Getting a bird’s eye view of the Island was once limited to those in planes and helicopters but now with the use of drones on the rise, the sky’s the limit for many photographers.
According to Devin Card of Aerial Vista Productions, flying drones in and around Victoria is pretty tricky as most of the air is controlled by the overlapping of the Aerodrome in the Inner Harbour and YYJ’s international airport. It’s also prohibited to fly drones in any CRD park.
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“I recommend people go out to a little bit more wilderness environments,” says Card.
Recently Transport Canada released new rules for recreational users.
For drones that weigh more than 250 grams and up to 35 kilograms, some of the regulations include that they must be flown to a maximum of 90 metres above the ground, only during the day, not in clouds, within 500m of the operator and at least 5.5 km from aerodromes (any airport, seaplane base or areas where aircraft take off and land.
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Achieving a pilot certification is separated into two categories: basic and advanced.
For basic operations, pilots only need to pass an online exam. For advanced operations, the online test is necessary along with a flight review from any self-declared drone flight school.
While there are different levels of drone school, Card says piloting from the ground comes easier to those who spent a good amount of time playing video games when they’re young.
“It’s very similar to the remote control on a video game console,” he says. “And if you’re good at that then you catch on really quick.”
He says after a couple of hours people will usually catch on — experienced gamer or not.
For an interactive map of where drones are allowed to fly visit nrc.canada.ca/en/drone-tool/.
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