Anyone flying mini around Calgary Alberta Canada here?

[Its Me ZT]

Hello, a bit new to flying. Wanted to check for better spots around the city with better scenery and less wind. Mountains and / lakes would be added bonus.

 

[GFields]

Greetings from Birmingham Alabama USA, welcome to the forum! We look forward to hearing from you!

 

[Kendallfordguy]

Welcome from Wisconsin!

 

[twickers14]

Hi there and welcome. Was last in Calgary in early 1970s. No drones around then but what a great City. Happy flying.

 

[Tofino]

Welcome to this great place to learn all about drones and other things. There are some great experts here who are always willing and able to help you out with any questions you have. I am in Strathmore and fly around the flat prairies it is getting a little boring Just be aware of the regulations for flying in the national and provincial parks of Alberta. No flying in Banff or Jasper Parks.

 

[MA2 317]

Hello from the Crossroads of America Its Me ZT.


Welcome to the Forum.

 

[PanoVolo]

Welcome from Halifax, NS. There were users from Alberta here.

 

[wjkrysak]

Welcome to the forum. We look forward to your participation and your view of the world.

 

[Herongate]

Greetings from Ontario! Welcome to the forum! As someone else said, there are a lot of very knowledgeable and helpful people here. I have learned a lot in the 2 months since I became a member.

 

[Robert Prior]

Mountains and winds go together, unfortunately. If you're new to flying I'd suggest sticking to boring until you have some muscle memory.

Depending on how far you are willing to drive to go flying, there's lots of places to go. Small towns can be very scenic, and there's a few on the way to Drumheller which has lots of great scenery.

Heading west, Cochrane has some great view, and further along the highway there's Ghost Lake which is scenic and safe to fly at.

Canmore is scenic and the wind isn't too bad, but there's a heliport and it's surrounded by provincial parks so not many places to fly there.

The 762 through Bragg Creek then down to the 22 through Longview has some wonderful views of ranch country with mountains in the background. Keep going to the Chain Lakes and take 532 through the mountains (if your vehicle can handle it). You'll want an in-car battery charger because there are just so many great places to stop and fly along that route, all safe and legal. Chain Lakes Provincial Park has camping if you want to overnight, and while you can't fly there it's a small park and you can just walk past the boundaries to take off.

Speaking of which, make use of the NRC site selection tool to see what restrictions exist. Some restrictions apply to microdrones as well as larger models — you can set the map to display restrictions and warnings based on your aircraft and pilot certificate.

Drone site selection tool - National Research Council Canada

nrc.canada.ca

In summary, I'd suggest heading north-east first, while you get better at piloting, and then head down to Longmore (and beyond) once you can handle the drone in a gusty wind.

 

[Its Me ZT]

Vow..... that was quite a welcome from all of you, I am overwhelmed. Now this page is in my favorites on my browser. As someone suggested, I will definitely learn from here. I have already started. The last message from @MA2 317 gave me lots of tips about where to fly around Calgary. Once again thanks a lot you guys, this group really rocks.

 

[Its Me ZT]

Mountains and winds go together, unfortunately. If you're new to flying I'd suggest sticking to boring until you have some muscle memory.

Depending on how far you are willing to drive to go flying, there's lots of places to go. Small towns can be very scenic, and there's a few on the way to Drumheller which has lots of great scenery.

Heading west, Cochrane has some great view, and further along the highway there's Ghost Lake which is scenic and safe to fly at.

Canmore is scenic and the wind isn't too bad, but there's a heliport and it's surrounded by provincial parks so not many places to fly there.

The 762 through Bragg Creek then down to the 22 through Longview has some wonderful views of ranch country with mountains in the background. Keep going to the Chain Lakes and take 532 through the mountains (if your vehicle can handle it). You'll want an in-car battery charger because there are just so many great places to stop and fly along that route, all safe and legal. Chain Lakes Provincial Park has camping if you want to overnight, and while you can't fly there it's a small park and you can just walk past the boundaries to take off.

Speaking of which, make use of the NRC site selection tool to see what restrictions exist. Some restrictions apply to microdrones as well as larger models — you can set the map to display restrictions and warnings based on your aircraft and pilot certificate.

Drone site selection tool - National Research Council Canada

nrc.canada.ca

In summary, I'd suggest heading north-east first, while you get better at piloting, and then head down to Longmore (and beyond) once you can handle the drone in a gusty wind.

Thanks Rob, I went to North Glenmore park today and spent an hour there. It was windy at times but I stayed and flew my mini. It was fun. Next time I will go from the same spot but will head towards the lake, frozen lake was quite inviting today but as there were people walking their dogs and I did not want any challenges, so I stayed on the other side but next time will fly on top of the reservoir. I have three batteries which last for good around 40 minutes altogether. I read some where else that even we can go towards the Chestermere lake, not the boat launch area but towards the canal side which is less crowded. Chestermere by laws don't have any clear restrictions for sub 250. You mentioned some spots around Cochrane and ghost lake area, and other areas as well, next time you fly there, can you please be kind enough to save the coordinates and share those with me. I have been to all those places at different times for different reason but would love to fly at scenic spots. I will keep you advice in mind of flying first around flat lands rather than going to mo9jntians and trails. I am a hiker so it will be hard for me, not to try it on trails, but I have to remember that I am flying sub 250 (first gen, the cheapest one) which won't resist even slightly high wind gusts, Overall much appreciate your detailed response. Would like to stay in touch with you.

 

[LoudThunder]

a bit new to flying

Welcome from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, USA. We have a Member's Map in the Upper Right of the Title Bar. Click on "Members" and then Click on "Member's Map…" Check it out and you might find some new flying friends.

Member Map

mavicpilots.com

Since you live in Canada, there are specific laws and rules for you to follow, please check to ensure these are current.

Flying your drone safely and legally

How to fly a drone legally and safely in Canada

tc.canada.ca

Even if you have flown Drones before, here is some Good Old Fashion Advice…

You paid a lot of money for that Drone, put your phone number on it. If your drone gets lost or stuck in a tree and it finally comes down when you are not around, give the finders an opportunity to contact you so it can be returned.

Now, for the Fun Part, But do not let the excitement of the moment get the best of you. When you are going out to fly, do it slowly and deliberately. Get used to a set procedure and even practice it.

There are so many things I could write but these are the highlights that I feel need mentioning.

Plug in your phone/tablet into your controller; turn on the Controller and DJI Fly App (if it does not start on its own…). On the Drone, open the front legs, then open the back legs, and then remove the Gimbal Cover.

The Gimbal is the most delicate item on the Drone and banging or bumping can damage it. I also fastened a short "Remove Before Flight" ribbon to the cover so it's more noticeable and I do not forget to remove it…

Turn on the drone and watch it come to "life." Watching the Gimbal go through its self-check is almost like watching a puppy or kitten opening its eyes for the first time…

Place the drone down (preferably on a Landing Pad) while it finishes its self-test (collecting satellites, etc…).

Check your battery status (Phone, Drone, and Controller), check the Signal Strength, by now the Controller should have reported it updated the Home Point.

Lift off, 6 feet (2-meters) or so, hover a bit, check the controls (move the drone a bit forward, back, left, right, yaw left and right). By now, your Controller will probably report again, "Home point Updated."

If you go out in a rush and race thru your start up and take off before the drone has finished it prep, it may update its Home Point over that pond or that old tree you are flying over and in your excitement, you'll fly the drone long past it Low Battery point and when it engages Return to Home and lands in the pond or in a tree; it will be all on you…

Now go have fun, learn to fly the drone by sight before you try to fly it out a distance depending on the video feed, FPV.

I would also advise you to use YouTube and watch a lot of the Videos on flying and setting up the Drone. When it is too dark, too cold, or too wet, you can "fly it vicariously" through YouTube. Also watch some of the Blooper Drone Videos and learn how not to fly your "New Baby."

Fly On and Fly Safe…

 

[MA2 317]

The last message from @MA2 317 gave me lots of tips about where to fly around Calgary.

Thanks for the bump, but I think you meant to give thanks to Robert Prior. Which you did in the next post.


All I did was say HI.

 

[Robert Prior]

next time you fly there, can you please be kind enough to save the coordinates and share those with me

That will be years from now, probably. I haven't been back to Alberta for quite some time, and don't have plans to return (too much else to see).

Keep in mind that a municipality can restrict where you take off and control from, but not overflight. I've got pictures of locations in parks by flying in from outside the boundaries. That said, avoiding conflict (especially when you're a new pilot) is important. Especially as a lot of people have off-leash dogs that might view your drone as a catch toy :-/, and even simply curious people can be distracting.

For photography I like sunrise. Partly for the light, but also you're much less likely to encounter people.

Your little Mavic Mini (I've got one too) does not like wind, so you'll want to steer clear of trees (which limits where you can fly). (The Mini 3 Pro I fly now is much more stable and handles wind gusts better, and the Mini 4 is apparently even better, but the original Mini is a decent aircraft to learn on.) I've launched from clearings in a forest with the Mini 3 that I wouldn't have dared with the original Mini.

What I do is scroll around a satellite view looking for interesting landforms. For example, Woodland Road south of 1A looks like it runs through some possibly-interesting coulees. So I'd just head there, pull off the road, and take a quick flight to see what it looked like from above. Zooming in the satellite view on Apple Maps it seems to be criss-crossed with trails, so possibly it's public access.

There's what look like acreages of the north side of 1A around there, which would be interesting to see from above, but I'd likely avoid those in the interests of preserving privacy (even though a 12 MP image from 120 m shows less detail than the satellite image). However, Range Road 33 both north and south of the 1A (just past Rock Point Church) has interesting topography and very few dwellings. (And Cochrane is only five minutes past that if you need a coffee.) Rock Point Church isn't terribly interesting, but it's a nice unobstructed area to fly in if it's deserted. You could park at the church and fly over the fields west of Lochland Road, or follow what looks like a stream/coulee south.

 

[Its Me ZT]

That will be years from now, probably. I haven't been back to Alberta for quite some time, and don't have plans to return (too much else to see).

Keep in mind that a municipality can restrict where you take off and control from, but not overflight. I've got pictures of locations in parks by flying in from outside the boundaries. That said, avoiding conflict (especially when you're a new pilot) is important. Especially as a lot of people have off-leash dogs that might view your drone as a catch toy :-/, and even simply curious people can be distracting.

For photography I like sunrise. Partly for the light, but also you're much less likely to encounter people.

Your little Mavic Mini (I've got one too) does not like wind, so you'll want to steer clear of trees (which limits where you can fly). (The Mini 3 Pro I fly now is much more stable and handles wind gusts better, and the Mini 4 is apparently even better, but the original Mini is a decent aircraft to learn on.) I've launched from clearings in a forest with the Mini 3 that I wouldn't have dared with the original Mini.

What I do is scroll around a satellite view looking for interesting landforms. For example, Woodland Road south of 1A looks like it runs through some possibly-interesting coulees. So I'd just head there, pull off the road, and take a quick flight to see what it looked like from above. Zooming in the satellite view on Apple Maps it seems to be criss-crossed with trails, so possibly it's public access.

There's what look like acreages of the north side of 1A around there, which would be interesting to see from above, but I'd likely avoid those in the interests of preserving privacy (even though a 12 MP image from 120 m shows less detail than the satellite image). However, Range Road 33 both north and south of the 1A (just past Rock Point Church) has interesting topography and very few dwellings. (And Cochrane is only five minutes past that if you need a coffee.) Rock Point Church isn't terribly interesting, but it's a nice unobstructed area to fly in if it's deserted. You could park at the church and fly over the fields west of Lochland Road, or follow what looks like a stream/coulee south.

thats wonderful Rob, appreciate it. Thanks for being so supportive