Anyone with a drone willing to help me get some footage?

[spikerS]

Originally posted by speedog
Operating a drone is pretty much akin to all those people who take their RC vehicles, boats, helicopters and what not to any CoC public park or space - they're all doing it illegally as well. Take your RC 4x4 to play on the rocks at Harvey Passage - yup, illegal. Take your RC helicopter down to the local community park - yup, illegal as well.

Only the RC plane people are pretty much doing it legally but there's most likely a segment of that population that are using their RC planes illegally as well, regularly see a guy using public streets in Thorncloff as landing strips for his RC planes.

The drone thing will naturally die down as it evolves into a niche, novel item like most other RC stuff, all it's going to take is a bit of time.

Pretty much bang on.

My experience as an RC addict is that the city is going to leave you alone as long as you are responsible, quiet, and not doing anything stupid. The minute you start interfering with operations, or start posing a safety risk, they will come after you.

The idiots that take the drones and get close to forest fires, or get too close to airports and planes, those are the idiots. Those are the people you are seeing in the news, and those are the people that the police and whatever are going to go after.

The best explanation I got was when I was running my speed boats in Coventry, and bylaw officer stopped. He didn't stop me, and was keenly interested in the boats. I nervously asked if I was getting a ticket, and he simply said that I wasn't breaking the spirit of the law, and they were not meant for me and how I was operating. If I was running a loud gas boat, and someone filed a complaint, the conversation might have been different.

My Phantom could pretty easily perform this request, but as others have said, being that close to the heli-pad, that is asking for trouble. It is rarely used, but, Murphy always shows up at the worst possible time.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by speedog
Operating a drone is pretty much akin to all those people who take their RC vehicles, boats, helicopters and what not to any CoC public park or space - they're all doing it illegally as well. Take your RC 4x4 to play on the rocks at Harvey Passage - yup, illegal. Take your RC helicopter down to the local community park - yup, illegal as well.

Only the RC plane people are pretty much doing it legally but there's most likely a segment of that population that are using their RC planes illegally as well, regularly see a guy using public streets in Thorncloff as landing strips for his RC planes.

The drone thing will naturally die down as it evolves into a niche, novel item like most other RC stuff, all it's going to take is a bit of time.

Thank you for putting some real-world sensibleness into this thread.
Everyone's acting like the minute you put a drone up downtown the federal aviation swat team will be down on you like a terrorist at an airport!

Good grief. And the whole "Oooo...talking about illegal activities over a public form....ZOMG!!!!!!" Meanwhile we have umpteen threads about downloading movies, smoking and growing marijuana, and how to beat dangerous driving tickets.

Drones are being flown all over the city all the time. OP...if you're still interested, throw an ad on kijiji. I know of a few guys that video all over the city with their drones.

[GorG]

Cheers Dave, I actually just got back from site and got everything that I needed. The individual that helped me was very informed about the safety guidelines as they currently sit and what he was and wasn't willing to do. All the shots I was looking for weren't an issue, his main concern was related to the proximity of the Airport and operational height within the city.

[120Comm]

Edit: I didn't read your final post before I replied. Congrats on getting your footage. IMO you were lucky to not be disturbed. I'm leaving my post intact for others who come across the thread.

The DJI devices supposedly have a database in them (or the app) which identifies if you're within x distance of an airport and constrains you appropriately - but it's not to the Canadian rules mentioned above. IIRC there is a conical "no fly zone" around Class A and Class B airports with the "no flying at all" limitation at 5 miles. As you go further out from the airport, the device/app will let you have a little bit of altitude at a time, until you reach an area of no restrictions.

But the DJI database - which is duplicated on its website, I think - doesn't even have Springbank in its list, let alone heliports or helipads. IIRC there are about 12 Class A airports listed in Canada and only one or two Class B (YYT is the only B I can remember).

As people have said, it would be inappropriate to fly in that area, not only for the heliport (which does get use from time to time) but the attention you'd draw, including from people with badges.

For what it's worth, about half of the downtown is inside the 5-mile (8km) radius of the international airport, depending on where you plot the airport center as (before the new runway was built, about 3/4 of downtown was inside the 5-mile zone). Not sure why TC is using 9 km for drones, since everything I've ever heard about airspace (disclaimer: not a pilot) referred to 5 miles or 8 km. But a 9 km radius almost completely covers the downtown, almost exactly ending right over the area you want (someone) to fly.

[ExtraSlow]

Here is a top tip. Do not fly your drone over a school when the kids are out at recess. My kids school got put into lockdown over exactly that.

hard to say if it is overkill or not. If a guy with a telephoto lens was taking pictures of the kids from the fenceline, they would be taking the kids indoors asap I suspect. Drones are nothing but flying cameras really.

Apparently they found the pilot, and have determined he mean no harm.

[ExtraSlow]

Glad you got your footage and nobody was upset about it.