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A podcast about drones and the people behind them. An educational and entertaining take on the current state of drones and what flies ahead in the drone world.
Mark Masterton (00:00.206)
Drone as the Future is made in partnership with Drone as a Service. Make your survey, mapping or inspections safer, faster, and more efficient with the help of our team. Elevate what's possible with droneasaservice dot com. Welcome to Drone as the Future, Allie. Thank you very much for joining us. This is a little bit different to your usual audit, is it not?
Ali Mirri (00:20.258)
Thank you for having me.
Ali Mirri (00:24.022)
It is. It's a little bit different, but it's excited to be here.
Mark Masterton (00:27.054)
Thank you very much for joining us. before we get too much into our flight history, let's talk about you and your history in aviation. You've been part of it for twenty six years now, and what initially drew you to the world of drones?
Ali Mirri (00:41.07)
From my aviation background, I started my aviation career late nineties at the end, towards the end of nineties, and then was mostly working on helicopters and an engineer for over sixteen, seventeen years. But more towards the end of that career and when I was switching to drones, I started seeing the future and the drones and what they can do and what they can replace some of the helicopter work, but also
a a couple compliment it and and add to it. So that was back in twenty fourteen to about twenty fifteen I decided to get into more just get my first drone and play around it and just get into the market. And in it took me a couple of years, but I realized that's that's where I need to switch my career and go into. So I started my my own business and I started actually getting into drones as a services and doing the typical stuff
surveying and photography and aerial mapping and that kind of stuff. And yeah, that's really was my aviation career and being involved in helicopters and the love of photography. I always used to have my camera, my DSLR camera, being up in the helicopters and then taking photos and like this is perfect. I can combine everything all of that together and just have it have do something that I'm passionate about and that's what I got into
Mark Masterton (02:04.942)
So some people in the early days of drone regulations would refer to it as maybe in like the wild west of drones, if you will, particularly when you were getting into it around about twenty fourteen. would you agree with that? And can you remember any particular instances that stood out, like of you know, people not quite understanding the rules and
Ali Mirri (02:25.756)
yeah, absolutely. I mean back then, when I got into the reg there the regulation w everything was new. Everybody was trying to kind of make sense of what's what can and can't be done. there was some regulation, but it mostly was the the the to fly yet they only had to get SFOC, which is a special flight operating certificate and but there was even now it's still people are still not sometimes they're not hundred percent sure, but back then it was
It was a little bit of wild west and we were everybody was doing their thing. I actually never forget one of my first projects. I I flew not knowingly, I I did a wastewater treatment and it was beautiful and I I flew it and it I got it all all done and next thing you know, but probably a couple of months later I got a this email from Transport Canada that said, Hey, you flew there and then you didn't have a special you didn't have any permissions or anything. I'm like,
Yeah, I should look into that. So I was a victim of that. And I work for transport camp.
Mark Masterton (03:27.382)
Now you're working for that's quite a turnaround. Lucky enough not to have had one of those emails yet, but keep doing my best. can you tell us a little bit how the the regulations have changed from those early days of getting special flight permission certificates and how long and arduous that process was and how it's become a bit more streamlined now.
Ali Mirri (03:55.714)
Like you said, back before twenty nineteen or from twenty fifteen, twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen to twenty nineteen, there was no Canadi there was no drones in the Canadian Aviation Regulations, no no part nine. So everything was based on special flight operating certificates or SFOCs. And we had to get these permissions and generally back then they would issue you first or second one on the case by case and then you look into
More standing SFOCs. but they and and it was tough for a lot of I feel like back then when I started it was one of one of my advantages was or a lot of the companies I started back then was their first mover advantages that that were able to get these SFOCs and operate because not it was a little more difficult for w many people to get that, especially if you didn't have aviation background back then. But then once
regulation was introduced and they were part of cars which is part under part nine now. it made it simpler a lot simpler for many folks and many people in industry to get their pilot certificates or just certain drones and then move on and then start using these internally or externally for a lot of cases. so it certainly helped the industry a lot and it actually we there were a lot of
lot more drone users.
Mark Masterton (05:25.53)
when you first started out flying drones in twenty fourteen, what were the sort of possibilities I mean, you started your own businesses. What were the possibilities that you were excited about when you were getting into that industry?
Ali Mirri (05:39.214)
There were lot. back then. the well it was you know, you had your typical aerial photographies, real re basic more basic stuff like real estate, and that type of stuff, all the way up to doing surveying, mapping, the technology was still relatively new ish back then and things were still developing, but everybody was focusing on one thing. There was a lot of movies movie sets and and
that were using drones back then. I personally decided that there was I figured there was a lack in this more of a survey and and inspection type of thing. So I s that's where I focused on and got into that. I think we got my first LiDAR unit back then, which is which was, you know, over two hundred thousand dollars to get a unit. And then and then to start my flying LIDAR, which was beneficial, but
It was ev I picked my niche, that was my niche and then decided to get into that. So
Mark Masterton (06:42.798)
Okay, and how did you end up with Transport Canada? How did that come come about? And as a pilot yourself, what did you want to bring to Transport Canada?
Ali Mirri (06:55.598)
So Transport Can because of my relationship with Transport Canada, I was always constantly dealing with Transport Canada, with my inspectors, throughout the years and then so I got to know a lot of the inspectors, but that wasn't necessarily the reason. But the once I went through the I went through the my business and a little bit of meriterial and acquisition and once I was out of that I decided that I was talking to a couple of the inspectors and they said
You're very interested to apply for Transport Canada, come join us. it's it's help it I think it helped with my industry background as well that and my aviation background to to to understand and join. I decided that to give it a try. Why not? it's something different for definitely from what I was used to, but I won't look back right now. It's actually I I'm really enjoying it. It's
Mark Masterton (07:50.786)
Having been the one on the other side of the email receiving it from Transport Canada, do you relate a lot with the questions and queries that you you get on a day to day basis?
Ali Mirri (07:58.744)
Absolutely. Yeah. We and our team we are the operational team, so we deal with public and lot of emails and inquiries and it's it helped me that the having that background and most of us are the same, but the having that background at T C I can understand the question, I can understand the situations and help relate to it and absolutely and help out.
Mark Masterton (08:20.962)
What are your favourite parts of being part of the drone community? What do you like most about it?
Ali Mirri (08:26.69)
actually I think I love the I love a lot of aspects of it, but the the fact that this technology is changing on a daily basis and it's it's hard. Sometimes it's hard to keep up with the changes and the new technology and it's it's it's actually really exciting. I mean my personally coming from aviation background, helicopters, in the general aviation things were moving too but not as fast as drone industry. So with the drones, that's one of the one of the key things that I when I
started looking into drones I got me ex really excited was there's just l possibilities are endless and they're just like this it's a cliche, but the sky's your limit. It's just you fly and and then every day there was something almost like, this is this is cool, this is good so and it's just continuously changing and it's moving forward. So it's it's the future to me.
Mark Masterton (09:19.05)
now moving on, we've got quite a big event coming up round the corner. Yep. The FIFA World Cup coming to Canada. Matches being held in Toronto and Vancouver. I'm particularly excited, massive football fan. now I've heard that security in the States are gonna ha be able to wrest control of unauthorized drones and and land them.
themselves, and also if they're going to be strict no fly zones over the stadiums and there could be fines of up to seventy five thousand USD. Crippling, and rightly so. what does Canada have planned for this major, major event?
Ali Mirri (09:59.182)
So there are law enforcement agencies that are definitely working with T C with Transport Canada on that front as well. Well we'll we'll be involved in introduction and and actually enforcing regulation. The the lot of the local agencies they have their own d drone detections and systems that they can actually look at where the drones are flying and if it's unauthorized drone and and and being able to pinpoint exactly where the drone is, where the pilot is, and then
Go talk to that pilot or make sure they land the
That's so I haven't heard personally I haven't heard though if the fines are up. Th there are fines in cars if you're unauthorized drone, for individuals up to three thousand for and then companies are up to f twenty five thousand that can get fined out the but the I haven't heard that seventy five thousand dollars in Canada at least. but there are definitely a lot of work, both our our Transport Canada security team and law and a lot of the law enforcement agencies and
We Transport Canada, they're talking about we're working behind the scene on these, just to make sure. But a lot of it is honesty in here. It's about education and educating the public and events like this. yeah, don't leave you around at home, but just don't don't fly. Don't fly. that ties into some of the advertised events too, that some of their regulation that changed.
Back April of last year, but the so any any time there's an advertised event you need to have the CFOC or the special flight operating certificate from Transport Canada to fly. It th the in this case in the in the case of advertised events, it doesn't matter what size your drone s is. Anything from micro all the way up out you have to have permission from from Transport Canada to to fly at the advertised event. So
Mark Masterton (11:50.882)
And I mean, it it's kind of self explanatory, but just to rule it out fully, what what is an a an advertised event?
Ali Mirri (11:58.648)
So advertised event s it it is, like you said, self-term, but anytime there's an event that's advertised to the public and it's gathering of people that come in there, that's then it's considered advertised. So advertised event could be an outdoor concert. It could be I keep going back to marathons or a triathlon like the races like that. And then or or it could be just any sort of cultural gatherings or things like that. That could be it's
Anything. It could be if it's advertised, it's advertisement. FIFA gatherings, it are all advertisement. So the i but so anytime there is an advertisement we need to have an special flight operating certificate.
Mark Masterton (12:39.736)
It's not necessarily a sp specific amount of people, it's just whether it's been advertised or okay. What does a regular day for you look like at Transport Canada? What are you dealing with?
Ali Mirri (12:43.897)
yeah.
Ali Mirri (12:51.002)
it's it could vary honestly. The drone industry is still still relatively new and then there's things are changing so rapidly sometimes I feel like that it one day to another it could totally be different. But but a typical day would be looking at if there's emails or anything coming, but just generally looking at SFOCs. So regulation have changed quite a bit and they're they're more and more
operations are covered under regulation, but we're still dealing with more complex type of applications and and people and and anything that's not completely covered under regulation. So that's usually our day to day what dealing with questions. And then if people have a special request or SFOCs for different type of application or different type of operations that are not necessarily covered under cars part nine right now.
And that's where we look at those case by case basis. I'm based right here. About a minute from here.
Mark Masterton (13:50.134)
And you're base right here in Vancouver. Just round the corner. Ideal for a podcast. Sometimes working for Transport Canada, you represent Canada internationally. is that right? Traveling around and going into drone regulations for other countries.
Ali Mirri (14:09.56)
That's correct.
Mark Masterton (14:17.868)
What have you learned from other countries and their drone regulations and how do they differ to Canada?
Ali Mirri (14:25.687)
So
I personally I guess haven't really b I've I've less I'm in the Transport Canada for a couple of years now, so I'm still c considered relatively new. So I haven't really been involved in those conversations. But what I can tell you is a lot of the countries are working together or they're looking at the what each country is doing to trying to use the best practices and but what's what from other countries and to to advance their operations and advance their regulations. But yeah.
Mark Masterton (14:57.338)
twenty nineteen was a pivotal year for drone regulations coming in, and you were reacting to the the popularity of drones taking off around about that time. Can you tell me a little bit about that time and what were the major changes?
Ali Mirri (15:13.41)
So as I said, I wasn't I was still on the industry side, so I wasn't in transport Canada back then. But what I can tell you is there the industry exploded and shifted and things were became a lot more accessible and people and companies and individuals were able to get it was easier to enter the market and and it and use drones. So from even as even from the other side of things and being a up operator, I noticed that
There was a big shift that all of a sudden going from hiring drone operators and the third parties to a lot of companies going in-house and then being able to start developing their own drone programs and and doing things internally. And obviously by then the industry started to mature a little more and the things were proven. now you could see provincial lot of businesses, a lot of
construction surveying engineers they started bringing drones in house and then actually starting to utilize this. and and and it was easier point of entry and it was easier to get into the market with the with the regulation to especially more more l I guess low complexity operations.
Mark Masterton (16:30.734)
Mm-hmm. So that was twenty nineteen, fast forward to twenty twenty five. Last year this is the biggest round of changes since then. what's brought about this latest round of changes?
Ali Mirri (16:41.582)
So this was exciting. so at Transport Canada one thing I did learn and know that's we when every time there's a new regul the new regulation is introduced, but then Transport Canada takes time to look at more things that are not now covered under the regs and then looking at trends and and the safety and and and many other factors and to to introduce a new set of and use cases to introduce new set of regulations.
For example, so f I think from twenty nineteen I would say to twenty twenty five, there was a lot of research development and looking at things and looking at trends and data to to understand what's the next big need for the for the industry, which was in twenty twenty five that was introduced. So that was exciting. So now up until twenty twenty five, mid twenty twenty or November twenty twenty five, we smalled drones which was anything up to twenty five kilograms or covered under the
rigs. But then after that they introduced the medium sized drones categories which was anything from twenty five kilograms up to hundred fifty kilograms. There is still some caveats, there's still some things, but for most parts now if you have a p anything up to two hundred fifty sorry up to one hundred fifty kilograms, you can fly under part nine, under with the current regulation and and don't need an SFOC
from us anymore. It's a g again, this is only things that are covered under under the regs. Anything outside of that, then we we look at case by case.
Mark Masterton (18:14.527)
if you had to summarise the the biggest changes since they were implemented in twenty twenty five, like a sort of the main headlines, what would you say the the biggest changes have been that affect most pilots?
Ali Mirri (18:27.31)
I think the biggest changes would be the the most exciting one maybe is introdu introduction of beyond visual NS site in low low risk areas. that's that opened up the possibilities for for future drone operations. there is still some work that needs to be done for pilots and companies to get there. and a lot of companies are getting there, but there there is the the introduction of
beyond visual on a site in a low in a low risk areas that's that was the biggest one of the biggest changes that were introduced.
Mark Masterton (19:07.246)
A lot of people are very excited about Beyond Visual Line of Sight. what sort of avenues does it open for businesses?
Ali Mirri (19:17.538)
The it's almost endless. I mean the sky's your limits really it's but it's basically d n now when I say this you still have to have some sort of approved form of detect and avoidance at DA and that type of stuff. But essentially it opens up a lot of let's say pipeline inspection, power line inspections, things that you just need to to inspect the long inspect linearly and then go for a long ways. drone deliveries in again in remote locations.
That would be a big beneficial of this. The you know, your typical then there's some other parts to like sheltered operations and and extended V loss, which allows for things like bridge inspections, building inspection, tower inspection, things that in the past maybe you had to have visual observers, more more visual observers and more people and it was not as easily done, but now there's a lot of that that can that can be done now.
Mark Masterton (20:17.178)
we just touched on visual observers there, and that was a a term I was relatively new to the other day. speaking on behalf of listeners who might be approaching the regulations for the first time. They're going onto the Transport Canada website and looking into which certificate they need to apply for and such. There's a few terms that come up on a regular basis. And I was wondering if you could help me define them. Sure. a populated area.
Ali Mirri (20:43.32)
So a populated area definition is in in cars is any any area that's mo more than five people per square kilometer. Okay. And that's and that could change. So that's one of the tricky. So you can look up the area or scan or or do a survey on the area and and look in online and there's a couple of few websites that can help you with that population densities, for example, and then that area could be
And so anything more than five people per square kilometer, it's a pop it's technically populated area. And but you could have an area that's under five, but then the day you go do your drone operation, all of a sudden there's a big party or there's a big event or there's a I don't know a marathon or something that all of a sudden there's more people. So then you you have to adjust and and so that's but that's the definition is five people or more per square kilometer.
Mark Masterton (21:40.204)
Which brings us on to a sparsely populated area.
Ali Mirri (21:43.534)
So the sparsely populated area is anything it that's more than five but under twenty five people per square kilometer. So that's it is a populated area, but it's a sparsely so it's under twenty five people per square kilometer. So the it varies. It not varies, but the those two fit into the be beyond visual and a site type of operations you can do.
Mark Masterton (22:08.782)
Okay. and as we mentioned earlier, Visual Observer or VO for short, what what is one of those?
Ali Mirri (22:15.362)
Well Visual Observer is somebody that's involved that's there with in the operation, it'll help you. it's it assisting the pilot in keeping the VO is not just I guess their port their their thing is not just to scan the sky but also assist the pilot and be be there and help out. but but one of their main duties is to be able to actually scan the area, scan the airspace, look for have have a line of sight or
keep an eye on the drone and then and then help out with crowd control, other other things as well. But that's essentially a second set of eyes and hand for for the pilot because when you're flying a drone, in lot of cases you you can't engage with other people. You can't necessarily always keep an eye on everything that's surround you and surroundings. So it could be anything. It could be watch for traffic. That's just if you're close to roads or it could be
There's a lot of beneficial. So when I was flying, I don't think we ever had any operation that had don't didn't have a VO. It's just always nice to have that second.
Mark Masterton (23:22.602)
It's so so useful. now a few of our listeners, probably many of them, own drones themselves and they might want to take out a drone this weekend. And my handy production coordinator here, podcast coordinator Sam, has put together a great list of QA's that someone might want to ask you
Just if they want to take out a drone on a weekend and they just want to make sure they're above the law and they don't want to get into trouble with Transport Canada, we've got a few quick fire questions here. that we're just gonna run by you. Sure. and then hopefully by the end of this people will know what to do before they head out with their drone. So starting off with if I want to fly a drone in a park in Vancouver tomorrow, what's the first green light I should look for?
Ali Mirri (24:11.114)
So sort of first there are a lot of parts to that question, but the so it's not a simple answer, unfortunately. So there before I even answer that, we haven't I don't think we've covered it, but there's drones regulations in Canada. There so the drones are into s by weights they go by so micro drones, then you have your small drone and medium drone. The microdrones are anything under two hundred and fifty grams, which is your typical
DJI Mini and other drones that are under 250 grams. And then you have your twin or two hundred fifty grams up to twenty-five kilograms category, and then me which is a small, and then your medium is anything from two hundred or twenty-five kilograms up to hundred and fifty kilograms. The if you're flying a micro drone, you don't not you do not need it, although it's recommended, but you do not need a pilot certificate to fly then. So that's one category. Then anything above
Two hundred and fifty kilogram two hundred and fifty grams, you do need a pilot certificate. So whether it's your basic, your advanced, or your the newest one is just level one complex. So if you're taking your drone out to the park, the that's right now putting aside all other low call bylaws and low regulations, you're taking your drone to the park, you s and if your drone is more than two hundred and fifty grams, then you need to have a basic or advanced pilot certificate.
But before that you need to have to need to make sure your drones registered. You know the rules, know the regulations and no make sure that your drones registered on Transport Canada's website, in a drone management portal and and just follow the re regulations and fly safely. That's that's the one side of it. Then then you get into all sort of municipal and local bylaws. So parks
Depending on what park parks a lot of parks actually these days are no drone zones. So you can't actually you have to do your own research and figure out if the park you're planning to take your drone, if it's if you can actually fly drones or not. Many parks like I live in Port Muddy, many parks I know most of them are no drone, they have a no drone sign. So you can fly your drones.
Ali Mirri (26:35.906)
less than thirty meters or hundred feet from people and public that anybody not involved in the operations. So you have to keep that in mind. And then there is the fly matter of just fly safely and fly responsibly and don't endanger other people and our animals or anything like that in the area. So honestly, I my best advice is don't fly hydron in the parking, just keep it at home. If I had to if I ha if knowing what I know, I'd be if I had to yes, if parks, just just keep hydrant at home. I think it's
Mark Masterton (27:07.033)
might change this scenario from taking my drone to a park to taking my drone to a a listed fly zone that's very far out.
Ali Mirri (27:13.57)
Then you get into controlled air spaces and restricted air spaces, there's so much more but
Mark Masterton (27:19.042)
That well that was very comprehensive and very useful, I think, for anybody tuning in and wanting to take their drone out, so appreciate that. next up we covered micro drones. that's less than two hundred and fifty grams. which mobile application is officially recommended by NAV Canada for getting flight authorizations in Vancouver's controlled airspace?
Ali Mirri (27:41.944)
So NAV Canada, there is only there they have their own app their own nav drone app basically that's that you can go and look at the airspace and look at getting permission for, especially if you're in a you're an advanced pilot and you're flying in a controlled airspace, that's what you need to do to get your that's the only application in Canada that you need to go and get you can go and get permission to fly in a control airspace. now if you're a basic no no
pilot and you're not planning to fly in a controlled air space, you still need to it's beneficial to still go check out the area. But there are like I said, there are a lot more into it than just the your airspace. You need to make sure the the area you're flying is through you is authorized to you can author you're authorized to fly your drone, just fly safely and then even with the land where you take off from, you have to have permission from landowner. And so there's a lot more to it. But nav drone app is the only official app
That you to get permissions to get authorization to fly in any sort of control airspace or I don't even wanna say restrict, but control yeah.
Mark Masterton (28:50.878)
That's just on the app store, easily accessible. Yep. in Canada, what is the maximum altitude you're generally allowed to fly a drone above ground level?
Ali Mirri (28:59.832)
Four hundred feet. Four hundred feet or hundred twenty two meters is your maximum. Anything above that you needs to get you need to get the permission either from Transport Canada if it's uncontrolled or if it's a controlled airspace from NAV Canada to be able to go anything above that. There is only one caveat and it's you can fly over hundred feet, hundred feet above the tallest structure in the area. Only if you are within two hundred feet.
of that structure. So to give you a good for a good example would be if you're inspecting a tower or a building, a lot of buildings these days are way more than four hundred feet. So if you're trying to inspect a building, let's just say, as long as you're within laterally within two hundred feet of that building, you can l legally go up two hundred feet above that building and don't actually need any other special authorization.
Now if you're in a controller space, you still need to get authorization from NAF Canada. That's that doesn't change but
Mark Masterton (30:01.038)
Okay. Learning so much here. Yeah. Allie, this is very useful. quick Q and A turned into a a great explanation and I'm loving it.
What does VLOS, a fundamental rule for all drone pilots in Canada, stand for?
Ali Mirri (30:18.978)
R loss or visual line of sight. So essentially if you have unless you have some other authorizations or some other method of keeping an eye on detect and avoid, but the essentially most operations has to be we within VLOSS or visual line of sight. So it means which means you have to be able to see the drone or at least know if the drone you know where the drone is and scan the airspace and make sure it's it's clear of any conflict or with general aviation.
Mark Masterton (30:47.81)
No, I did see a little small small print thing with this where it's you'd be able to you've gotta be able to view the drone without assistance, without aid at
Ali Mirri (30:59.97)
That's without eight it. So you can't yeah, you can't use any sort of eight to base. That's all it's
Mark Masterton (31:05.378)
You can't say I've got binoculars. I can see it still cheeky. These people are trying to bend the rules. why is much of the city Vancouver considered controlled airspace?
Ali Mirri (31:08.097)
Exactly.
Ali Mirri (31:19.49)
Why there's a lot of airports and aerodromes and around in the area that most people don't even realize there is just we have obviously the Y VR in Vancouver that covers a large portion of the airspace. Then we have Vancouver Harbor, which covers downtown and there's seaplanes and helicopters constantly. It's a busy area, constantly fly from there. Then you have all the hospitals in the area which all have helicopter pads, the the
Royal Columbian Hospital, VGH, Surrey Memorial, they all have a helicopter button. Then then get into search and rescue. So some of the fire halls have helipads and helicopter so so it's you you don't actually realize it but until you start looking into it. But there's just so the the traffic, the air traffic around here is is it's crazy. It's there's lots going on.
Mark Masterton (32:09.246)
quick question for me personally, going off tangent a little bit, but if you're a hobbyist drone pilot and you're looking for a good place to take it out for the first time, is there a spot you'd recommend in the Vancouver area? A popular one amongst hobbyists that you've heard.
Ali Mirri (32:30.615)
I'm just trying to think for a hobbyist. Sure there's a l lot of l there's a lot of areas probably, but I can think of I mean
Be honest, totally honest. it's it's hard to get anything within Lower Mainland to go be able to have to venture out a little further. the the airspace factor is one thing, keeping, especially if hob hobbies, depending on what size your drone is, if it's more than two hundred especially if it's more than two hundred and fifty grams and in a or a small drone, then you need to consider other people and anybody's not involved in the operation, so you have to keep your
Mark Masterton (32:51.925)
So you gotta venture further afo.
Ali Mirri (33:12.61)
So one thing is where to fly and then what's a controlled uncontrolled airspace and then other thing is just with a c with the population density here, like you it's hard to keep that thirty meter or a hundred feet from other people locally. the yeah, and they can have again, yeah.
Mark Masterton (33:30.964)
So check check the nav canada and find a good spot rather than being lazy and just asking the head of transport canada to to do it. My bad. okay. moving on. This is a sort of a multiple choice question, taking you back to school with this one. which of these is a prohibited area for drone flight unless specifically authorized? A open farmland in Delta B your own backyard.
B a local beach in West Vancouver or D near a forest fire or emergency response site.
Ali Mirri (34:09.454)
So can you repeat the actual the my the question then?
Mark Masterton (34:11.544)
Which these is a prohibited area for drone flight unless specifically authorized? Open farmland in Delta. That's A. B well we can go through these one by one actually, an open farmland in Delta.
Ali Mirri (34:25.621)
If you're authorized if you are authorized to take off from that land, then Delta but Delta is in a most of Delta is also in a control airspace from in Boundary Bay. So depending on your level of certificate and if you have authorization. So then I can't say that's strictly prohibited, but do you have to have permission from NAV Canada and also permission from land owner and then you can should you can fly.
Mark Masterton (34:49.282)
Okay. your own backyard.
Ali Mirri (34:51.393)
Your own backyard, it really depends where your backyard is. And so that's that's also different. So your own backyard you you this is your land, so you don't need permission from landowner, but again if your airspace comes into play and what's around you and that's ignoring all the other factors and is your backyard close to heliport or a a airport or wildfire happening ne nearby. So
Mark Masterton (35:15.436)
Okay. see a local beach in West Vancouver.
Ali Mirri (35:19.192)
Keep your donut home. Yeah.
Mark Masterton (35:20.846)
D, I'm also getting similar feeling for that. near a forest fire or emergency
Ali Mirri (35:26.552)
Then keep your drone if it's a forest fire, just keep your drone at home. L legally, technically, you have you have to be away five nautical miles or nine point three kilometers from a forest fire, wildfire. But my best my best recommendation is just keep your drone at home. Do not fly on or near or any vicinity of any forest fire, because that's if if the the search and rescue and other organizations that are involved in that forest fire, they see a drone.
they will automatically land and then this just 'cause that jeopardized their race their their safety. Mm-hmm. And then that then that cascades to other things and not bit them not being able to fight the fire. So just best recommendation. My only recommendation, keep your drone at home.
Mark Masterton (36:10.146)
Yep, leave it at home. now if you want to flight a drone over two hundred fifty grams in downtown Vancouver, what level of pilot certificate do you need?
Ali Mirri (36:18.882)
You need to have a advanced in downtown Vancouver, advanced pilot certificate for sure.
Mark Masterton (36:25.337)
what is a remote ID and why are they becoming mandatory for newer and larger drones? That's a new thing since twenty twenty five, right?
Ali Mirri (36:33.672)
So their remote ID is not still mandated in Canada. It's we it is a it's in US. I can't really specul I can't really say anything like US they're using remote ID. It's pro I don't want to speculate, but it's probably it's a good idea, but I I'm not nothing nothing in Canada at this point or that I've heard of anyways.
Mark Masterton (37:00.622)
Okay. I think you covered it earlier. When when flying a drone in a Vancouver park, what local rouge rules should you check in addition to transport kind of
Ali Mirri (37:11.832)
So like I said, beside Transport Canada, your airspace type of drone. I mean versus again it's a local park, it's probably one thing is there's especially in a good day, they'll be packed with people. So y there there's all that factors, but then the actual local laws, Vancouver bylaws, for for that matter, I think most Vancouver parks are also no drone zones anyways. And then and then keeping your distance from anybody that's not involved in operations and and just keeping safety
of what other people and in mind and but I don't want to keep repeating this but downtown Vancouver don't park, don't just leave your own at home 'cause it's it's probably the safest then.
Mark Masterton (37:54.828)
That might be the title to the episode. Just letting you know now. Leave your drone at home. But it's it's a it's a wise message, right. Absolutely. Is it rewarding being able to shape the the future of drone usage? Like you work with manufacturers as well on on these regulations?
Ali Mirri (38:11.596)
Yeah, a hundred percent. I I personally don't our team does, but I personally don't work with manufacturers. But yeah, as I mean, we are still involved in a lot of the conversations that team the the our past team, part of Transport Canada works with all s aspects of it from the security to manufacturing to engineering to we work with all sides of drones and and it's really exciting and some of the you know, sometimes you see things that I never thought it was possible.
ten years ago and as just your everyday main stereotype.
Mark Masterton (38:45.966)
It's come a long way in in just ten years. and can only imagine where it's gonna be in the next ten years as well. what kind of rules and regulations are you are you hoping for in the future that could further like open up this industry?
Ali Mirri (39:02.046)
I don't wanna speak on behalf of Transport Canada because I don't think so could change, but I I personally would say s not soon, maybe like ten years or for the next five, ten years we'll probably see a lot more drone deliveries and man and and drone carrying passengers and that type of stuff. That will be I mean a lot of the other countries I know I can see that. They're they're already there. The technology is there. So I feel like that would be
One of the next things in the next five to ten years that's that'll come, which to me is exciting. I don't know. I I feel like it's I I love to get in my drone and then say fly to the office.
Mark Masterton (39:37.656)
Definitely. I'd love to get a ride to work on.
Mark Masterton (39:42.958)
how close are we to a an automated traffic management system? Like where where drones don't collide with each other in the air and there's like routes for them through the sky and that it's happening on such a regular basis that it's all all automated. A UTM. Yeah.
Ali Mirri (40:05.792)
Yeah. So I I think we are still a little ways out, but there it's definitely something that again being discussed and worked on and the the I know the conversations are ongoing about this, not only in Canada but across many countries and IKO and they're they're they're definitely conversations. I'm not sure in a position to know to comment on how far we are, but I think it's definitely definitely the future and it's
being worked on. It's again it's one of those things it's a matter of time. is it next five years, maybe, I don't know, but it's it's coming. Mm-hmm.
Mark Masterton (40:46.582)
All right. Well, you're gonna be a very busy man this summer with the FIFA World Cup coming up. so we'd better leave you to focus on that and all the other requests that you get on a daily basis. But we'd love to check back in after the summer and see how it's all gone. Absolutely. Thank you very much for coming on the podcast and sharing all your vast knowledge. anybody flying a drone out there will find this very useful. So thank you. Thanks for having me. Drone as the future is made in partnership with drone as a service.
Make your survey, mapping, or inspections safer, faster, and more efficient with the help of our team. Elevate what's possible with droneasaservice dot com.
Ali Mirri (41:40.45)
Hey drone is the future. Calling in from your future. Thanks for having me. I was wondering if your guest could share what's the most interesting or exciting use of drones that you've come across? That's a good question. The most exciting or interesting use of drone? There are actually a lot of them that you see and changes. but I at at this point I I think
Some of the like in in in our local area some of the hotspot mappings and helping out with the forest fires and that type of stuff is really exciting and it's helpful with the for general aviation helicopters to be able to go later and with the mapped out areas. that's one thing that I really thought I always thought it was pretty quite interesting. There's other use cases now that's a little still
Maybe new, but like tree planting and then there's fire management and that type of stuff that's exciting. then you then you get into all the the you know, surveys and lighters and that type of stuff. But there's always some the some of the we like out of the box thinking and people reach out and try to do new things, which is some sometimes interesting. the which
Yeah, and then Durant and this low maybe at low risk at this point durant deliveries. that will be the future, but that's also it's coming and it's it's exciting to be involved in this in i in this stage of it and actually seeing it shaping for a future.
Mark Masterton (43:22.614)
Awesome. and also I want to say best of luck with the marathon. thank you. hopefully there'll be no drones in the sky. Well yeah. but have you ever asked for someone to come and film you crossing the finish line?
Ali Mirri (43:35.328)
No, no, that's up to the organizers, but that's yeah.
Mark Masterton (43:39.8)
Yeah, well yeah, best of luck with it and all the future triath ones that you're signing up for. Thank you. Thanks. Cool. Nice.
Mark Masterton (43:56.654)
This has been the Drone as the Future Podcast. Today's episode has been produced by Ryan Witten, coordinated by Samantha Holomay, filmed by John Rawlinson, and features original intro music by Josh Santos. Thank you very much for tuning in, and if you'd like to follow along our journey, fly over to that subscribe button wherever you're listening so you can be updated to hear what flies ahead.