HELP FIND AVIATION LAWYER DEALING WITH UAV FLIGHTS - CANADA

[Nicocopter]

Hi everyone,

I am in desperate need to find a lawyer or consultant who specializes in commercial RC helicopter flying for aerial videography for film and television in Canada. I am based in Toronto.
Can anyone point me in the right direction to speak to an expert who will clarify all of the rules and regulations for this kind of business.
I am excited to get my company off the ground (pardon the pun:))

Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated.

Cheers.

[185_guy]

Hello
There are several people/companies using r/c aircraft for photography in Canada. Check out www.rccanada.ca. There is a forum there and a few threads on getting started in this business. There are no clear rules, however you will need to get in touch with transport Canada and go through the process of getting the various operating certificates. Finding insurance may be tricky, as MAAC (for model planes) will not cover you as they are for recreational purposes only.
Good luck

[zed]

Interesting idea...

I think your start point is to forget thinking about them as RC, and treat them as 'Unmanned Aerial Vehicles'. Because I think that is exactly how TC will view your application. I say this because as you state, this is for "non-recreational purposes."

Can't help you with the lawyer, but you may want to try COPA. They would at least know a few and may point you in the right direction.

If you haven't read it already...
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/s ... v-2270.htm
This may help you understand what you are getting into.

And one last thing. Good luck, buckle up, and get ready for your ride.

[KT111]

IMO it shouldn't be THAT complicated for a person to get the necessary a) Insurance and b) Special Flight Operations Certificate SFOC required to make a commercial UAV flight in Canada.

UAVs have a specific definition according to Transport Canada and as such, though preliminary, there are outlines and guidelines defining what the Government requires of you.

UAV Definitions:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/s ... v-2265.htm
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/s ... v-2270.htm

Insurance Requirements:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/r ... htm#606_02

SFOC Requirements:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/o ... 01-972.htm

The last is definitely the most detailed of the process, but if you have a legitimate use and understanding of your operations, it should be fairly straightforward to complete and submit and have your operations approved.

As for insurance, as stated above, MAAC does not cover commercial operations insurance so you will be on your own to find a provider. I can not provide any references or an estimate about how much that would cost or what information you will need to provide in order to get coverage.

[C-FABH]

The issue is that the SFOC is only valid for one specific site and time period. Each subsequent client or site requires a new SFOC. The advanced time and paperwork requirements have scared off many a startup.

From 5.1:

Initially, the Certificate applicant can expect the SFOC to be issued for each specific mission. A Certificate applicant will not be granted a long-term authority (i.e. one year), and/or an authority that is not site specific, without a history of demonstrating that the operations have been conducted in a safe manner. Once an initial application has been made and a Certificate has been issued, subsequent SFOC applications should be able to be expedited. For example, if the mission changes, but other parameters remain the same (same UAV system, same UAV pilot) then the focus in processing the next application will be placed on assessing the suitability of the area used for the operation. Where the operating environment and the mission requirements change, the set of safety requirements that the Minister will impose will change accordingly.

[PunkStarStudios]

I don't know if this helps, but there are companies out there that use RC helicopters routinely to do tower inspections.

Google Tower Inspections RC Helicopter and that may lead you to some people who routinely do what you're trying to do.

[Nicocopter]

Thanks everyone, so far the info you are giving me has been extremely helpful. You are giving me a lot of insight to the way things work and how I need to go about setting up the company.
Please keep it coming!!

[Nicocopter]

I will definitely pursue all of these leads.

[PunkStarStudios]

Nicocopter,

Judging by your name, I assume you're an RC Helicopter guy now?
What kind of machines do you have?
(I'm also an RC guy - albeit intermediate skill levels with planes and some with helicopters)

[RobC450]

I've put together a Canadian SFOC/UAV/UAS resource webpage that might be helpful. It's at:
http://www.rcp.ca/air2you/air2-resources.htm

As far as insurance in Ontario goes, I'm in Thunder Bay and my UAV policy was through Brokerlink.

An earlier posting mentioned that SFOC's are site and time specific. That's only partially true, a basic SFOC is site specific but it can span a range of dates (say 3 weeks) to allow for poor weather conditions, etc. After you've been at it for a year or 2, you can apply for a blanket SFOC that'll cover an entire region for a longer period of time (like an entire season). My last SFOC covered a 6 month period, anywhere in Ontario (North of 48 degrees lat) and operating within 3NM of an aerodrome. All Transport needed was 48 hours notice via e-mail and I also needed to contact the nearest aerodrome if I was within 10NM of an aerodrome.

[cgzro]

Two quick points.

1) The SFOC that I have for acro is neither sight nor time specific.
2) I thought that transport only worried about RC above certain weights?

[Sasquash]

nicocopter:

check you pm

[Cod Father]

Contact Sterling Cripps at the Canadian Centre for Unmanned Vehicle Systems in Medicine Hat AB. I believe htey know a lawyer out of Calgary.

[johntaylor]

Hi everyone,

I am in desperate need to find a lawyeror consultant who specializes in commercial RC helicopter flying for aerial videography for film and television in Canada. I am based in Toronto.
Can anyone point me in the right direction to speak to an expert who will clarify all of the rules and regulations for this kind of business.
I am excited to get my company off the ground (pardon the pun:))

Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated.

Cheers.

hey! I am posting a link that might be helpful
http://www.rcp.ca/air2you/air2-resources.htm
thank you