UAV/UAS Clearance around YVR

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geofflister
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UAV/UAS Clearance around YVR

Post by geofflister »

Hello there,

I fly UAS around Vancouver and BC. It is not a requirement yet (TC only requires contact in a rogue UAS situation, at the moment), but I'd like to know what ATC wants to hear asked for UAS clearance in the control zone around Harbour and YVR. It's not really covered in the ROC-A training :(.
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kevenv
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Re: UAV/UAS Clearance around YVR

Post by kevenv »

geofflister wrote:Hello there,

I fly UAS around Vancouver and BC. It is not a requirement yet (TC only requires contact in a rogue UAS situation, at the moment), but I'd like to know what ATC wants to hear asked for UAS clearance in the control zone around Harbour and YVR. It's not really covered in the ROC-A training :(.
YVR and YHC are class C airspace. You need a clx to enter, a radio to talk to them plus it is transponder airspace. I somehow doubt the towers will give you the clearance you are looking for.
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geofflister
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Re: UAV/UAS Clearance around YVR

Post by geofflister »

I have an active SFOC within the YVR control zone. Clearly, TC is fine with UAS operations in transponder airspace. All commercial operations are VLOS, so really a position report should be sufficient, since we can't really wander that far away from ourselves, and more importantly, I'm operating at 100 ft AGL (30m), so unless a really crazy SFOC has been approved in the area, we can't be in conflict.

However, I'm asking tower what they would want to hear when TC starts mandating clearance for each operation. I was hoping for an easy answer here, but I might just call them up.
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Last edited by geofflister on Wed May 14, 2014 8:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
ahramin
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Re: UAV/UAS Clearance around YVR

Post by ahramin »

I would have thought it would make more sense for these sorts of clearances to be done over the phone (ground-ground reception can be problematic). Since you've got your ROC-A I assume you are doing this on tower frequency. Asking for a clearance would basically go like this:

Who you are,
Where you are,
What you want to do.

The who might be problematic as ROC-A holders are not issued personal call signs the way HAM operators are. Some agreement with the ATC unit would be in order so that they understand who is calling on their frequency.

The where might be as simple as distance and direction but again you might want to get some agreement with the ATC unit to specify commonly used sites by name.

What you want to do starts with the word "REQUEST" and would include area of operation, maximum altitude, and duration of flight.

I'm quite rigid on standard communications and quite easy going on non standard ones, and there is no standard phraseology for what you want to do but even the best worded first time callup "Vancouver Tower, UAV-1 at Terra Nova park, request 15 minute flight within 1/2 mile of Terra Nova south of the river at all times, up to 200' altitude" would probably come back with a "uhhhh ....." unless you talk to the shift manager ahead of time and come to some agreement on radio procedures. Basically you guys are going to have to make it up as you go along, best if you make it up together beforehand.
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geofflister
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Re: UAV/UAS Clearance around YVR

Post by geofflister »

Thanks!
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kevenv
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Re: UAV/UAS Clearance around YVR

Post by kevenv »

You're not this guy are you lol?

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Transp ... story.html

A clip from the story:
Nelson said that the Civil Aviation Regulations require anyone conducting UAV operations similar to those depicted in the videos to obtain and comply with the provisions of a Special Flight Operations Certificate issued by Transport Canada. “We recommend that pilots contact Transport Canada beforehand … to ensure that the anticipated flying activity is done in a manner that is safe for manned aircraft, and those on the ground.”

Violators are subject to fines under the Aeronautics Act.
Also this one;
News of the videos follows a Vancouver Sun story revealing that on March 29 last year a radio-controlled helicopter posed a “serious risk of collision” with an Air Canada passenger jet during its landing approach.

Federal aviation safety reports revealed that the Air Canada Boeing 777-300 was flying at 600 metres when the crew observed the radio-controlled helicopter pass within 20 to 30 metres of the aircraft at the same altitude. The crews of subsequent aircraft also reported seeing it flying above 450 metres. RCMP were dispatched but no helicopter or operator could be found.
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geofflister
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Re: UAV/UAS Clearance around YVR

Post by geofflister »

Nope, haha. TC has our address, they wouldn't have to search for long if we did something that stupid!
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