Criticism Mounting over Transport Canada Drone Certification Exam Questions

[Remote Pilots Australia]

Do you still need an operators certificate (ReOC) on top of the RePL to operator your own business? The remote pilots certification required that you fly under supervision of a licenced operator and the approved conditions- has that changed?

No that is still the same as it was. Apparently C.A.S.A. have tried to duplicate the manned aviation model where you can be a commercial pilot but you can't fly commercially unless employed by a recognised carrier like Virgin, Qantas etc

Same with R.P.A. in that the RePL is commercially certified but has to be employed by a company who is ReOC certified.

Only then can the company's chief pilot hand a job to the RePL and say essentially "OK you are approved to do this job following all the conditions listed" (as well as the standard rules).

Making the ReOC manuals and procedures library is time consuming and getting them approved is expensive ($2000 give or take) and all the follow up required to authorise a job means a lot of people are just happy to stay with the RePL alone and take what work they can get. I wanted to "run my own show" so I formed a business and started the ReOC process. (Ask me in another year or two if it was the right call of if I should have just worked for others).

None of that has been flagged to change. it should be noted that the stuff I published above is technically "proposed" and submissions are still open until Feb 22nd.

I encourage everyone in Australia to make a submission because there are a few things in it I don't think are right. I think there are young people under 16 who should be able to fly a Spark or something recreationally. I think $20 per aircraft per year is steep for hobbyists when the U.S. do it for $5 once off.

I certainly think $160 per aircraft per year for a commercial operator is rich considering we're less than 5% of the total flying population and require the least policing. It might be OK for a big established business but someone trying to get one off the ground doesn't need another $1000+ per year bill when they are not even making money yet.

There are other points that could stand tweaking (in my opinion anyway)

Regards
Ari

 

[cheddarman]

Umm, why would a Customs or immigration officer need to see them, so ruled those out which leaves A.

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

Umm, why would a Customs or immigration officer need to see them, so ruled those out which leaves A.

Customs in case you buy an aircraft and have it imported, Same as if you import a Firearm they'd want to see your shooters license before they let you have it.

Immigration (I'm guessing) because even though currently it says you have to be a Canadian Citizen to fly I suspect there will be some sort of mechanism for recognising people with overseas qualifications even if because so many tourists bring R.P.A. with them now. Also foreign film crews for movies and documentaries that sort of stuff. The new Australian laws have a section dealing with it so I expect Canada Transport will get there eventually.

Regards
Ari

 

[Robert Carson]

I know that most of these comments have been about the Advanced test but I just finished my Basic. Passed it but still had to Google a few times.
Too many odd questions for what most people will see as recreational flying.
I'll be taking the Advanced in a few months but today I wanted to see for myself how difficult or easy the tests are.
I started the exam about 14 days ago but after question 25, the TC server went down. TC told me I could "continue" the exam and my old answers would still be there. I would be able to review them and change answers if required.
Today, the test was all new. Only 4 questions were the same.
I don't believe most 14 year olds will pass it without lots of help and study.

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

just finished my Basic. Passed it

Congratulations Robert, Basic or Advanced it's still a good feeling to get that certification and the protection from the negative views it gives. You would be amazed at how differently people look at you when you can say "I'm a certified Remote Pilot" rather than just "I fly a drone".

I don't believe most 14 year olds will pass it without lots of help and study.

I think you'd be surprised. I know of one 12 year old here who has passed the full house RePL certifcation course (not sure if they'll issue him the licence at that age but he completed as was certified "competent")

It all comes down to how badly they want it. Kids are sponges and soak everything up and with all their video game experience they generally have excellent hand / eye on the sticks and a great 3d situational awareness on a 2d screen. It's the maturity level that you have the judge carefully of course.

Regards
Ari

 

[Robert Carson]

Thanks, I know I feel better just knowing I have the certification.
As far as young teenagers are concerned, I hope they won't be discouraged when they realize they have to study and research.
Common sense tells us we need regulations when so many fly without using any.

 

[Hendricks]

Wrote- and passed- my Transport Canada Advanced Pilot's Certification exam this afternoon.
82%
With a pass mark of 80%, this exam was the same as the other two I wrote: tough with more than a few questions that only a NASA or NOAA scientist could possible know.
Many more questions included that have zero to do with flying your Phantom safely.....and responsibly.

Given the present nature of this exam, it's my guess there will be only a small number of drone pilots who successfully pass this exam.

I believe Transport Canada will be pressured into making this exam more realistic and relevant to the safe operation of drones.

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

Wrote- and passed- my Transport Canada Advanced Pilot's Certification exam this afternoon.

Congratulations Hendricks! You must feel like a million pounds has been lifted off of your shoulders!

Does the advanced certification open up commercial operations for you?

Regards
Ari

 

[Hounddog]

I tried the advanced one too and failed first time, got 70 percent, but definitely got thrown off by some questions that blew me out of the water, nothing to do with drones, not sure what transport canada is trying to prove, one question was like when you taxi up close to runaway if you and where you stop

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

one question was like when you taxi up close to runaway if you and where you stop

Yes, we have that one in the RePL .... along with being able to identify what various coloured signal lights from the tower mean if you are on the ground vs in the air ... the are pretty full on for the commercial certification.

No need for a recreational pilot to have to know it though.

 

[Hendricks]

Another question I got dealt with the typical propeller spin pattern for a quadcopter.
4 diagrams were shown and you had to decide which of the diagrams accurately showed the typical propeller spin pattern.

Which propellers turned clockwise and which spun counterclockwise.....

Another question dealt with the proper and recommended time that should lapse between a pilot donating blood and resuming their flying duties.

This is a trick question.

The Transport Canada rule is: 24 hours.

It is recommended that a pilot should take 48 hours.

In one exam, I answered 24 hours and that was incorrect.

I made note of that, and didn't make the same mistake when the same question came up in my next exam.

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

That would make sense. In any kind of aircraft certification you are going to get questions regarding flight controls which is what rotor direction amounts to in a multi copter.

Also the second is typical of questions in our RePL. The rule of thumb is "If there is a codified answer and also a recommended answer which is greater than always answer with the recommended". Likewise if there is NO codified answer but a recommendation go with the recommended. They always want to see you err on the side of caution.

Regards
Ari

 

[horsepowerphoto]

Congratulations Hendricks! You must feel like a million pounds has been lifted off of your shoulders!

Does the advanced certification open up commercial operations for you?

Regards
Ari

Once he gets a flight review by a drone school and has a certified drone, he should be good to go!

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

Once he gets a flight review by a drone school and has a certified drone, he should be good to go!

Thanks for that. Nice to know. It's terrible to suffer from curiosity

Regards
Ari

 

[horsepowerphoto]

I only know because I just did the same thing... I don't think it said anywhere that you needed to also do the flight review (it may have, but their website is HORRIBLE for finding any information)... I just found that out after I did the advanced test, and couldn't find my advanced certificate.. Said I had to apply for one, and the test was only half of the requirement.

 

[Hendricks]

Congratulations Hendricks! You must feel like a million pounds has been lifted off of your shoulders!

Does the advanced certification open up commercial operations for you?

Regards
Ari

Hi...... Yes, it feels good to have the Advanced Certification behind me, for sure. It does allow me to fly with a few less restrictions that those pilots with just the Basic certification.
It also paves the way for me to do commercial work.
Now the exam has been passed, I now have to do a flight practical in a few months........a Flight Reviewer will ask me to demonstrate the fact that I can fly my P4P and conduct safe flights.

 

[Hendricks]

Once he gets a flight review by a drone school and has a certified drone, he should be good to go!

Yes, I will probably head to Halifax in early May to have a flight reviewer at a drone school there give me a check flight.

 

[Juno]

I passed the basic exam on the first try a couple of weeks ago and now have my pilots certificate. Even though it's only needed in time for June I decided to write it early to get the weight off my chest! I did have to Google some stuff but overall it wasn't too bad (though the TC server went down at the time which caused a good deal of frustration). I do agree though that a a fair number of the questions didn't really have much relevance for what we actually do.

My understanding is that even if a pilot holds an advanced operations certificate they can only conduct advanced operations with a TC approved drone correct? So if DJI does not seek getting their drones approved by TC (which as far as I am aware they haven't yet) one would be limited to conducting basic operations. If that's the case, there doesn't seem to be much incentive to pursue the advanced operations certificate if one only flies DJI drones.

 

[Hendricks]

I only got 50%. I actually was laughing at some of the obscure questions. It's God **** ridiculous and not really close to being relevant to flying a drone. We really need a study guide. CARS documents are just too large. I was a flying instructor and an Air Traffic Controller for over 30 years. I certainly would not expect a person not familiar with aviation to even have a chance passing this exam. Lightenup TC and make an exam which would be relevant to Drone flying. The Basic exam made a little more sense.

I couldn't agree more!
Transport Canada's Advanced Drone Pilot's Certification Exam is very tough. Just for fun, a friend of mine decided to write the test......he has 43 years of corporate jet experience with plenty of trans-Atlantic crossings under his belt as well as being a Flight Instructor.
He failed. He got 72%.
There were at least 10 questions on the exam that he had no idea of the correct answer!
That tells us something when people have come forward with plenty of experience in aviation and they fail this Drone Pilot's exam.
What it absolutely tells me is that Transport Canada is making this exam super hard because they want to restrict the number of successful outcomes.
There can be no other reason.

That's not the purpose of this exam. It is to educate drone pilots and make sure they are able to safely and responsibly fly their drones.

I wrote and passed this exam on my 4th attempt;however, that has not stopped me calling for Transport Canada to take a look at the questions they are putting on this exam and make every question relevant to the safe operation of drones NOT to have an exam that is designed to have a very high fail rate.

 

[Hendricks]

A friend of mine wrote the Advanced Exam a few days ago and he contacted me afterwards. He had remembered several of the bizarre questions that he had been completely puzzled about. (This friend happens to be a jet pilot as well as a Chief Pilot at a large corporation).
One question he got dealt with the internal composition of thunderstorm cells.
Another wanted the best definition of mechanical turbulence.
One other wanted to know the correct spacing between isobars on a weather map.

This observation from another unsuccessful Advanced Exam writer simply underlines the fact that Transport Canada has, itself, failed to design a relevant exam that contributes to producing an educated drone pilot that will safely and responsibly fly their drone.

What Transport Canada has done is design a super hard-to-pass exam that will frustrate most of the people who write it.

I'm calling for Transport Canada to completely redesign this exam and make it relevant.
I am not suggesting that it be made easier...........just relevant.

Some of the questions people are seeing on this exam are just bizarre......and they are included only to tilt the balance against a successful outcome.

And that's what makes it unfair.