11.1 Site Survey, Pre-Flight & Performance

11.1 Site Survey, Pre-Flight & Performance

Quick Answer: The PIC is responsible for a thorough site survey (obstacles, people, airspace, emergency landing zones, RF environment), landowner authorization, public-safety coordination when needed, site control (perimeter, charging area, launch/recovery points), and a disciplined pre-flight. Then apply performance reality: density altitude, humidity, wind, and aircraft flight manual limits (including crosswind and hover ceiling) decide whether the mission is safe—not the client’s schedule.

TP 15263 groups flight operations knowledge around planning discipline. Advanced privileges (controlled airspace, near/over people, medium RPA, EVLOS/sheltered) raise the cost of a casual “looks fine from the truck” launch. Flight reviewers under Standard 921.02 / TP 15395 explicitly probe site survey, operation planning, and pre-flight checks. This section turns those exercises into exam-ready and field-ready habits.

PIC responsibilities

The pilot-in-command is the person who has final authority and responsibility for the operation of the RPAS. On Advanced commercial jobs that may mean you are also the account manager, sensor operator, or company owner—but those roles do not dilute PIC duties.

Exam trap: answering that the visual observer, client, or payload specialist holds final operational authority. They support the PIC; they do not replace the PIC’s regulatory and safety accountability.

Site survey process (complete checklist)

A site survey is a structured assessment, not a 30-second glance. Do it before launching, and re-survey if conditions change (crowd forms, weather shifts, temporary crane appears, NOTAM updates).

1. Obstacles and physical hazards

• Buildings, towers, cranes, power lines, guy wires, trees, bridges, and temporary structures
• Reflective glass and metal that confuse vision systems or create glare
• Confined courtyards that produce turbulence recirculation for multirotors
• Water, ice, soft ground, and slopes that complicate recovery
• Night or low-light shadowing if the operation extends into dusk

Map a vertical and horizontal obstacle envelope for the planned flight path, not only the takeoff pad.

2. People

• Uninvolved persons on sidewalks, balconies, parking lots, parks, and roads that dump pedestrians into the operating volume mid-flight
• Worker populations (construction crews) who may walk under the aircraft without warning
• Spectators attracted by the drone itself—plan how you will hold a safety perimeter
• Distance rules for near/over people with declared RPAS (30 m / 5 m small; 152.4 m / 30 m medium themes from earlier chapters)—the site survey is where those numbers become geometry on the ground

3. Airspace and aerodrome proximity

• Charted airspace class; control zones; Class F CYR/CYA
• Distance to certified airport centre (5.6 km / 3 NM) and heliports (1.9 km / 1 NM)
• Military aerodromes (DND permission inside 5.6 km)
• Required NAV CANADA RPAS Flight Authorization if controlled airspace
• NOTAMs, forest-fire restrictions, and temporary flight restrictions

4. Emergency landing zones (ELZs)

Identify primary and secondary areas where you can put the aircraft down with minimum risk to people and property if:

• Battery critically low
• Link degrades
• Propulsion anomaly or vibration appears
• Weather deteriorates suddenly
• Crewed traffic forces immediate descent/clearance

An ELZ is not “any open grass.” Prefer clear of people, power lines, roads with traffic, and glass atriums. Brief the crew on which ELZ is active for each phase of flight.

5. RF / electromagnetic environment

Command-and-control and GNSS can degrade near:

• Broadcast towers, radar, high-power RF sites
• Dense urban multipath (steel and glass canyons)
• Industrial EMI, welding, large motors
• Events with heavy Wi-Fi/video uplink congestion
• Other RPAS operations nearby

Site survey action: plan stand-off from known emitters, verify link quality on a short hover before committing to the full mission, and set lost-link behaviour appropriate to the geometry (next chapter section).

Landowner authorization and public safety coordination

Landowner / property authorization is separate from Transport Canada privileges. Advanced status does not give you a right to launch from private property, municipal parks with permit rules, industrial sites, or First Nations lands without the required consent or permit. Obtain and document permission for launch, recovery, and ground staging areas.

Public safety coordination is required when your operation intersects emergency scenes, police/fire/paramedic activity, large public events, or critical infrastructure where first responders manage the ground risk. Do not orbit a crash site, wildfire edge, or crime scene without permission from the responsible emergency response authority. Flying “to help film” without coordination can interfere with aircraft, radio, and personnel safety.

Charging areas, site control, and safety perimeter

Professional sites separate functions:

Site control means you can enforce who enters the operating volume. If you cannot keep people outside the risk area, the site is not suitable for that privilege set—even if airspace is perfect.

Launch and recovery points

Define launch and recovery (they need not be identical):

1. Into wind when practical for fixed-wing and many multirotor profiles
2. Clear climb-out without immediate obstacle overflight of people
3. Approach path free of wires and trees for final descent
4. Backup recovery if the primary pad is blocked mid-mission
5. For launchers/parachute recovery (from maintenance chapter themes), full safety templates and downrange keep-out zones

Brief abort criteria: “If a person enters the perimeter, hold or climb to safe hover and reassess; if link quality drops below X, return or land at ELZ-1.”

Pre-flight checks (exam and flight-review list)

Use a repeatable flow every sortie:

1. Documents & privileges — pilot certificate, recency, aircraft registration/marking, RPAS Flight Authorization if needed, declaration status for near/over people or controlled airspace, manuals available
2. Weather & performance — wind vs limits, visibility/cloud, icing risk (do not fly into known icing), density altitude effects, precipitation
3. Airframe & props — cracks, secure arms, prop condition, fasteners
4. Batteries — charge, temperature (cold soak awareness), swelling, connectors
5. Avionics & link — GNSS/compass, IMU health, control-link RSSI/quality, GCS power, correct home point
6. Failsafe programming — lost-link (RTH / hover / land), low-battery action, RTH altitude clear of obstacles, geofence if used
7. Payload — secure, powered, CG still in limits
8. Crew brief — roles, emergency words, ELZs, traffic scan responsibilities

If any required item fails, ground the system. Pre-flight is not theatre for the client camera.

Density altitude, humidity, and performance

Density altitude is pressure altitude corrected for non-standard temperature—high density altitude means thinner air, less propeller/rotor thrust, reduced climb, longer takeoff for fixed-wing, higher power for hover, and shorter endurance. Hot, high, and humid days stack against you.

Hover ceiling and maximum altitude performance

Hover ceiling is the maximum altitude at which the aircraft can maintain a hover for a given weight and atmospheric condition. Service/operating ceiling concepts from manned aviation translate as “maximum altitude where useful climb or control remains.” For RPAS:

• Manufacturer maximum operating altitude (MSL or AGL limits in the manual) and the regulatory 122 m / 400 ft AGL ceiling (unless otherwise authorized) are different constraints—honour the more restrictive applicable limit for the flight.
• Near hover ceiling, a gust or battery sag can produce an uncommanded descent—do not plan precision work at the absolute edge of performance.
• High density altitude + max payload + wind is a classic no-go combination even when the sky is blue.

Aircraft flight manual limits and crosswind

The aircraft flight manual (AFM) or manufacturer operating limitations define:

• Maximum take-off mass / gross weight
• CG envelope
• Maximum wind and crosswind components
• Temperature operating range
• Precipitation / IP rating limits
• Maximum flight altitude and speed
• Prohibited manoeuvres

Crosswind limits matter for fixed-wing launch/landing and for multirotors holding position near obstacles. Exceeding published wind limits is both a performance risk and a 901.30–901.31 manuals-followed compliance issue.

Performance planning sequence

1. Weigh configuration (airframe + batteries + payload).
2. Check mass/CG vs AFM.
3. Obtain site elevation, temperature, altimeter setting; estimate density altitude impact.
4. Compare forecast wind to max wind/crosswind.
5. Confirm hover/climb margin for the highest planned obstacle clearance and RTH altitude.
6. If margins are thin, reduce payload, wait for cooler air, change site, or cancel.

Integrated “mission ready” picture

A flight is ready only when legal, site-controlled, aircraft-serviceable, and performance-capable. Advanced ops that skip the site survey often fail in the same three ways on the exam and in the field: wrong airspace authorization, people under the flight path, and performance assumptions written for sea-level demo videos.

Bottom line: Act like a PIC. Survey obstacles, people, airspace, ELZs, and RF; get landowner and public-safety buy-in when needed; control the perimeter and charging/launch zones; run a full pre-flight with failsafe settings matched to the site; then apply AFM and density-altitude reality before you arm the motors.