Jim from Richmond B.C. Canada (near Vancouver)

[bensid54]

I've tried all sorts of helicopters 600 size and under never with too much luck so I resigned to micro helis that don't hurt themselves too much. Yesterday I received my Blade QX and I just love it so my direction has now changed to multi rotor helicopters, so you can bet I'll be a regular here. I'm a 58 year old Canadian born male, a Heavy Duty Mechanic by trade and have lived on the west coast of B.C. almost all my life. Looking forward to being in this particular hobby for a long time.

 

[dradedogg]

Hey Jim I'm Nick from Abbotsford. I too started out with the blade mqx. Loved it! Then made the jump to a heavy lift hexacopter from a company in Toronto called Infinite Jib.

I've tried all sorts of helicopters 600 size and under never with too much luck so I resigned to micro helis that don't hurt themselves too much. Yesterday I received my Blade QX and I just love it so my direction has now changed to multi rotor helicopters, so you can bet I'll be a regular here. I'm a 58 year old Canadian born male, a Heavy Duty Mechanic by trade and have lived on the west coast of B.C. almost all my life. Looking forward to being in this particular hobby for a long time.

 

[bensid54]

Hi Nick good to hear from you, I'm sure there are more of us here. I'm going to check out that outfit in Toronto and at this time I plan on going Hobby King for my first build because I'd rather make my first experiments cheap and easy in case of mistakes on my part. My goal is to fly a quad using a Fat Shark that just looks like such a cool thing to do.

 

[dradedogg]

I do a lot of FPV with my hex, it's definitely fun. Just don't be one of those people who flies where they're not supposed to and flies at altitudes they're not supposed to! I fly real helicopters for a living and it scares me to think there are people out there flying around above 400feet above ground level.

 

[bensid54]

I do a lot of FPV with my hex, it's definitely fun. Just don't be one of those people who flies where they're not supposed to and flies at altitudes they're not supposed to! I fly real helicopters for a living and it scares me to think there are people out there flying around above 400feet above ground level.

Thanks so am I to assume that below 400 feet is good but above 400 could cause some problems with other aircraft? I live within 6 miles of YVR and am aware of the steady air traffic around here. The small private aircraft do fly pretty low so what is the minimum distance they are required to fly above urban areas? This would be useful info to others on this website and something we all need to know.

 

[dradedogg]

The maximum height above ground level that unmanned aerial vehicles are allowed to fly in Canada is 400feet. No exceptions. The lowest a manned aircraft can fly over a built up area (houses/buildings/towns) is 1000feet above ground level. UNLESS!!!!! they are on take off departure or approach for landing at a runway or helipad. The lowest a manned aircraft can fly over non built up areas is 500 feet above ground level. Manned aircraft conducting aerial work with prior permission/clearances may be at altitudes lower than 500 feet. The buffer zone for the most part is only 100feet, and sometimes it can overlap. My recommendation to you is, don't fly your quadrotor higher than 100feet. Mainly, this ensures the safety of low flying aircraft, and also ensures you have enough battery life to land safely at the half way duration of your flight. I have personally never gone much higher than tree top height for fear of a low battery occurrence and my very expensive multirotor falls from the sky like a rock.

 

[bensid54]

Good info to know and being close to the airport I have seen some large aircraft come close enough to the ground to get a little scary when approaching the runway over my place. I didn't plan on going much higher than four stories but I can see how that can get out of hand. More of a learning curve to these things than I thought.