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The Role and Responsibilities of Aircraft Owners
See below for an extensive review of the role and responsibilities of aircraft owners.
Owners Role and ResponsibiltiesPlaces to Fly – West: Barrhead, Alberta
The folks at Barrhead Flying Club are welcoming visitors to their 10th annual Fly-In/Drive-In breakfast on Sunday, June 2, at their airport (CYSH), located 42 nm northwest of Edmonton.
Hours are from 08:00 to 11:00, breakfast is $8 each except for kids under eight – they get to eat free. Seconds (and thirds, etc.) are free too.
Fuel (100LL) is available, and there is plenty of ramp and grass parking. Contact Wade Evans by email for more details, or call 780-674-0142.
Places To Fly – East: Stratford
COPA Flight 69 – Perth Flying Club is hosting a Fly-in/Drive-in breakfast at the Stratford airport (CYSA) in southern Ontario on Sunday, June 2, from 09:00 to 12:00, rain or shine.
Pancakes topped with locally produced maple syrup will be served, with proceeds going to the Stratford General Hospital Foundation’s MRI fund.
More information is available on their website or by contacting club president Bill Verellen by email.
2019 Western Convention and Trade Show
Only six days left before Innisfail 2019 begins! COPA’s Western Convention and Trade Show runs from June 6 to 8 in Innisfail, Alberta. The Annual General Meeting is also scheduled to take place then.
Can’t make it to Innisfail? Join in the convention fun with free shipping on COPA Collection items from the online COPA Store. Use promo code FLYINNISFAIL2019.
For those flying to CEM4 in a private aircraft, see the bottom of this article for an information package that will help you to plan a safe and efficient arrival. Also check out the ‘Know before you go’ blog.
If you’re piloting an aircraft from Saskatchewan or points east, don’t forget to review pages 30 and 31 of the May issue of COPA Flight, where RCAF Captain Corey Csada explains how to safely avoid a confrontation with military training aircraft operating out of 15 Wing Moose Jaw.
To register, or to obtain further information, check out the Convention website.
2019_Innisfail_Arrival_Departure_Info FINALDJI Drones Meet New TCCA Standard, ADS-B IN Coming
‘Near People’ Authorization
Drone manufacturer DJI announced this week that nine of their drone models meet new standards established for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) in the new Part 9 of the Canadian Aviation Regulations that come into effect June 1, 2019.
In those regulations, Transport Canada-Civil Aviation sets standards from characteristics and reliability that a drone must meet to be allowed to operate ‘near people’, which is defined as the operation of a drone within 30 metres, measured horizontally, of any person not associated with the operation.
“[DJI] has put months of hard work into documenting…safety expectations, reliability guidelines, testing standards and other processes to comply with Transport Canada’s new requirements,” said DJI’s director of technical standards Javier Caina.
He added, “DJI customers choose our drones because they know our longstanding history of making powerful, reliable and dependable aerial platforms, and we are proud to say they can continue using our products under the new Transport Canada system beginning June 1.”
Previously, drones operated commercially in the vicinity of people unassociated with the operation needed a special operating certificate, which could takes weeks to obtain.
DJI models meeting the new standard are M600 Series, M200 Series, M200 V2 Series, Inspire 2, Mavic 2 series, Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, Phantom 4 series and Spark.
ADS-B IN For DJI Drones
DJI also announced recently that they will soon equip consumer drones weighing more than 250 grams with ADS-B IN technology. This will allow the drone operator to avoid collision with ADS-B OUT-equipped aircraft on their operating console. AirSense, which is what DJI calls their system, will be able to detect appropriately-equipped aircraft that are still kilometres away.
With the pending full implementation of ADS-B OUT in much of the U.S. airspace coming into force on January 1, 2020, this technology will be more useful than in Canada, where large-scale installation of ADS-B OUT equipage in other than commercial airliners (phase 3 of the mandate) is still awaiting a mandate from Transport Canada.
Unaltered photo by Leigh Miller
VFR Flight Into IMC Likely Led To Brantford Crash
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) report into the plane crash last November at Brantford airport (CYFD) that claimed the lives of both the pilot and his passenger was released earlier this week. The report cites poor weather conditions, the pilot’s lack of an instrument rating and the lack of anti-icing or de-icing equipment installed on the aircraft as contributing factors.
The Piper PA-28R-200 (Arrow) took off from Burlington airport (CZBA) at 00:28 (all times EST) on November 13, headed for CYFD, 28 nautical miles away. When it arrived in the vicinity of CYFD at 00:43, the pilot activated the pilot-controlled runway lights (ARCAL). Radar data showed the Arrow began circling at 00:43 at 2000 feet ASL and at a groundspeed of 110 knots. The Arrow continued to circle, gradually descending to 1100 feet and slowing to 60 knots until 01:14 (airport elevation is 815 feet). The pilot continued to reactivate the aerodrome lights as they self-extinguished.
At 01:15, when the aircraft was at 1000 feet and travelling at a groundspeed of 50 knots, radar contact was lost. The Arrow crashed on the airport grounds very near this location. The 121.5 MHz ELT did not activate. The aircraft wreckage was discovered by airport workers hours later when they arrived for work in the morning.
The investigation revealed a number of factors that either did or could have contributed to the accident. These include weather conditions at the time of the flight which, all indications are, were not conducive to flight in visual meteorological conditions (VMC). Weather radar records also show that icing conditions were prevalent along the route at the time of the flight.
An autopsy performed on the pilot also revealed a blood alcohol content of 0.066%. However, this evidence is inconclusive given the length of time between death and the time the autopsy was performed.
It was also revealed that the 76-year-old pilot was not legal to operate an aircraft at the time of the accident as his medical certificate was under suspension, rendering his private pilot licence invalid. Although the aircraft journey log’s last entry was before the March 4, 2018 date he lost his flying privileges, evidence was discovered that he made a number of flights since.
In their report, the TSB emphasized the restrictions on alcohol consumption prior to operating an aircraft, noting that, due to their urging, Transport Canada amended CARs section 602.03 last December to increase the time period between alcohol consumption before operating an aircraft from eight hours to 12 hours.
In response to the non-activation of the ELT, manufacturer Technisonic Industries Ltd has issued a service bulletin (SB ELT19-01) recommending that the inertia switch in their ELTs be tested every year and replaced after five years in service.
The full TSB report can be seen below.
B.C. Hangar Assessments: A Victory for Your Freedom to Fly
Readers will likely recall in 2018 hangar owners across British Columbia were shocked to receive property tax assessments from BC Assessment, the provincial property assessment agency, that significantly raised the value of their hangar properties over previous years’ levels. Mobilizing the resources of the Freedom to Fly Fund, COPA responded on behalf of our members by assembling a legal team consisting of experts in real estate law and property valuations to commence a class-action appeal of the assessments. After an almost year-long process, those appeals have now concluded with significant reductions in the original 2018 property assessments, as well as the bigger, precedent-setting determinations that BC Assessment will factor in considering future years’ hangar assessments. One hangar’s assessment was reduced by almost $10,000, and this has had a positive impact on its 2019 assessment as well.
COPA’s action contended several issues with BC Assessment’s valuation methods – namely the ‘income approach’ which estimates the economic net rental value of the property and capitalizing that to determine the overall capital value of the land and building. Once the overall value is determined, BC Assessment breaks it down by estimating the building component, or the depreciated replacement cost, and adding an estimate for the land. The main issue here, in terms of airports, is that most hangar owners do not own the land underneath their hangars, but rather lease it from the airport operator. This puts many restrictions on what activities are permitted on the site. The Assessment Act, which governs the agency, requires leased land to be treated as if owned in fee simple.
The other main issue is the current classification of ‘Business and Other’, or Class 6, which is problematic as most of the leases prohibit any sort of business activity from being conducted. COPA’s team argued that the mill rate that applies to Class 6 properties was too high given the conditions placed on the hangars through their leases.
While our team was able to work with the assessors to arrive at a new valuation formula, many of the changes that still need to be made involve legislative changes to the Assessment Act, similar to a push that was made in Ontario several years ago. Given the resources required to effect such a change, COPA has committed to pursuing those efforts when the political climate in B.C. becomes more favourable of such change.
Special thanks is due to our team of John Shevchuk, Lex Pacifica Law Corp. and David Osland of Cunningham and Rivard Appraisers, whose work with BC Assessment throughout this battle helped our members prevail. Without the resources of the Freedom to Fly Fund, we would not be able to engage in these efforts on our members’ behalf.
Survey of Nav Canada’s FSS and FIC Service Quality
Nav Canada is undertaking an initiative to review the services provided by their FSS and FIC. With COPA being one of their major customers, they want to confirm what services our members use and if there is potential to provide these services in a more effective manner. They also want us to evaluate if there is an ability to provide service level adjustments to ensure our members are receiving all the required services they need in all regions.
This is another excellent opportunity for COPA members to have a say in the future of Nav Canada’s service delivery.
The survey can be accessed here.
Places To Fly – East: Midland/Huronia
COPA Flight 73 is hosting a fly-in at the Huronia airport (CYEE) on May 25 (rain date: May 26). Co-hosting the event is the Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Club, and it is being held from 09:00 to 15:00.
Entry to the swap meet is $5, free for fly-ins. Food will be available on site. Free tours of the Zenair plant are available at 10:00 and 13:30.
More information can be obtained by calling 705-526-8086 or by checking out this website.