Victoria area pilots out there?

[niclariv]

I was doing some small time flying, less then 4m high, and 10m away. The kids that play in my cul de sac came to watch, and their parents came too. They all liked how it worked, and how good the video was. 3 of the parents asked for pictures of their property to do some planning or to use as layouts for yard work. Its a good idea I guess. No one complained, no one was upset. Everyone seemed excited. My street is nearly empty, and WAY out of the way. Im on the end of the cul de sac, with no houses for 200m from my house, so its a "Safe Zone" for now...

Check out the app Drone Deploy, your neighbours will love it for planning. It automatically takes photos for mapping of an area and the website can turn it in to a 3D model of their property. Check the photos before you upload, I found the last time I used it the photos it took were all too dark so they suggested I set camera settings manually in the DJI go app and then change Drone Deploy's camera settings to manual, then run it and it worked perfectly.

 

[rocdok]

hey, got mine 2 wks ago- have just flown in Vantreight park and my back yard which is no fly zone (near Hillside Mall). Flew with my buddies phantom...super exciting. I've had no issues at all with the set up etc and had practiced on Heli-x6 a ton prior. The big issue I had was with the jerkiness of yaw and gimble - i really found this to be the most help:

I didn't find the tripod mode or cinematic to be quite as helpful as the settings in the above youtube.
I am a bit overwhelmed with learning all of it and then the after processing with FCPx and the huge files etc. Deep breath...

 

[JamieK]

Another Sooke pilot here. Got my Mavic last week but have only flown it it the living room once. Went through all of the setup/updates and have put the 'requird' TC labeling on it. I plan on taking it to a field this morning for it's maiden voyage. I have also signed up for ground school which I'll be taking this coming weekend. I have also been logging a lot of time with a HS170 Predator for control practice.

 

[rocdok]

Yeah Sooke seems fine. There are apps like Hover and Airmap that show the no fly zones. I think with the recent press we need to be extra careful, especially for the first while with it fresh in the public's mind. Too bad.. I was flying out around Cadboro Bay quite a lot before this happened, and the public response was very positive - a lot of people just wanted to see how it worked.

I'm using Airmaps too. I went to Metchosin to what I think is 'Lady Hat Cove' and on Airmaps, the Cove is right on the edge of a no flyzone (blue ring special air space). If i put a small diameter flight plan it's 'green' but when I flew, a sign came up on DJI4go saying 'do you have permission' and 'do you take responsibility for your actions' with little check boxes. Beaver and Elk and are in a yellow zone and a flight plan reveals the VGH phone number and CYYJ even though there is no circle around it on the bigger Airmap. And, as you know Cadborough Bay is in the red zone. Vantreight park is also outside the Airmap radius circle (which I assume is the '9km' circle) and yet is still yellow and comes up with both hosp numbers. I've been flying there on the beach. I guess it's Sooke and East Sooke park for green. Anyone going/been to the Pot holes? It says green with no advisories - any reason why I shouldn't fly there?

 

[AlwaysAWOL]

Goldstream Trestle...

 

[JamieK]

Nice!

 

[rocdok]

GREAT pic....

 

[rocdok]

Lady Hat Cove Metchosin...

 

[JamieK]

Beautiful shot

 

[JamieK]

Here's a pic of my instructor's Inspire during my skills test. We were flying out by CYYJ, with permission...

 

[rocdok]

GREAT shot the green makes one feel good .....how does one get permission? phone a number on airmaps or ???

 

[JamieK]

GREAT shot the green makes one feel good .....how does one get permission? phone a number on airmaps or ???

You need a Special Flight Operation Certificate which you apply for through Transport Canada. The course I was on was for commercial UAV flying and it described the process. I'll be filing a few SFOC's over summer but I have to get my medical clearance and radio cert yet.

 

[rocdok]

WOW that's serious stuff. Not really for recreational flyers right?

 

[JamieK]

Actually I think all recreational flyers would benefit from taking a UAS 101 course. It's mostly theory about air safety, regulations and meteorology. All helpful things even for the hobbyist...which I am

 

[niclariv]

You need a Special Flight Operation Certificate which you apply for through Transport Canada. The course I was on was for commercial UAV flying and it described the process. I'll be filing a few SFOC's over summer but I have to get my medical clearance and radio cert yet.

Which course are you taking and what is the cost?

 

[JamieK]

Which course are you taking and what is the cost?

Hi, I took the UAS 101 Multi-rotor course here: UAV Pilot Training

It's not inexpensive but if you are going to request any SFOC's then a course of this type is a requirement...unless you have a pilot's license.

 

[rocdok]

Hi, I took the UAS 101 Multi-rotor course here: UAV Pilot Training

It's not inexpensive but if you are going to request any SFOC's then a course of this type is a requirement...unless you have a pilot's license.

holy, so i assume the kit is an additional cost right? maybe a total of 1500 by the time u r done? Can u use your mavic or do they require the mini quads mandatory? The physical also prob additional cost? so in future i wonder if it may become mandatory even for hobby guys?

 

[JamieK]

So far I've only done the UAS 101, not planning to do the advanced course yet. The training kit is extra but the mini quad is optional. You don't need a drone at all for the classroom sessions. The the optional mini quad is a Holy Stone HS170, you can get it for under $60 from amazon.ca. It's a hoot to fly and it's pretty rugged. Extra batteries are pretty cheap as well. The purpose of it is to learn how to control a quad copter manually and to keep those skills sharp. If your MP goes into ATTI mode you'll need those skills. I used my MP for the skills portion of the course.

The physical will be an extra cost, haven't looked into that yet. I'll be looking into the radio cert in the next week or so. Then I'll have to get a handheld as well...and insurance...the goal is to be able to legally offer my services for aerial photography. But I still want to fly recreationally as well.

It wouldn't surprise me to see training and/or licensing becoming mandatory. For commercial use training is already mandatory, you won't get an SFOC without it.

 

[rocdok]

very interesting. I may do that in the future. I hope i'm not (somewhat) hijacking any topic here- i'm flying to Cape Breton in October and plan to bring the MP. I looked at most of the threads which were all American/international travel and get the general idea of lipo bags, carry on , maybe blades in main suitcase, batteries discharge to 30% etc . I phoned Westjet tonight and they said if under 100Watts and carried on - prob ok. She said if I want more reassurance I should just go the the Victoria Airport and show it and talk to someone. The U.S. members here seem to have no problems by enlarge. Did your course bring up any of this by any chance or do you have any experience yet with Canadian flight?

 

[JamieK]

JEALOUS! You're going to get some amazing footage out there. Sadly we didn't cover any kind of transport. I think I'll mention that to the instructor as something to add to the course.