I'm currently a little disheartened about what I can legally fly/photograph in Canada under the recreational exemptions. It seems like if there are two outhouses built near each other within 5 nautical miles then it is considered to be a built up area where flying is prohibited without an SFOC. It also appears that posting to any website that collects ad revenue is considered "commercial use" of a UAS and even if SFOC exempt requires liability insurance.
Based on these (surprisingly stringent) rules, it seems like the vast majority of drone flights are breaking some law or another. Flying for photography of cityscapes, sporting events (even your kids' soccer games), watersports (lakefront cottages are probably within 5nm), beaches (might be within 100ft horizontally of a person or animal, 5nm of a building) is pretty much entirely illegal.
Has anyone actually gone about obtaining an SFOC from Transport Canada for the flights within 5nm of populated areas or near people? Is anyone posting on youtube, etc. actually carrying liability insurance? Are most people just ignoring this rule, applying basic common sense and hoping for the best?
Based on these (surprisingly stringent) rules, it seems like the vast majority of drone flights are breaking some law or another. Flying for photography of cityscapes, sporting events (even your kids' soccer games), watersports (lakefront cottages are probably within 5nm), beaches (might be within 100ft horizontally of a person or animal, 5nm of a building) is pretty much entirely illegal.
Has anyone actually gone about obtaining an SFOC from Transport Canada for the flights within 5nm of populated areas or near people? Is anyone posting on youtube, etc. actually carrying liability insurance? Are most people just ignoring this rule, applying basic common sense and hoping for the best?