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Aviation in Ontario

This may be of interest to other UT drone pilots, @hawc, @Tim MacDonald, @kotsy (the UT Drone Team?).

A few days ago we were riding along the West Don Trail and noticed a Hydro One crew constructing an enormous transmission tower in the vicinity of the Seaton Park Archery Range.
A guy I used to work with is now H1's Director of Helicopter Operations. I reached out to him curious about when the helicopters are scheduled to be stringing the lines. He informed me that drones are now being used to do this work. I had no idea.

Fabulous use of drones!

I recall that line stringing by helicopter, even though I never did it, was not well liked by the other pilots. Even the smallest error or equipment malfunction could result in a catastrophic accident.

Also the cost differential could be significant.

One of the most popular models of day VFR utility helicopters currently operated in Canada is the Airbus H125. This aircraft is used for everything from forest fire fighting to line stringing.

A new H125 costs in the neighbourhood of C$6m and is approximately $1,400 per hour to operate (including fuel, but not pilot / engineer salaries).

Here is a short video on how the drone will string the line.

 
So I saw a post on FB this morning that CX829 YYZ-HKG had diverted to KEF this morning presumably for a medical emergency. I guess the crew was going to time out so they make a plan to return to YYZ from KEF. I'm at the park near my house with my little one for the second time today because, well what else does a five year old want and it's a little after 1600hrs. An A350 sneaks up on me from behind the trees at about 3,000ft and it's CX829 on the go around from 24L. Man, those pax and crew can't catch a break today! At this point that thing should have been about an hour away from Hong Kong and here they are back where they started from at 01:30 this morning! Ouch! And with it being Jan 2nd you know that thing was full! I've done that route a few times in my past, always in economy and taken CX829. What an absolute trip from hell today!
 
Tim MacDonald said:
So I saw a post on FB this morning that CX829 YYZ-HKG had diverted to KEF this morning presumably for a medical emergency. I guess the crew was going to time out so they make a plan to return to YYZ from KEF. I'm at the park near my house with my little one for the second time today because, well what else does a five year old want and it's a little after 1600hrs. An A350 sneaks up on me from behind the trees at about 3,000ft and it's CX829 on the go around from 24L. Man, those pax and crew can't catch a break today! At this point that thing should have been about an hour away from Hong Kong and here they are back where they started from at 01:30 this morning! Ouch! And with it being Jan 2nd you know that thing was full! I've done that route a few times in my past, always in economy and taken CX829. What an absolute trip from hell today!
Click to expand...
That would suck. I'm surprised the track was eastbound rather than westbound. I assume w/b would be shorter but maybe just a misperception.
 
I've done both east and west, depending on winds.
 
Those folks are finally on their way
1000029189.jpg
 
Love those flights - 16 hrs to HKG, 15 to Shanghai or Seoul, 14 to Beijing and Tokyo, and 21 hrs to Singapore….you get airborne, have a drink, a meal, snooze or watch a movie and you still have a full working day ( or more ) cruising along at 35,000 ft. Do that a couple of times a month and the romance of travel quickly loses appeal. And now with stops in Vancouver…
 
I'm tagging the other UT drone pilots (have I missed anyone?). @hawc @Tim MacDonald @kotsy @Downtown Toronto @ash_iwn95 @UrbanAffair

The media coverage of the fire fighting CL-415 drone strike on January 9 in L.A. included an FBI photo of the damaged drone.

Drone pilots will recognize this as a sub 250g DJI that many of us fly.

Screenshot 2025-01-26 at 3.21.34 PM.png


The damage was significant.

Gg6kKeWWwAAARc5.jpeg


In the CBC News clip the Government of Quebec Air Service Chief Pilot states it could have been much worse, potentially ingested into an engine causing a fire.


The airspace over the GTA can be busy and I'm taking this incident as a reminder to exercise caution when flying my drone. :)
 
The only other pilots I can think of @TwinHuey are @JJTheJetPln @NW87 and one other but can't recall their handle. Searched for it but didn't find it.

Man, that CL215 absolutely smoked that Mini3pro! It appears to have hit on the front starboard side motor as the nose of the Mini3pro was facing almost perpendicular to the CL215 with little forward movement. It doesn't take much to punch a hole in the leading edge. It certainly seems like a one in a million event for it to be at the exact right altitude to punch through. Slightly higher or lower and it would have glanced off and traveled above or below the wing.

Slim to no chance for that Mini3pro to have been ingested into the engine as those props would have made short work of it. Bad news for that drone operator as there would have certainly been a TFR issued (don't forget TFRs in our airspace apply to us in the sub 250g sphere as well as it covers ALL flight ops) and we are still bound by certain CARS pertaining to not endangering other aircraft movements/safety and not endangering others (the so called "Don't do anything stupid rule"). Folks that fly near the CN Tower and Island airport have to be super careful as it is easy to get caught in some unexpected winds aloft -particularly at the higher altitudes - and no geo fence is going to overturn the laws of physics. Since that area is already an Authorization zone, operating in that area means you're held to a higher account if you eff up.

Did anyone do any flying this weekend? I only managed 12 minutes over two flights yesterday. Of course I'm looking at the sketchy, miserable weather as I drop off the wife and little one and head to work. I won't see anything new or noteworthy I say to myself. Sure enough I pass a new Community housing project on Lakeshore in Clarkson that has broken ground! I turn around, grab my Mini2 (I forgot how much fun that thing is to fly after flying the 3pro for so long) and shoot that and a couple of other projects. I thought about shooting Voya and Parkside village this afternoon but the winds were just too strong for my liking. Well, that's the norm for January - winds, precip and sub zero temps!

Happy flying everyone.
 
Good on you to post about this. It is something I have often been concerned about, and it has made me reluctant to fly, and if I do fly in the city, to stay low.

Also my drone went in the lake up north, and once I dried it out, it hasn't been quite as stable, though it still flies. Unclear whether I need to let it go and get a new one.

I hope to join you all in getting some flights in and sharing on UT, I've just been slow to move on it.
 
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