MOOSE JAW — Cody Crockett bought his first drone in 2017 and has been hooked ever since, from collecting licenses and establishing relationships with local airfields, to expanding his drone collection, hiring staff, and building a successful business as Rockett’s Drone Services.
“I’m an ironworker, my career has been spent hundreds of feet in the air for the last 18 years,” Crockett explained. “For me, I’ve been trying to explain that perspective to people, but now I can actually show them what it feels like to have a bird’s-eye view and what I see on a day-to-day basis.”
Get licensed — It's highly regulated
Crockett has a collection of four drones, each of which is an expensive, versatile piece of equipment that requires training, licensing, and regulatory knowledge to operate.
“Drones are like smartphones, so every time you buy one, it’s outdated pretty much right away. It’s hard to keep up with that market, and it’s definitely a financial investment. Nothing less than $1,500 to $2,000 is what it takes to get a quality drone,” he said.
The financial investment is just the start — operators must understand the law.
According to Transport Canada, “Drones are aircraft — which makes [the operator] a pilot.”
Choosing to ignore Transport Canada (TC) rules around drone operation is an extremely bad idea, Crockett said, and consequences could go well beyond having your drone seized.
Think fines, he explained, fines for each individual infraction — a single illegal flight above crowds at a fair or parade, getting in the way of an emergency situation, or buzzing around in the restricted airspace surrounding airports and military bases can make pilots liable for thousands of dollars in fines, and criminal charges for more serious incidents.
Fines are greater for corporate entities, and part of Crockett’s marketing is his familiarity with regulations, giving clients a guarantee of avoiding liability for unauthorized flights.
“I took a 40-hour ground school to get my licensing, and they make it clear there, they have teams dedicated to monitoring social media posts,” Crockett said. “For instance, with the freedom convoys, and saying nothing about the politics at all, but there were so many people flying over downtown Ottawa, through the buildings and over crowds, and every single one of them posted all over social media, and they got caught and fined.
“On top of that, all it takes is one person in your community to report you, and every drone sold in Canada comes with a black box. If they have reasonable cause, Transport Canada will seize your drone and collect all the flight records, and for each flight that didn’t have all the licensing and flight plans and everything you need, they’ll lay multiple fines.”
There is an exception: Drones that weigh less than 250 grams do not need to be registered, and the pilot does not need a license.
However, every drone weighing 250 grams or more is subject to rules for basic and advanced flight. Basic operations require the passing of an exam to obtain a basic license, the drone must be registered with TC and marked with its registration number, and all flights must meet all five of the following conditions:
- Flown in uncontrolled airspace
- More than 30 metres (100 feet) horizontally from bystanders
- Never fly over bystanders
- More than 3 nautical miles from a certified airport or a military aerodrome
- More than 1 nautical mile from a certified heliport
Any flight that breaks one of those conditions is considered an advanced operation and needs a lot more work to be legal.
Even with an Advanced Operations license like Crockett has, drone operators in Canada must always have line-of-sight to their drone, stay below 122 metres/400 feet of altitude, avoid emergency situations unless specifically contracted, and respect the privacy of individuals not associated with filming.
“Everybody always thinks we have microphones and we’re spying on them,” Crockett chuckled. “They don’t, and we’re not, and even if they did have mics, the only thing they’d pick up would be high-pitched screeching from the propellers.”
Numerous commercial applications beyond simply photography, videography
“We do everything from mapping to social media content to surveillance,” Crockett said. “For instance, we’re not surveyors, but we have the equipment to help with that. So, we fit a drone with a module that uses GCPs, or ground control points, and we put those out to mark the area, and then the drone will fly automated grid patterns and take thousands of photos.
“I put those photos into a program, and it will build a 3D model that’s within, well, the last one I did was within three centimetres of accuracy. … You can use it for a CAD program for construction, for engineering, roadworks is a big one, and put the data in and take measurements off it — square footage, stockpile measurements, stuff like that.”
Crockett can mount an incredible variety of cameras, sensors, and modules on his drone platforms. He does plenty of music festivals and advertising videos, but said many people are surprised by everything else drones can do. The field is constantly innovating, and technologies like 3D printing complement that capability by providing custom solutions at short notice for new handles or mounting points.
For security work, for example, Crockett can mount a Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) camera and do nighttime site surveys for building owners, helping them pinpoint high-risk areas.
Another recent project was a complete indoor video tour of the old Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant, now scheduled for demolition and replacement as part of the facility’s massive $325 million renewal.
“They’re going to be knocking down the old building,” Crockett said. “And we went in and flew every square inch of the inside, dipping in and out, flying through and over tanks, all the floors, and we’re building them a legacy video with [first-person video, or FPV].
“We’ve done tons of different, really cool projects. And the sky’s the limit, I mean, we’re only going up from here.”
Learn more at rockettsdroneservices.com.
