How hard is the test??

Baronvonstrong · Sep 1, 2019

Can someone please tell me how hard the basic drone certify test is? (Canada)

Scooped · Sep 1, 2019

I am in British Columbia and tried the test without studying and failed. Had help from my smart wife and passed. I think the test is a pile of crap as I am a recreational flyer not an advanced pilot. I felt after test I should be aloud to fly real aircraft.

nilanjan118 · Sep 1, 2019

Here's a video from a seasoned Spark pilot who cleared the test.

SparkyPaul · Sep 2, 2019

nilanjan118 said:
Here's a video from a seasoned Spark pilot who cleared the test.

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What a crock!!! Sounds typical for **** retentive Canadian bureaucrats! How many drone police are going to be out there enforcing those ridiculous new regulations? I’m sure the ‘fine’ structure is substantial too!!!
LOL!!! ?

Sarniac · Sep 2, 2019

I studied material that I purchased from Coastal Drone and information that I found on the Internet. Passed my Basic exam first time with 82%. Found DonDronesOn after I had written the test - he has a ton of info to help with Basic and Advanced exams. Check him out.

kingsnake11 · Sep 2, 2019

I'll second the reference to DonDronesOn on YT. Great information and well presented. You really have to know the section 900 of the Canadian aviation regs...CAR for short. My friends and I were surprised how difficult the basic exam was. Without some effort and study, most will not pass the certification test first time. However, it's not impossible. You have 90 minutes to answer 35 questions with a 60% pass mark. It's open book so you can have google standing by to help you find what you're looking for. I would suggest that you go through Don's video's, study the CAR section 900, and you should be ok. The advanced certification is another animal...60 minutes to answer 50 questions with a pass of 80%. It's tougher than the US part 107 exam...and you have to have the basic knowledge that private pilots would have to get. Even if you pass the exam, you still have to do a flight review which is more than just showing you can fly your drone. I took a classroom course and did my flight review.... for me, it was a much better route to go than trying to learn it all online.

BTW, when it comes to the exams, if you fail, you have to wait 24 hours to retake it...and it will likely be a completely different set of questions.... so you can't just go into it blind. It will be interesting to see what the US online certification test will look like. My suspicion is that it will mirror the Canadian exam.

harzack · Sep 6, 2019

I read a lot about it before taking it, and decided to purchase the online course from Altex Academy. I think the same courses go for both basic and advanced test, but as stated above, the advanced test last less time, for more questions and a higher pass rate... I was also impressed by the amount of material I had to learn, feeling a lot had nothing to do with operating a drone at all but rather operating an aircraft as a pilot... I still learnt a lot and was eventually able to pass the basic exam at first attempt with 85%. Even then, some of the questions were barely covered in the training material and I had to google the answers, search them in the CAR, etc... I found the exam questions were very specific and the right choice was not often obvious. Good luck.

ajkm · Sep 7, 2019

What we need to remember is that even hobbyists, just like weekend fixed or rotary wing fliers, are pilots. We are all sharing the same airspace so need a common body of understanding so we are all operating off the same sheet when in the air. While there are a number of questions that aren’t at all relevant to RPAS, it is important that the “buy and fly” irresponsible types are removed as far as possible from those whole fly professionally. It is, after all, their irresponsible behaviour - proudly shared in video after video - that has led to the abundance of regulation we all now work with.

ajkm · Sep 7, 2019

As for the test, download a copy of the Knowledge Requirements and then do the homework to look up *and understand* the answers - although it has to be said that, for the Basic, there’s more than enough time to look up each answer. The best option for a study text is the standard “From the Ground Up” that is used in all flight schools.

Encyclo · Sep 7, 2019

I have held a commercial pilot license for 30 years and an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer M1/M2 license for 35 years and I have to admit I found the Transport Canada test difficult.

I agree with the post above, if you share the airspace, you need to have basic knowledge. Latest news from HAI (Helicopter Association International) recreational drone use has started to decline; I guess a lot of these Christmas gifts are being left in the closet, now that the novelty has faded.

I agree, there will not be a massive army of "drone police" out there, but I still feel better having my license and drone registered in case I run into a zealous cop.

Fly Safe, Always ?

ajkm · Sep 7, 2019

Encyclo said:
I have held a commercial pilot license for 30 years and an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer M1/M2 license for 35 years and I have to admit I found the Transport Canada test difficult.

I agree with the post above, if you share the airspace, you need to have basic knowledge. Latest news from HAI (Helicopter Association International) recreational drone use has started to decline; I guess a lot of these Christmas gifts are being left in the closet, now that the novelty has faded.

I agree, there will not be a massive army of "drone police" out there, but I still feel better having my license and drone registered in case I run into a zealous cop.

Fly Safe, Always ?

The Advanced is substantially more difficult, not least because of the question:time ratio, so one really does need to know one’s stuff and not have to look much of it up on the fly. I have no problem with the requirement however, because an Advanced Ops certified pilot can fly almost anywhere (with correct permissions) including within controlled airspace or at an airfield, so it’s essential we all share the same professional knowledge.

Northwood Mediaworks · Sep 7, 2019

For the basic you simply need to study the main material, then have two screens available and get googling. There are quite a few posts here already with links I and others have posted to the study materials...