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Canadian Advanced Drone Exam

Bruce D

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I just finished doing (and failing with a 74% mark) my first attempt at the Advanced Drone License exam. There were so many questions that I have never seen before while studying. So many pertaining to aircraft Pilots...not Drone pilots. Questions about things I have never heard or read about before. I had to guess at so many. I'll re-do the exam tomorrow. This exam needs a re-working to be relevant. Typical Government. Frustrating.
 
I totally agree the Question are more for pilots not drone pilots , I passed the basic test took it 3 times I am going to take the Advanced hopefully It will take the same amount of time trying to guess at it.
 
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I'll go up to bat again today for the second time on the Advanced and see how that goes. Thinking along the lines of a conspiracy...the test is probably designed this way to increase revenue.
 
Interestingly, I passed the basic with 74% and felt that it also had irrelevant questions for a drone pilot. As a professional photography teacher I want to pass the advanced exam to qualify to fly commercially.

Two problems I see: one is that your take on it is shared by many in Canada - large portions of the written part are totally irrelevant to knowledge needed by drone pilots. Compounding this is that the government has no study guides or other material to offer. It’s as though they want to force everyone to pay hundreds of dollars to sign up for drone courses even tho most drone schools are not oriented toward qualifying you - if you can even find one within reasonable distance from your residence.

Secondly, once qualified you are given a list of drone models certified for commercial use. These are names I’ve never heard of and are likely industrial models costing many thousands of dollars. DJI is not mentioned as they apparently have not completed the process to certify any of their drones.

Sigh... anyway, sorry about the long rant but falling into lecture mode comes naturally to me. I’ve been teaching professional photography for 35+ years here at Dawson College in Montreal. (Grin)

P.S. I’m a refugee from the Spark Pilots forum who will be adding the Mavic 2 Pro to my fleet in a year or so. Just slumming right now.
NB
Lecture mode [/off]
 
Well, You can certainly fly the 2 but as it currently not on the RPAS list, you must fly under the Basic Operations rules. So your qualification under the Advanced Operations license is null and void.
/www.tc.gc.ca/en/services/aviation/drone-safety/choosing-right-drone.html>

Will you be caught if you do? Perhaps not depending upon where you fly but if so the fine could be significant.

Meantime I will be writing and pressuring DJI to voluntarily submit the RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) paperwork for their drones certification - Spark and higher.

I’m not a happy camper but as of June 1st thems the rules.

NB
 
Curious as to what types of questions are on the Candian exam that you guys feel are irrelevant? The US Part 107 has a lot about sectional charts, weather briefings, etc that at some level seem irrelevant in the perspective that I doubt 99.9% of UAV pilots will ever pull up a sectional chart, but at the same time are probably relevant...
 
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So just a few points: first off once the new rules come into effect June 1 you will not need the advanced to fly commercially, you will need the advanced to fly within controlled airspace/5.6 km of an airport.

Secondly if you obtain your advanced you will be held to a much higher standard than a person with the small basic certificate.

One thing you may have missed in all the new rules is that drones and model RC are all lumped together so some parts of the exam that aren't applicable to drones might be with model aircraft.

As far as the government trying to make money off of people doing the test multiple times, I'd say Canada is in massive trouble if the government needs to make 5 or 10 bucks extra off of a few thousand people writing the exam a couple of extra times.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
 
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So just a few points: first off once the new rules come into effect June 1 you will not need the advanced to fly commercially, you will need the advanced to fly within controlled airspace/5.6 km of an airport.

Secondly if you obtain your advanced you will be held to a much higher standard than a person with the small basic certificate.

One thing you may have missed in all the new rules is that drones and model RC are all lumped together so some stuff that isn't applicable to drones might be with model aircraft.

As far as the government trying to make money off of people doing the test multiple times, I'd say Canada is in massive trouble if the government needs to make 5 or 10 bucks extra off of a few thousand people writing the exam a couple of extra times.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Hmm, thanks. I went back & reread carefully and you are correct on the commercial aspect

-except where your advanced mission touches these areas:

“Categories of advanced operations:

Controlled airspace - operations in which the drone will fly within the airspace controlled by air traffic control (Class A-F)

Near people - operations in which the drone will fly within 30 metres (100 feet) and 5 metres (16.4 feet) of any person not associated with the operation

Over people - operations in which the drone will fly within 5 metres (16.4 feet) or directly over any person not associated with the operation.”

Then you must be flying an RPAS approved drone which DJI’s entire line does not qualify for. I found a gov. Chart which is a nice visual aid for part of these regs.

535f9c96f9c74280bcc4ba2f1834e1d2.jpg


NB
 
I am even more angry. I got 74% on my first attempt on the Advanced exam...and 66% on my second attempt. After 20 hours or ground school and far more than that on personal study....and we get asked questions on unrelated topics of Helicopters? These exams are a cash grab.
Curious why you think you need the advanced?
 
I trust that by June 1 DJI will have their act together and send in the required documents to the Feds so we can fly our DJI drones legally?
I want my advanced license so I can do my own aerial photos and videos of my real estate listings. I am never flying higher than 50'. Mostly the aerial photos I take are well under that. Just want to be fully on side with the Law in case somebody tries to make an issue one day over any potential gray area in the rules. I have taken courses and have a Liability insurance policy in place.
 
Curious as to what types of questions are on the Candian exam that you guys feel are irrelevant? The US Part 107 has a lot about sectional charts, weather briefings, etc that at some level seem irrelevant in the perspective that I doubt 99.9% of UAV pilots will ever pull up a sectional chart, but at the same time are probably relevant...
We could get asked questions about what levers control what items on a Helicopter and what we should do if we are piloting an airplane and the control tower tell us something and we see something else....what should we do? We who are not pilots and perhaps never even been close to a helicopter are expected to know this? I have to be vague as we are not allowed to quote questions verbatim. We have no study manual from Transport Canada so we are really at a loss as to what to study and know. Anyone with a private or commercial pilots license would certainly have a leg up on much of this exam.
 
Any particular questions someone remembers? Like the helicopter one, mentioned earlier in this thread?
 
In Canada:
The Small Advanced Exam features 50 multiple choice questions. You have 60 minutes to complete the exam. A score of 80% or higher is considered a pass.
After you pass your online exam
  • From there, you will need to pass the flight review portion from a Transport Canada approved drone school. The cost is set by the school and after calling around, in Canada at minimum it’ll cost roughly $160
  • If you pass the flight review, you’ll be charged $25 advanced operation certificate
 
I had a helicopter question on my basic exam. My goal for getting the advanced is to fly legally at a minimum distance from bystanders. 30m (100 ft) rules out a lot. Also, a major issue that I see is the number of airports in the area. There are very few areas that are not within 3nm of an airport. There does not seem a difference between a grass runway in a field and a legitimately busy airport.
 
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As a commercially licensed pilot I have to agree the advanced exam is no gimme ... but what you don’t understand is if you want the freedom to operate commercially you are going to be around aviation and need to know the rules around aircraft including gliders balloons helicopters and piper Cubs as well as 747s. Hearing you comments I’d bet a lot of your training was done by schools with maybe some good drone time but little aviation experience. This is a bit of a shakeout period in drone life and almost anyone can hang out a shingle. The reason you are getting questioned about helicopters and airports is you are expected to know aviation rules not just how to operate the autopilot of a flying camera....go back and question your instructors and don’t take the business lightly.... or don’t bother with the advanced
Oh and rumours have it that DJI is going to step up to the table and declare soon, which will let the rest of the industry breath again. We’ll see.
 
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I fully agree with the licensing and knowledge requirements for drone operators. It makes the whole business case more legitimate, if there is enforcement. The larger the barrier the more demand there will be for certified operators. One other point though, I’m not sure the ground schools are teaching students the content that is on the exams. There are questions that are well outside the rules of drone flying. It appears that the full CARs is used for the exam. Lots to study.
 
I fully agree with the licensing and knowledge requirements for drone operators. It makes the whole business case more legitimate, if there is enforcement. The larger the barrier the more demand there will be for certified operators. One other point though, I’m not sure the ground schools are teaching students the content that is on the exams. There are questions that are well outside the rules of drone flying. It appears that the full CARs is used for the exam. Lots to study.
As there should be . . .anyone flying drones commercially should know what General Aviation does and how they are expedcted to behave so they can fit in and some schools need to step up their game a bit. Some are definitely taking things seriously like The Canadian Drone Institute (Their HQ is Toronto but they have a strong Maritimes base) . . there are other great examples but . . see if your school offers the expertise these guys have . . if your chosen drone school is similar then you are likely in good hands. I'm not affiliated with them but I was impressed when I read their Advisory Board's background. Instructors with that kind of background that will deliver all the knowledge you need for any TC drone exam.
 
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I will look them up. Interesting that there is no mention of obtaining a Restricted Radio Operators Licence. Yet, drone operators are expected to be able to communicate with ATC. That suggests it’s required.
 
I will look them up. Interesting that there is no mention of obtaining a Restricted Radio Operators Licence. Yet, drone operators are expected to be able to communicate with ATC. That suggests it’s required.
PS I did not mean that "your school" personally . . I mean anyone . .and the Restricted Radio issue is not part of the exam I think because you will not get access to Class C D airspace without it initially and VHF rules has it's own training and testing criteria anyway. Those examiners are already in place at most flying schools. I mentioned them because I had a chat with Greg there recently about training and review process so I checked out the website. They have some great curriculum too by the sounds of it even though I have not seen their courseware his descriptions told me they have the material well covered. . . so I'd recommend their on-line offers as good value.
 
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