobbies.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I'd like to know what constitutes a "drone" in their mind. I fly RC planes in a school field, that is empty 99% of the time. It's within 9km of the airport, but my planes are zero threat real planes. Hopefully I don't get burned on this.

Basically any mulitrotor would be my guess. RC airplanes aren't what they had in mind despite the fact they can be just as autonomous as a multirotor.

It is an excellent question though as I'd imagine that anyone seeing someone operating an aircraft remotely would consider it the same thing. They really do need to clear up what they are getting at. Are they concerned about any remotely controlled aircraft or just the ones equipped with GPS enabled flight as there are numerous multirotors that have no GPS antennas as well. How are they any different than flying an RC plane that also has no GPS?

[Bigtime]

Here's the "No Go" zone based on YYC, Springbank, and any of the helipads I could think of in Calgary (hospitals and the one by the Peace bridge):

[Cube Inmate]

The Minister supposedly enacts these rules under the authority of the Aeronautical Act to mitigate risks to aviation. I'll acknowledge that the height restriction makes sense then, but the proximity restrictions respecting buildings, people, and animals clearly do not fall within the scope of the authority granted.

I will continue to fly my toy quadcopter safely and respectfully, irrespective of these rules.

[Burninator]

• Within nine kilometres of somewhere aircraft take off or land, or a forest fire.
• Over forest fires, emergency response scenes or controlled airspace.

After talking to a forest fire fighter about drones, this is good news.

[Fuzz]

It's to bad the rules couldn't just be boiled down to "use some common sense, you jackasses!" No need for specifics, then.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

It's to bad the rules couldn't just be boiled down to "use some common sense, you jackasses!" No need for specifics, then.

Common sense isn't common.

[calgaryblood]

More jackasses put us at risk driving cars than flying drones.

They aren't banning driving last time I checked.

The rules are absurd and I won't be following a lot of them. The height restrictions are fine as well as some others but most are ludicrous. What's a good reason for not being able to fly over the river in Banff?

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Here's the "No Go" zone based on YYC, Springbank, and any of the helipads I could think of in Calgary (hospitals and the one by the Peace bridge):

Well that's great. The entire city and even out into the country side is now off limits. Even without the airport restrictions, the 75m rule would he hard to avoid in basically any city or town. Not sure where the hell to go now.

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by Dentoman

90 m ceiling and 500 m distance .... lame. And no night ... come on, that is the most fun!!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cana...neau-1.4027486

This is great news.

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Here's the "No Go" zone based on YYC, Springbank, and any of the helipads I could think of in Calgary (hospitals and the one by the Peace bridge):

Thanks for compiling. Assuming helipads are in fact included, I'm glad to see it covers off most of the city.

[Bigtime]

Posted on Reddit Calgary, this one has any listed aerodrome and helipad. I had forgotten ones like the helipad by the bow river in the NW, Indus airstrip and many others:

[nickerjones]

Bummer. I just got my Mavic Pro out for it's first flight. I have even nicknamed it. For someone who has never flown a drone the Mavic was extremely simple to use.

Here is a short clip from the inaugural flight of 'Drone Iginla'

https://vimeo.com/208368685/c5654eae3f

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Posted on Reddit Calgary, this one has any listed aerodrome and helipad. I had forgotten ones like the helipad by the bow river in the NW, Indus airstrip and many others:

Looks like a small portion of Nolan Hill/Sage Hill is outside of any aerodrome.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

This is great news.

This kind of reaction genuinely surprises me and I ask this honestly, have you had a number of negative run ins with private use drones?

I've flown a great deal in the past in public park near my place and have only encountered curiosity.

[GoinAllTheWay]

This is the smallest quadcopter I own. Even this is too heavy for these new regulations. It weighs in at 278g. Is this the type of quadcopter that anyone worries about? Basically they've made anything other than a toy quadcopter that likely lacks the power to be outside, illegal.

[Fuzz]

Well, your first problem is the excess weight from the lighter. Get right rid of that. Switch the connectors to JST's and you might just make it!

And yes, I know.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Here's the "No Go" zone based on YYC, Springbank, and any of the helipads I could think of in Calgary (hospitals and the one by the Peace bridge):

Finally being out in Cochrane pays off!

I never really got into drones but always wanted to, just assumed this sort of thing would happen. These rules are absurd. I don't think there's anywhere on the planet you can be 75m away from any person or animal. Including Saskatchewan.

"I believe that we have to strike the right balance between encouraging the drone industry, but doing it responsibly," he said.

Umm. Not even close. There's no balance, and they've effectively shut down the drone industry in Canada.

However if they were going to bring these regs in, they should have included selfie-sticks in there as well.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

However if they were going to bring these regs in, they should have included selfie-sticks in there as well.

I completely support that.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Umm. Not even close. There's no balance, and they've effectively shut down the drone industry in Canada.

Overreaction. Model rocketry and planes have had restrictions like these for years and you learned to work around them.