skierman64 Posted at 1-13 14:17
Let me make sure i understand this correctly. As an American i can operate my Car, my aircraft, my boat and my snowmobile legally in Canada without any special Canadian operating certificate or license. But to operate my 300 gram drone i need to fill out a 12 page application  which when combined with all the other paperwork required will be 20+ pages.  Utter bull.... Who thought up this crap.

BTW i own property in Ontario.

yes load of bull.... it's totally ridiculous and it probably take months before getting the required permit for a visitor from other country. And if you do not need a license to fly your drone in your country, it is not clear how they will proceed.

Daniella3d Posted at 1-13 18:44
The way things are right now is like asking for a class 3 license to ride a bicycle.

You are funny, I like that!

Daniella3d Posted at 1-13 18:42
Yes that is ridiculous to put a 250g drone in the same category as 25kg. one cannot kill a human but the other surely can.

Weil said Daniella! The first may kill a chicken the other an elephant!

ssylca44 Posted at 1-13 14:43
Hi Northwood, you have stated a very good post but you should change the title, it is not today anymore. Cheers, thanks for your posts.

Done, changed to the effective date, June 1, 2019

So, interesting reading and commentary so far.  At our US friends, if we come down there, we have to register our drones with the FAA, so not much different, however, it looks like it is easier to do so, less paper.

I agree about the weight classes... it does seem absurd to lump this in to one category.  And while it may be a pain in the a$$ to many to register and take the test, if it saves just one life, it was worth it to me.

I am not certain that a spark free-falling from 400 feet would not in fact kill someone, or seriously maim them, head injuries tend to be permanent.  

Not a big fan of government interference, but Canada is loaded with it, so I am sort of used to finding ways to comply.  Considering the EU, and many other countries have insanely restrictive rules, total bans in some cases, in that perspective, I'd say we are still well off.   We got 100 feet more altitude for our $15.

Northwood Posted at 1-14 05:57
So, interesting reading and commentary so far.  At our US friends, if we come down there, we have to register our drones with the FAA, so not much different, however, it looks like it is easier to do so, less paper.

I agree about the weight classes... it does seem absurd to lump this in to one category.  And while it may be a pain in the a$$ to many to register and take the test, if it saves just one life, it was worth it to me.

Thank you for your comments Northwood.
S.

A very informative youtube video from Alan Yu:

Thank you Alan.
S.

ssylca44 Posted at 1-14 08:25
A very informative youtube video from Alan Yu:

Thank you Alan.

They are trying to make people attend drone fly schools! They are mentionning that they highly recommand people doing so. I think this is why they put silly questions in there and also they hope that people will fail first and pay another 10$ I guess.

I wonder if the questions change the second time someone take the test?

Honestly, I would look for the correct answer on google from another computer or the phone if I did not know the correct answer, lol! they did not say that we cannot consult reference during the test.

Daniella3d Posted at 1-14 09:48
They are trying to make people attend drone fly schools! They are mentionning that they highly recommand people doing so. I think this is why they put silly questions in there and also they hope that people will fail first and pay another 10$ I guess.

I wonder if the questions change the second time someone take the test?

I will do the same (last paragraph)
I believe that there is a series of different questions per categories, so the chance to get the same question a second time is somewhat remote.
Cheers,
S.

How long before we have to affix a yearly registration sticker on the AC? It is all about collecting a fee.
Anyone can do the online certification exam for someone else, does this make any sense? Just a way to collect another $10.

ssylca44 Posted at 1-14 14:38
How long before we have to affix a yearly registration sticker on the AC? It is all about collecting a fee.
Anyone can do the online certification exam for someone else, does this make any sense? Just a way to collect another $10.

yes it does look like just another way to squeeze money out of poor people. As for the sticker, starting from june 1st, we do have to put the registration number on every drone or face a fine.

Northwood Posted at 1-14 05:57
So, interesting reading and commentary so far.  At our US friends, if we come down there, we have to register our drones with the FAA, so not much different, however, it looks like it is easier to do so, less paper.

I agree about the weight classes... it does seem absurd to lump this in to one category.  And while it may be a pain in the a$$ to many to register and take the test, if it saves just one life, it was worth it to me.

It's actually significantly different.  In the US drone registration takes less than 5 minutes online.  No test required for non-commercial operations.  

What a load of crap - I rarely visit Canada (about a 6 hour drive from the border), but there are a lot of places I'd like to film there some day, maybe I need to start planning a spring vacation......

To be honest, if you're visiting from another country it's probably not worth doing the beuraucratic busywork - just risk the fine. I've seen forms like that for a few locations in America, and my conclusion is that they are purely a roadblock to prevent drone use from occurring without outright banning it. With this in mind, I don't see any moral problem with skipping the bureaucratic malarkey altogether.

IMHO - I'm against drone regulation in general, and stuff like what Canada's got planned is the worst sort of knee-jerk reaction to hyperbolic media stories. Such regulation has little basis in safety or logic and is founded on ignorance and fear.

Illuminations Posted at 1-15 01:32
What a load of crap - I rarely visit Canada (about a 6 hour drive from the border), but there are a lot of places I'd like to film there some day, maybe I need to start planning a spring vacation......

To be honest, if you're visiting from another country it's probably not worth doing the beuraucratic busywork - just risk the fine. I've seen forms like that for a few locations in America, and my conclusion is that they are purely a roadblock to prevent drone use from occurring without outright banning it. With this in mind, I don't see any moral problem with skipping the bureaucratic malarkey altogether.

Well said Illuminations!

More about the Exam from Alan Yu:

ssylca44 Posted at 1-15 06:31
More about the Exam from Alan Yu:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3MDbHa39hY

Good video - some good insights into these new regulations and the bad motivations that seem to be behind them.  It's not about educating pilots and improving safety - they just want to keep people from flying at all, and to make money off those who decide to jump through the hoops!

Illuminations Posted at 1-15 11:20
Good video - some good insights into these new regulations and the bad motivations that seem to be behind them.  It's not about educating pilots and improving safety - they just want to keep people from flying at all, and to make money off those who decide to jump through the hoops!

Well said Illuminations!

More from Alan Yu:

Illuminations Posted at 1-15 01:32
What a load of crap - I rarely visit Canada (about a 6 hour drive from the border), but there are a lot of places I'd like to film there some day, maybe I need to start planning a spring vacation......

To be honest, if you're visiting from another country it's probably not worth doing the beuraucratic busywork - just risk the fine. I've seen forms like that for a few locations in America, and my conclusion is that they are purely a roadblock to prevent drone use from occurring without outright banning it. With this in mind, I don't see any moral problem with skipping the bureaucratic malarkey altogether.

what they don't understand is that even if they would put the most strict rules out there, those who want to act bad will still do as they don't care about any rules. So putting those severe rules will only impair the good people who fallow those rules and will do nothing to prevent what they think they will prevent with those rules. They will do more harm than good.

Some rules are good and make sense, some don't. There should be rules or people will send their drones flying to the moon too often.  But asking a 14 year old to do that exam is stupid.
Also what about those from 10 to 12 year old? Those are very common right now in clubs, and many of the age are in drone competition, building their own drones and flying them. Then suddendly they won't be able to fly their drones? yet they propably have more knowledge and experience then most.

ssylca44 Posted at 1-15 06:31
More about the Exam from Alan Yu:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3MDbHa39hY

Guess what? Canadians have been exploited like that for ages, so what did we expect?? Quebec governement is even worse.

It's really just a way to make money out of people.

Hi Daniella,
I fully agree on #59 & 60, thanks

Daniella3d Posted at 1-16 09:58
what they don't understand is that even if they would put the most strict rules out there, those who want to act bad will still do as they don't care about any rules. So putting those severe rules will only impair the good people who fallow those rules and will do nothing to prevent what they think they will prevent with those rules. They will do more harm than good.

Some rules are good and make sense, some don't. There should be rules or people will send their drones flying to the moon too often.  But asking a 14 year old to do that exam is stupid.

You are right prohibition never worked and having very strict regulation will not keep idiots from doing what they do. But the aim of the new law is to have drone pilots that have a minimum of knowledge. I was talking with an Canadian Air Force pilot this morning and he shared a good story with me. A dad that just bought a new drone went with his son to fly right outside the fence of the airport (CYJN) where I live. The air traffic controller saw them and sent someone to tell them to go elsewhere. Now that was just a case of ignorance, I don't think anybody got fined. You get my line of thought?

Yes, jyc this shows plain ignorance and also some stupidity. Those are the people that cause the governments to regulate one's life.

jyc Posted at 1-16 12:24
You are right prohibition never worked and having very strict regulation will not keep idiots from doing what they do. But the aim of the new law is to have drone pilots that have a minimum of knowledge. I was talking with an Canadian Air Force pilot this morning and he shared a good story with me. A dad that just bought a new drone went with his son to fly right outside the fence of the airport (CYJN) where I live. The air traffic controller saw them and sent someone to tell them to go elsewhere. Now that was just a case of ignorance, I don't think anybody got fined. You get my line of thought?

Yes but do you think these same people would have done otherwise if there was a more strict law? It was already forbidden for them to fly there yet they were totally ignorant of the law, no matter what it is. What I am saying is that no matter how restrictive the law is, there will always be such idiots.

The only way to prevent that, would be to consider drones like fire arms in a way, to make people get the flight license before they can buy the damn thing. I think they would probably never buy it, lol!

But without doing such mesures, people will buy drones and go fly anywhere without even asking about any rules and regulations. At least that's what I think. So putting up more strict rules is not going to help in any way in the situation you described.

Daniella3d Posted at 1-16 15:20
Yes but do you think these same people would have done otherwise if there was a more strict law? It was already forbidden for them to fly there yet they were totally ignorant of the law, no matter what it is. What I am saying is that no matter how restrictive the law is, there will always be such idiots.

The only way to prevent that, would be to consider drones like fire arms in a way, to make people get the flight license before they can buy the damn thing. I think they would probably never buy it, lol!

There, you have hit the nail right on the head! I hope that retailers inform prospective buyers of their legal obligations when they purchase an aircraft.

jyc Posted at 1-16 15:53
There, you have hit the nail right on the head! I hope that retailers inform prospective buyers of their legal obligations when they purchase an aircraft.

Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen.

Thanks for the information.

ssylca44 Posted at 1-17 06:10
Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen.

there should be a big warning sign in the DJI boxes mentioning to check the rules and a link to the government web site. BEFORE YOU FLY!!!

Daniella3d Posted at 1-17 19:17
there should be a big warning sign in the DJI boxes mentioning to check the rules and a link to the government web site. BEFORE YOU FLY!!!

Very good idea!

More comments from Alan Yu,

More from Alan Yu,

Some info:

More info:

ssylca44 Posted at 1-21 08:37
More info:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut44cLyXWLk

Thanks.. most informative.  Going to grab those other docs and get studying.  It does seem a little odd that there are sections on contacting the tower, especially when being near any airport is taboo.

Must have been some bureaucrats who've never seen a drone behind that!

Northwood Posted at 1-27 19:34
Thanks.. most informative.  Going to grab those other docs and get studying.  It does seem a little odd that there are sections on contacting the tower, especially when being near any airport is taboo.

Must have been some bureaucrats who've never seen a drone behind that!

You would have to contact ATC if your aircraft strays into controlled airspace.

Another youtube video:

Thanks for the great info, I agree it is kind of ridiculous to put them in the same category. It’s sad how every country is just getting more and more restrictive

Something interesting to read:

https://blog.flitelab.com/2019/0 ... g-stupid-questions/

ssylca44 Posted at 1-31 14:44
Something interesting to read:

https://blog.flitelab.com/2019/01/16/new-canadian-drone-exams-asking-stupid-questions/

Thanks, that was a good read.  I totally agree with the author.  Its a missed opportunity to really engage the target audience.

That said...  I registered my little Spark today, and will take a stab at the exam later this week.

jyc Posted at 1-28 05:00
You would have to contact ATC if your aircraft strays into controlled airspace.

Indeed.  However, I will continue to be cautious about where I fly and the chances of this breach of airspace are slim to none for me.  Thats assuming there are no fly-aways caused by DJI technology failures!