WINGS www.wingsmagazine.com
Crawling Out from Under Airports big and small start to rebuild
Aircraft Acquisition Simplified Buying a plane in a tight market
The Electric Frontier
Joby Aviation eVTOL plans
NOV DEC 2021 CANADA’S NATIONAL AVIATION MAGAZINE
November/December 2021
UPFRONT 6 LEADING EDGE
Aircraft supply and demand
8 ON THE FLY
Elsie Award winners, Embraer selects SKYTRAC, Flair growth
12 ALTERNATIVE APPROACH The environmental push from Airbus and Boeing
14 POSITION REPORT
SpaceX illustrates the future of space tourism
BACK 34 Marketplace 38 ON FINAL
TSB reports on common deicing issues of the north after a three-year investigation
PHOTOS, TOP TO BOTTOM: JOBY AVIATION, JON ROBINSON, LEVAERO AVIATION
From the top: Audrey and Mike King with their Bell 407 GXi at the Aerial Firefighting Conference in Abbotsford. P16. There are now 107 Pilatus PC-12 aircraft in the Canadian market, sold through Levaero Aviation. P. 24
Joby Aviation aims to start its aerial riding sharing service in 2024, transporting one pilot and four revenue-generating seats at speeds of up to 200 mph, targetting flexible routes of anywhere from five to 150 kms. P18.
FEATURES 16 THE BUSINESS OF FIRE SUPPRESSION
Fixed wing takeaways from the second annual Aerial Firefighting Conference at Abbotsford YXX BY JON ROBINSON
18 THE ELECTRIC FRONTIER
eVTOL pioneer Eric Allison on the progress of Joby Aviation and the air taxi revolution BY JON ROBINSON
20 CRAWLING OUT FROM UNDER
How Canadian airports are focusing on development under the Covid-19 pandemic BY DAVID CARR
22 AN INNOVATION IN CONCRETE
A de-icing apron project leverages Halifax technology to reduce the carbon footprint of Calgary YYC BY MARCO MEJIA AND ALBERTO RUIZ
24 AIRCRAFT ACQUISITION SIMPLIFIED
Making the most of your capital investment in a tight supply environment BY PHIL LIGHTSTONE
27 2022 RPAS DIRECTORY
Inside Canada’s Remotely Piloted Aerial System industry
COVER PHOTO: LUKAS GOJDA, ADOBESTOCK
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November/Decemberx 2021 | WINGS
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LEADING
EDGE
By Jon Robinson |
Aircraft supply and demand
Prices to continue rise driven by sparse inventory and new optimism
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as inventory deficiencies. This includes preowned turboprop, light jet, midsize, large and ultra-long-range jet markets. The lack of aircraft supply – the seller’s market – is made more acute by growing optimism among business aircraft operators around the world. At its 2021 JETNET iQ Summit, held at the TWA Flight Center in mid-September, aviation research firm JETNET noted Net Optimism, which it measures the difference in the percentage of respondents who believe that the business aviation industry is past the low point in the current business cycle less those who believe the sector has not yet reached the low point, reached above 68 per cent. As measured by JETNET, this represented an 11-year high in the Q3 2021, after “cratering” at -43% in second quarter of 2020.
TOP DATA BURSTS… in this issue 1. DHL’s $100M Hamilton facility can process 28,000 packages per hour. P.11 2. Conair has modified the Q400 into airtankers since 2005, amounting to more than 8,000 hours of flight. P 16. 3. Joby aims to transport four passengers at speeds of up to 200 mph. P. 18 4. The YYC de-icing apron needed 25,300 cubic metres of concrete. P.22 5. IADA dealers buy and sell over 40% of all aircraft transactions. P. 24
WINGS | November/December 2021
At a time when its most recent survey was more than 80% complete, “Optimists” outnumber “Pessimists” by a factor of 8-to-1 in Q3 2021. JETNET, which has compiled dozens of aircraft marketplace surveys for more than a decade, describes this as a noteworthy customer metric that is fueling the demand for new and preowned aircraft – and driving higher flight activity in 2021: “With pre-owned business aircraft inventory, as a percentage of the in-service fleet, at all-time lows in late September 2021, would-be pre-owned buyers are flocking with their brokers/ dealers to the doors of the business aircraft manufacturers.” With its own unique access to the pulse of global aircraft sales, JETNET notes the most important question of the current environment might not be how sustainable is the demand, but rather how well can the supply chain deal with it. The firm notes this is exacerbated by the challenge of finding the skilled talent needed to build, sell, fly and maintain aircraft – an ongoing issue the industry was highly focused on for months before the world changed in March 2020. IADA dealers reported 40 transactions fell apart in Q3 2021, compared with 50 in the same period of 2020. IADA dealers also closed 325 deals this past quarter, compared with 283 in Q3 2020. Even with the aircraft inventory shortage, optimism is a powerful pill, as are growing manufacturer backlogs. | W
Textron Aviation in early October introduced its next generation Cessna Citation M2 Gen2 and Cessna Citation XLS Gen2 business jets.
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PHOTO: TEXTRON AVIATION
he Third Quarter Market Report released by the International Aircraft Dealers Association on October 18 presents an “astounding” 20 to 30 per cent increase in the sales prices of used business aircraft, relative to the corresponding quarter of 2020. The report is based a survey of accredited dealers of the International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA) and sales data, including statistics from North America (36 per cent), Europe (20), Latin America (18), Asia and the Pacific (15), Middle East and Africa (12), and less than one percent in the Caribbean. IADA explains its members buy and sell more aircraft by dollar volume than the rest of the world’s dealers combined, averaging more than 700 transactions and US$6 billion in volume per year. The global network includes 48 accredited dealers, certified brokers, all of the major OEMs, and more than 63 of the industry’s top products and services providers. The association has its finger on the pulse of the aircraft sales market, as outlined by Phil Lightstone in his timely feature article published in this issue, Aircraft Acquisition Simplified (page 24). Among the total 182 aircraft agreements made in the third quarter of 2021 by IADA dealers, only seven transactions involved lowered prices, while there were 83 deals with lowered prices over the same period in 2020, among much fewer 110 agreements. IADA Executive Director Wayne Starling describes the current market for used business aircraft as being in “an unusual place, with much higher prices and dearth of inventory.” Starling continues to explain the Q3 2021 responses from IADA members indicate the next six months will continue to hold increased pricing and demand for all sectors of the market, as well
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THE LEAD COMMERCIAL CARGO ELECTRIC PROPULSION
THE LEAD
NORTHERN LIGHTS CELEBRATES LEADERSHIP The 12th Annual Elsie Gala was held at the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North, Richmond Hill, on October 16, 2021. The Elsies Award program was established in 2009 and each year honours up to eight women for their contributions in specific aviation and aerospace disciplines. This year’s honorees include: Nancy Barber, Chief Operating Officer of Operational Industrialization, Footprint and Central Planning, for Bombardier Aviation (Business Award); Jo-Anne Tabobandung, Dean of Aviation at the First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI) on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory (Education Award); Kathryn Atamanchuk, P.Eng., MBA, PMP, FEC, Engineer-inResidence and Industry Partnerships Facilitator for the Price Faculty of Engineering at the University of Manitoba (Engineering Award). Stacey Jackson, WestJet B737NG First Officer, Canadian representative of the International Federation of Airline Pilot’s Association’s Female Pilot’s Working
Group, aircraft accident investigator with the Air Line Pilots Association (Flight Operations Award); Lieutenant Colonel Diane Baldasaro, Commanding Officer of 437 Squadron, responsible for Strategic Air-to-Air Refueling and VVIP Transport for the Government of Canada in the Polaris Airbus aircraft (Government Award); Honorary Colonel Kendra Kincade, Air Traffic Controller, founder, Chair and Executive Director of Elevate, a non-profit devoted to helping women realize their potential (Trailblazer Award); Maegan Extross, Research Analyst, NAV Canada, past President of the Seneca Aviation Association and Class Valedictorian (Rising Star Award); and Kathleen Legge, King Air 200 Captain, Assistant Chief Pilot, Company Aviation Safety Officer, and Marketing Manager for Maritime Air Charter and contract Gulfstream Astra SP Captain for NovaJet (Rising Star Award).
COMMERCIAL
FLAIR SET TO GROW SCHEDULE 33% Ultra-low-cost carrier Flair Airlines in October announced its plans to deploy four new 737 MAX aircraft by April and May 2022, which will include two additional jets added to its Toronto base, bring its total there to five. As well, a second aircraft will be added to Flair’s
Through a nomination and judging process NLAF Elsie Award honourees are recognized each fall at a gala dinner with industry leaders from across the country in attendance. 8
WINGS | November/December 2021
Flair says the addition of the new aircraft will create 150 new jobs for flight attendants, pilots and operational support staff.
Edmonton base and a third aircraft to its Vancouver base. As a result of the new aircraft deployments, Flair states its Spring 2022 schedule will expand from 12 aircraft to 16, delivering 33 per cent schedule growth. This will include 14 new routes, including service to four new destinations. Three of the new cities will be added to Flair’s network in the U.S., reaching San Francisco, Nashville and Denver. Flair will also launch Comox as a second gateway to Vancouver Island, complementing existing service to Victoria. Flair is also starting service to six U.S. destinations this fall. The airline says it will grow to serve 28 destinations by spring 2022. In December, Flair will open a base in Edmonton and add nonstop service to Hollywood, Las Vegas, Palm Springs and Phoenix.
EMBRAER SELECTS SKYTRAC, ACR ELECTRONICS TO PROVIDE GADSS SKYTRAC Systems Ltd. and ACR Electronics Inc. signed an agreement with Embraer, the world’s third-largest commercial aircraft manufacturer, to provide a newly developed Autonomous Distress Tracking (ADT) and Emergency Locator Transmitter with Distress Tracking (ELT-DT) technology. This solution will satisfy the European operational requirements and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recommendations relating to Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (GADSS), set to begin in January 2023. ACR Group, parent company of both SKYTRAC and ACR Electronics operations, explains this technology currently represents the offering of a full endto-end GADSS solution for airframe WWW.WINGSMAGAZINE.COM
PHOTOS: GUSTAVO CORUJO (BOTTOM), FLAIR AVIATION (TOP)
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Embraer will install the robust GADSS system, developed by SKYTRAC Systems and ACR Electronics, on E2 jets as a line-fit, factory-installed solution before delivery to airlines.
PHOTO: EMBRAER (TOP); DHL EXPRESS CANADA (BOTTOM)
manufacturers and airline operators. The ICAO GADSS recommendations, in response to the loss of flights Malaysia Airlines 370 (MH370) and Air France 447 (AF447), provide Rescue Coordination Centers (RCC) and airline Operational Control Centers (OCC) with advanced warning as well as an aircraft’s precise location if a distress scenario is detected. Embraer will install the system on E2 jets as a line-fit, factory-installed solution before delivery to airlines. Embraer will utilize the novel technology from both SKYTRAC and ACR Electronics to make it possible to track and locate aircraft in distress, ensuring compliance with GADSS recommendations set forth by ICAO.
FLIGHTSAFETY SELECTED BY BREEZE FOR A220 AND E190 TRAINING FlightSafety International has been selected by Breeze Airways to provide Airbus A220 and Embraer E190 Full Flight Simulators (FFS) and Flight Training Devices (FTD). As part of a long-term agreement, FlightSafety will also maintain the operation of the devices and other crew training equipment for Breeze. FlightSafety explains it is increasing its focus on training and equipment for the Commercial Airline Training market. The company is a leading provider of Airbus A220 training technology and has delivered nearly 40 E-jet Full
Flight Simulators. Breeze Airways is the new airline founded by veteran industry entrepreneur David Neeleman that started flight operations in 2021. The airline is currently flying to 16 underserved destinations in the U.S. The initial simulators, engineered and manufactured by FlightSafety in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, will be delivered to Breeze Training Academy in 2022. The simulators will incorporate technologies for highest fidelity and reliability, and the A220 FFS and FTD will utilize Airbus’ Standard 1.0 software.
CARGO
DHL OPENS DOORS OF $100M HAMILTON GATEWAY FACILITY DHL Express on September 28 officially opened the doors to its new facility in Hamilton, Ontario, located at the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport. The company invested $100 million to build the new facility, four times the size of the original building also located at Hamilton International Airport, in order to meet significant increase in shipping volumes. The Hamilton Gateway facility is four times the size of the previous one at 238,000 square feet, and features a fully-automated sort system with a capacity of processing 28,000
DHL Express Canada’s Hamilton Gateway Facility can process as many as 28,000 packages per hour. WWW.WINGSMAGAZINE.COM
November/December 2021 | WINGS
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ON THE
packages per hour. The airport also has 24-hour landing capability with dedicated Canada Border Services Agency staff on site, which DHL states to have influenced its decision to expand in Hamilton. DHL Express’ Hamilton facility previously employed 225 during peak season, with the expansion bringing about 150 more jobs to the area, some of those in the package sorting hub and others as part of the company’s delivery team. The expansion in Hamilton comes from what DHL describes as a drastic increase in shipping demand across the country over the past years. Since 2019, international trade has generated continuous growth in shipments per day for DHL Express in Canada, averaging at around 40 per cent growth. The pandemic has also generated a double-digit growth for the company, explaining, that since early 2020, it has experienced holiday season-like shipping volumes throughout the entire Americas region – almost 50 per cent in 2020 versus 2019. Canada is the third
10 WINGS | November/December 2021 WG_Diamond Aircraft_REV_March21_MLD.indd 1
Artist’s impression of the planned LCA60T used in a timber loading operation.
largest market in terms of growth for DHL Express in the region. Every month, 60 per cent of the total Canadian shipments are cleared at Hamilton International Airport.
FLYING WHALES TO BUILD AIRSHIP PRODUCTION IN QUEBEC The Franco-Quebec company Flying Whales develops what it calls the largest
cargo airship in the world with its LCA60T, is preparing to develop its activities in Quebec. The company describes the LCA60T airship as providing an affordable and environmentally friendly approach to transport heavy, oversized loads in dense or remote areas. Flying Whales states it will soon select an industrial site in Quebec for the assembly lines of its full fleet of LCA60T airships for the Americas. Several sites are under study. The selected site will produce all of the LCA60Ts intended for the Americas. The company states this represents tens of millions in investment and, ultimately, the creation of some 200 direct jobs. Still to be certified, the LCA60T is described as a heavy duty rigid airship with a 60-tonne payload capacity. It is 200 metres (m) long with a 96 m by 8 m by 7 m high cargo bay that is supported by 10 non-pressurized helium cells. It is powered by a 4 MW hybrid electric propulsion chain. Flying Whales, in making its statement about focusing on developing out of
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IMAGE:FLYING WHALES
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PHOTO:DIAMOND AIRCRAFT
Quebec, announced it is reorganizing its shareholder structure. Back on September 9, 2021, Avic General sold its shares equalling a 24.9 per cent stake in Flying Whales, via Avic General France, to the current French shareholders, who have been joined by French banking group Oddo.As a result, French public and private shareholders own 75 per cent of Flying Whales and Quebec owns 25 per cent through Investissement Québec (IQ). The Montreal subsidiary “Les dirigeables Flying Whales Québec” is 50.1 per cent owned by FLYING WHALES and 49.9 per cent by IQ.
ELECTRIC PROPULSION
DIAMOND AIRCRAFT TO DEVELOP ALLELECTRIC TRAINER Diamond Aircraft on October 12 announced its plan to develop an
The Diamond Aircraft eDA40 will leverage Electric Power Systems’ EPiC battery technology.
all-electric training aircraft, the eDA40, and has chosen Electric Power Systems’ EPiC battery technology and accompanying Ecosystem. Initial flights of the eDA40 are scheduled for Q2 2022. Certification is expected in 2023. Since 2011, Diamond has been researching and developing electric and hybrid electric platform solutions. At Paris Airshow in 2011, in co-operation with Siemens, Diamond introduced the DA36 E-Star, described then as the world’s first aircraft with a serial hybrid electric drive system based on the HK36 motor glider. Diamond is partnering with battery technology company Electric Power Systems to integrate the EPiC Ecosystem into
the eDA40, a derivative of the existing and certified DA40 platform. The Electric Power Systems’ Battery Module will be equipped with a DC fast charging system, capable of turning around a depleted aircraft in under 20 minutes. Batteries will be installed in a custom designed belly pod and between the engine and the forward bulkhead. The aircraft will feature the latest Garmin G1000 NXi glass cockpit and will have several avionics add-ons available. Total flight time is expected to be up to 90 minutes as the battery technologies evolve. The eDA40, according to Diamond, is expected to reduce operating costs by up to 40 per cent compared to traditional piston aircraft. | W
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ALTERNATIVE
APPROACH
By David Carr |
Mark your calendar
Airbus and Boeing are setting different courses to help the aviation industry reach IATA’s ambitious 2050 net-zero carbon goal
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“Many of our improvements come with a lot of small things at once,” Mike Sinnett, Boeing’s VP of Product Development told Reuters. “Focusing on SAF is really important because there are thousands of airplanes already flying. The airplanes that will go into service for the next 10 years have already been designed and those engines have been certified.” Boeing has committed to 100 per cent of its fleet operating on SAF by 2030. IATA estimates that only 23 billion litres of alternative fuel (5.2 per cent of the total fuel requirement) will be available by then, and does not see production of SAF reaching 50 per cent of the requirement before 2045. Re-engineering the world’s air transport system will not come cheap. Both hydrogen and SAF have quite the cost curve to bend to compete with kerosene, including mass production, distribution and storage. The Airbus ZEROe initiative is the centrepiece of a European Union multi-billion-euro green stimulus fund. It is unlikely Boeing will launch a net-zero program without significant government backing. And, airplanes aren’t the only piece of the air transport ecosystem, which includes airports, fuel distribution and other bits of infrastructure. There is a lot of retooling ahead. | W
The Airbus ZEROe blended-wing concept aims to leverage two hybrid hydrogen turbofan engines with liquid hydrogen storage tanks located underneath the wings. storage capacity. And, there is no available commercial engine to support hydrogenpowered flight. That will change. Airbus is going bold, committing to build a short-to-medium range hydrogenpowered aircraft by 2035. The company is currently studying three concept aircraft known as ZEROe, including a turboprop, turbofan and blended-wing option. Airbus has signed a memorandum of understanding with Air New Zealand on a joint study to explore the potential for hydrogen-powered aircraft operations. “Hydrogen is one of the most promising technology vectors to allow mobility; to continue fulfilling the basic human need for mobility in better harmony with our environment,” Gravia Vitaldini, Airbus’ CTO, told the BBC. Boeing, which experimented with hydrogen in 2000, is sceptical of the 2035-timeframe and is casting its lot with the 65 per cent; the alternative fuel solutions IATA believes will lead the march to zero-emissions.
WWW.WINGSMAGAZINE.COM
PHOTO: AIRBUS
he next major commercial aircraft launch will almost certainly be the Airbus A220-500. A larger derivative of the baseline CSeries with potential to become the thoroughbred of the A220 stable. What follows is a tougher bet. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has committed the industry to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Less than 30 years from now, when it is estimated that traffic levels will hit 10 billion passengers a year. Net zero refers to not adding to the amount of heat trapping greenhouse gasses already in the atmosphere, and will require a level of offsets and carbon capturing in addition to advances in aircraft technology. There is a need to cut emissions to meet passenger demand growth. Indeed, IATA estimates that to reach its target, a total of 21.2 gigatons of carbon needs to be cut between now and 2050. A gigaton is equivalent to a billion times more mass than a metric ton. Meaning that the next generation of cleansheet designs is going to represent a leap in technology as great as the arrival of the jet age and transition to wide-bodied aircraft, over a span of approximately 25 years. A starting point will be the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation that sets out to stabilize emissions at 2019 levels for now. Over a longer term, IATA suggests that 65 per cent of its zero-emission target will be realized by sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), with a further 13 per cent coming from propulsion technology breakthroughs like hydrogen. SAF versus hydrogen appears to have triggered the biggest course diversion between Airbus and Boeing on the future of market trends since the A380 went nose to nose with the 787, a bet that Airbus hedged with the A350. Hydrogen is lighter than conventional jet fuel, emits clean water and packs threetimes more energy per unit of mass; and 100 times greater than the lithium-ion battery that helps power Boeing’s ground-breaking 787. Experiments on hydrogen-propelled aircraft have been going on since the 1950s. Hydrogen is also highly combustible, cost prohibitive to produce in current specialized quantities and requires four times the
POSITION
REPORT
By Wendy Whitman Cobb |
The future of space tourism
SpaceX Inspiration4 mission sent four people with minimal training into orbit – and brought space tourism closer to reality
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all-civilian space mission. While the rocket and crew capsule are both fully automated – no one on board needed to control any part of the launch or landing – the four members still needed to go through much more training than the people on the suborbital flights. In less than six months, crew members have undergone hours of simulator training and lessons in flying a jet aircraft and spent time in a centrifuge to prepare them for the G-forces of launch. Social outreach has also been an important aspect of the mission. While Bezos’
Inspiration4’s emphasis on public involvement and the fact that the mission put Regular people into orbit for three days make it a milestone in space tourism. Sembroski, won his seat when his friend was chosen in a charity raffle for St. Jude and offered his seat to Sembroski. Because none of the four participants had any prior formal astronaut training, the flight has been called the first
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PHOTOS: SPACEX
ust after 8:00 pm EST on Sept. 15, 2021, the next batch of space tourists lifted off aboard a SpaceX rocket. Organized and funded by entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, the Inspiration4 mission touts itself as “the first all-civilian mission to orbit” and represents a new type of space tourism. The four crew members are not the first space tourists this year. In the past few months, the world witnessed billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos launching themselves and a lucky few others into space on brief suborbital trips. While there are similarities between those launches and Inspiration4 – the mission is being paid for by one billionaire and is using a rocket built by another, Elon Musk – the differences are noteworthy. From my perspective as a space policy expert, the mission’s emphasis on public involvement and the fact that Inspiration4 put regular people into orbit where they would stay for three days make it a milestone in space tourism. The biggest difference between Inspiration4 and the flights performed earlier this year is the destination. Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic took – and in the future, will take – their passengers on suborbital launches. Their vehicles go only high enough to reach the beginning of space before returning to the ground a few minutes later. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and crew Dragon vehicle, however, are much more powerful and have taken the Inspiration4 crew all the way into orbit, where they would circle the Earth for three days. The four-person crew is also quite different from those on the other launches. Led by Isaacman, the mission features a somewhat diverse group of people. One crew member, Sian Proctor, won a contest among people who use Isaacman’s online payment company. Another unique aspect of the mission is that one of its goals is to raise awareness of and funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. As such, Isaacman selected Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude and childhood cancer survivor, to participate in the launch. The final member, Christopher
and Branson’s flights brought on criticism of billionaire playboys in space, Inspiration4 has tried – with mixed results – to make space tourism more relatable. The crew recently appeared on the cover of Time magazine and is the subject of an ongoing Netflix documentary. There have also been other fundraising events for St. Jude, including a 4-mile virtual run and the planned auction of beer hops that will be flown on the mission. Sending a crew of amateur astronauts into orbit is a significant step in the development of space tourism. However, despite the more inclusive feel of the mission, there are still serious barriers to overcome before average people can go to space. For one, the cost remains quite high. Though three of the four are not rich, Isaacman is a billionaire and paid an estimated US$200 million to fund the trip. The need to train for a mission like this also means that prospective passengers must be able to devote significant amounts of time to prepare – time that many ordinary people don’t have. Finally, space remains a dangerous place and there will never be a way to fully remove the danger of launching people – whether untrained civilians or seasoned
professional astronauts – into space. Despite these limitations, orbital space tourism is coming. For SpaceX, Inspiration4 is an important proof of concept that demonstrated the safety and reliability of their autonomous rocket and capsule systems. Indeed, SpaceX has several tourist missions planned in the next few months, even though the company isn’t focused on space tourism. Some will even includes stops at the International Space Station.
Even as space remains out of reach for most on Earth, Inspiration4 is an example of how billionaire space barons’ efforts to include more people on their journeys can give an otherwise exclusive activity a wider public appeal. | W Wendy Whitman Cobb is a Professor of Strategy and Security Studies at the US Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. This article originally appeared on The Conversation.
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The sold-out Aerial Firefighting Conference at YXX took place in the hangar of Airside Event Spaces with a Static Display on the ramp of Andre’s Welding.
THE BUSINESS OF FIRE SUPPRESSION
FIXED WING HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SECOND ANNUAL AERIAL FIREFIGHTING CONFERENCE AT ABBOTSFORD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
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n October 26, Wings and Helicopters hosted their first in-person conference in nearly two years, since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, to focus on another critical economic and health issue facing the world, the unprecedented growth in devastating wildfires. After a wet summer in Canada in 2020, this year’s fire season ushered in enormous damage primarily on the West Coast, highlighted by the Lytton Fire that caused the death of two people and destroyed around 90 per cent of the small BC town. Just days before it was engulfed in flames, Lytton made headlines for recording Canada's highest-ever temperature of 49.6 C (121.3 F). 16 WINGS | November/December 2021
Jeff Berry of Conair Group opened up the second annual Aerial Firefighting Conference with a presentation slide that simply read, Wildfires Have Changed. He continued to describe the impact of climate change in relation to the critical aviation-led management of wildfires, which Conair translates as actively changing its response: To anticipate future needs, adapt with new tools and act swiftly with precision. Headquartered at Abbotsford International, YXX, where the one-day conference took place, Conair over its 50-plus year history has modified more than 175 individual aircraft across 15 types for aerial firefighting. One of its ground-breaking Dash 8 Q400AT airtankers sat just metres WWW.WINGSMAGAZINE.COM
PHOTOS: JON RIOBINSON, MENA MIU
BY JON ROBINSON
Jeff Berry, Vice President of Business Development of Conair Group, opens up the Aerial Firefighting Conference by describing the increasing importance for Canadian aviation to continue its lead in combating wildfires.
away from the conference sessions, taking place inside Airside Event Spaces, on the ramp of Andre’s Welding and Machining as part of a Static Display. The ramp also included a Fire Boss Airbus 332L1 Super Puma brought in by Coldstream Helicopters and a Bell 407GXi brought in by White Saddle Air. Berry described how Western Canada is leading the world in the advancement of aerial firefighting technology and strategy, which is highlighted by Conair’s Training + Tactics Centre and its new Mission Training System. Mark Baird described these advances to the crowd as the company responds to the need for training more aerial firefighting pilots and increasing skill levels
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to create safer missions. He explains the Training + Tactics Centre is the only such facility in the world, housing an AVRO RJ85 Level D FFS and an AT802 Level 5 FTD. The new Mission Training System will mimic the complex aerial arena often experienced over a wildfire, with Bird Dog and amphibious aircraft flying together simultaneously over a virtual fire. Dan Seroussi, Director of Programs with Viking Air Limited, then discussed plans to develop the Twin Otter Fire Attack System, based on a contract announced in August 2021 with PAL Aerospace. He described how Viking Air, along with its parent company, Longview Aviation Capital, is the world’s most involved aircraft OEM in the aerial firefighting sector. Seroussi noted, however, that many companies or governments may not have access to funding needed to renew fleets or to specialize platforms. This is the primary reason for empowering the existing DHC-6 300 and 400 fleet, accounting for approximately 555 aircraft worldwide (424 Twin Otter 300s and 131 Twin Otter 400s manufactured by Viking Air since 2011). He walked attendees through a range or proprietary costs and technological assessments of the Twin Otter Fire Attack System, with A-kit and removable B-kit modifications expected to be certified by July 2022. The conference also featured three rotary-wing sessions, including one on aircraft innovations by Bell Textron, an operator panel with Coldstream, White Saddle and Yellowhead, as well as IQonboard outlining the potential of digital manifests. (See Helicopters’ winter issue). A range of sponsors and exhibitors helped make the sold-out, live day possible, including: Andre’s Welding, Airbus, ATEQ, Bell, Canadian Propeller, Conair, Erickson, Flying Colours, IQonboard, Kadex, SEI Industries, Select Helicopters, Spidertracks, Western Propeller and Viking Air. | W
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THE ELECTRIC FRONTIER
JOBY AVIATION AND THE AIR TAXI REVOLUTION
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BY JON ROBINSON
oby Aviation on July 27, at its Electric Flight Base near Big Sur, completed a 154.6-mile test flight of its full-size – four revenue-earning seats plus one pilot – prototype aircraft on a single charge. After Chief Test Pilot Justin Paines spent one hour and 17 minutes in the air, making 11 laps of a predefined circuit, the California company’s founder and CEO, JoeBen Bevirt, noted the flight’s significance based on what many believed to be impossible with today’s battery technology. He described it as a first step toward making convenient, emissions-free air travel between places like San Francisco and Lake Tahoe (156 straight-line miles), Houston and Austin (146 miles), or Los 18 WINGS | November/December 2021
Angeles and San Diego (111 miles) an everyday reality. Joby’s prototype aircraft uses commercially available lithium-ion batteries, adapted for aerospace use. The July 27 flight speaks to the efficiency and design of Joby’s prototype, which has quietly been in the making for more than a decade (now with more than 1,000 test flights completed). With the aircraft’s recent public unveiling in the rugged landscape of the Santa Lucia Mountains, Joby now looks best positioned to lead the highly anticipated transportation revolution of all-electric air taxi services. With a FAA Type Certification goal set for 2023, Joby expects its aircraft to start commercial passenger service in 2024.
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PHOTO: JOBY AVIATION
Joby expects its aircraft to start commercial passenger service in 2024, transporting a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 200 mph.
In December 2020, Joby, even if it was already well-known within the aviation sector, made its advanced commercialization ambitions clear by reaching an agreement to buy Uber’s Elevate operation, which since 2016 had laid out much of the groundwork for an aerial ride-share market. In August 2021, Joby then became the first U.S.-based eVTOL company listed on the NYSE, through a Special Purpose Acquisition Company merger (SPAC) with Reinvent Technology Partners, led by LinkedIn Co-founder Reid Hoffman. The SPAC transaction, according to Reinvent, valued Joby at a US$4.5 billion, with proceeds raised, plus cash on the balance sheet as of March 31, 2021 equaling approximately US$1.6 billion. The proceeds are expected to fund Joby through its initial commercial operations. The addition of Uber Elevate integrates Joby’s pioneering aircraft development with a go-to-market product infrastructure, in terms of determining how an all-electric aerial ride sharing service can be rolled out to consumers. Beyond the aerostructures and propulsion intrigue of ever more amazing eVTOL aircraft, there are many infrastructure and operational pieces to fit together for true success. Much of this needed platform vision falls on the shoulders of Eric Allison, Head of Product for Joby and one of the eVTOL sector’s pioneering explorers, who has known Bevirt since before 2010. Allison joined Joby in January 2021 after becoming the lead of Uber Elevate in March 2018. Prior to joining Elevate, he spent more than eight years with Zee.Aero, including three years as CEO, directing the company’s engineering operation in its aim to develop an autonomous eVTOL called Cora. (Zee.areo ultimately became Wisk, which is now backed by Boeing.) At Uber Elevate, however, Allison focused on customer-facing strategies, instead of aircraft development, which is now serving Joby’s complete vision. “Joby is building a vertically integrated business,” says Allison. “We envision providing trips for people and we’re also designing and manufacturing the aircraft. We’re going to operate them, as well.” He continues to explain how Joby’s strategy focuses on how a consumer will interact with this new type of transportation – “It is what I think about every day.” At the start of 2021, Joby began to release specifications and images of its six-bladed, full-size prototype, being developed with tilting fans to reach top speeds of up to 200 mph. In addition to innovative aircraft design, distributed electric propulsion allows for redundancy for safety and propeller flexibility (realized through dozens of iterations) for strong noise abatement. Joby’s resulting prototype can currently takeoff
and hover with a decibel measurement – at around 55 decibels – about one thousand times less than that a helicopter (90 decibels) and avoid the high-pitch whine associated with drones. Flight of the Joby prototype, with its forward-titling rotors, is even quieter than its hover – key to success in the Urban Air Mobility market. “Electric propulsion technologies enable new degrees of freedom in designing aircraft. One of those new degrees of freedom is distributing propulsion across the aircraft in a way that’s not possible with traditional technologies,” explains Allison. “Distributed electric propulsion [opens] up new types and new forms of aircraft, new concepts, that you can then apply to new types of missions.” Allison emphasizes Joby has been working on determining its best form of distributed electric propulsion aircraft since being founded in 2009, refining the optimization of the technology and overall shape the aircraft, and is now “leaning into” its commercialization. “The mission we are going after is relatively short range, call it five to 150 miles, because we have a pretty flexible aircraft that can efficiently serve a relatively wide range of trip links, but in an urban or
semi-urban environment,” says Allison. This is where Joby’s new aircraft design is supported by Uber Elevate’s own historic software development to connect aerial ride sharing with ground transportation to revolutionize how people move around in urban environments. The Elevate team put this concept to the test in 2019 with the launch of Uber Copter, described as the world’s first seamless multimodal mobility product. With a single push of a button, Uber Copter in the background built an entire trip itinerary, allowing people in New York City to be picked up by an Uber driver, taken to a heliport for a helicopter ride across the East River, and then picked up by another car to reach their final destination. “Fundamentally, the vision that we’ve laid out is one of an end-to-end experience. We will have both our own entry points [with] a Joby app, that will enable you to request the trip, and through our partner Uber we will be able to provide first- and last-mile transportation with a car; and then we will be able to get you to the optimal skyport, match you into the next available flight or the best available flight to get you to your final destination with significant time savings on the overall trip. That’s the North
Star vision of what we’re building.” For Allison, this North Star is the culmination of years of propulsion research and development, which began with building large radio-controlled model airplanes as an undergrad. Then at Stanford, where in 2000 he began specializing in Aeronautics and Astronautics, Allison worked with a professor on tethered micro air vehicles (quadrotors). Allison’s Ph.D. thesis was on Ultrasonic Propulsion, a system to wirelessly propel a capsule around a patient’s stomach to do remote endoscopy. Captivated by flying machines since he was a child, Allison is now just months away from helping to commercialize a new future for aviation. “We’re working on a Type Certification of the aircraft and that’s a very critical gate that we must get through. In parallel, we’re working on building up our skilled production capability that will then go along with our production certificate,” says Allison. “We have already filed for our initial Part 135 Certificate that will be the foundation of our operation, and we are building up the software platform… Those are the three pillars of what we are building over the next few years as we mature the technology, finish the Type Certification process and bring the vehicle into service.” | W
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CRAWLING OUT FROM UNDER
HOW CANADIAN AIRPORTS BIG AND SMALL ARE DEVELOPING UNDER THE PANDEMIC
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BY DAVID CARR anadian air transport is showing signs of life, especially domestic and transborder. The rebound is stronger in the U.S. where airlines reported leisure travellers bouncing back to pre-Covid levels over the July 4 holiday. Still, predicting a more sustainable return remains a moving target with 2024 now the ‘best guess’ to when the sector will fully recover. For cash-strapped Canadian airports, that will be a long climb. Canada’s airports, especially busier National Airport System (NAS) facilities such as Toronto Pearson, Calgary and Moncton have had a rougher ride than counterparts 20 WINGS | November/December 2021
elsewhere, including government-owned airports subsidized internally and countries like Australia that provided early support for its battered airline industry. Passenger traffic at Calgary International Airport plunged to 1996 levels. “Airports are hurting in all parts of the world, but Canada really has had the worst of all worlds,” Daniel Gooch, president of the Canadian Airports Council (CAC) told Wings this in the spring. “In markets where the airport has not received funds but the airline has, you didn’t see the withdrawal of service that Canadian airports saw.” This situation was mitigated somewhat
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PHOTO: LUKAS GOJDA, ADOBESTOCK
Ottawa has introduced a $1.7 billion basket of supports to Canadian airports.
with new aviation-specific federal funding that began to roll out in spring 2021. Funding programs include the new Regional Air Transport Initiative (RATI) a $206-million program that provides support over two years to eligible regional businesses and airports that directly contribute to regional air transportation. Seven regional airports in the prairies recently shared in $4 million in RATI funding. “While these programs have been very helpful, they were introduced much later than support programs in other jurisdictions, so Canadian airports continued to operate with limited revenue and increased debt long after their international counterparts. Moreover, we do not know if this funding will be extended, despite the ongoing impacts of the third and fourth waves,” Gooch said. To-date, airports in the U.S. have shared in over US$20 billion in government pandemic assistance, plus early support for the airline industry. Even with the recent rebound, the Federal Aviation Administration just approved US$8 billion under the Airport Rescue Grants program as part of the US$1.9 trillion stimulus package passed by congress in March. Airports are using the money to cover operating costs, service debt, introduce new Covid measures and support hard-hit concessions. “Despite some positive signs and news, Covid-19 remains an existential crisis for airports, airlines and their commercial partners. The aviation industry needs support and practical policy decisions from governments,” the Montreal-based Airports Council International (ACI), a global industry trade association said in a statement. Canada was fast out of the starting blocks in 2020, granting the country’s NAS airports a 12-month rent waiver worth $137 million. All tolled, Ottawa has announced a $1.7 billion basket of supports to airports, including the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (valued at approximately $140 million for 2020), money for Covid testing and capital investment for infrastructure, much of which represents deferred rent payments or infrastructure funding requiring matching contributions. For smaller NAS airports, rent has been waived for 2021 while the four busiest airports that pay about 90 per cent of freight have only seen rent deferred. But the vast majority of Canadian airports don’t pay rent and the smaller airports that do paid only about $15 million in 2019. Also, federal money for infrastructure is a matching grant program with even the smallest airports already struggling financially expected to cover half the cost. “Infrastructure funding has been very helpful for many commercial airports, but some of the smallest airports have already used up their cash. Handing someone who
PHOTO: PORTSTORONTO
doesn’t have any money a 50 per cent off coupon is not all that helpful,” Gooch said. “The result could be smaller community airports deferring important projects like runway maintenance for a couple of years at the same time that traffic is returning.” The CAC estimates that Canadian airports will have taken a $5.5 billion hit in lost revenue over the two years since Covid brought air transport to a halt, and will have racked up an additional $2.8 billion in debt. Stacked against those numbers, Ottawa’s basket of supports looks more like a drop in the bucket, especially when factoring in the biggest piece, the Airport Critical Infrastructure Program (ACIP) is spread over five years. To further ease the burden, Gooch recommends the federal government do more of what it has been doing, with a moratorium rather than deferral on ground lease rents until NAS airports have recovered, more options for interest free loans and greater operational support such as the Airport Relief Fund (ARF) for airports whose revenues for 2019 were less than $250 million. Canada’s NAS airport authorities are ‘non-share’ corporations that operate the asset on the government’s behalf. When times are good, revenue from ground leases pours into government coffers. In 2021, as these same airports struggle under Covid restrictions and a 90 per cent drop in traffic, it is a bit rich that the government would add to the debt burden by only deferring its cut. “This isn’t going to be the only year that’s tough,” Gooch pointed out. “Airports need to keep that money. If traffic and revenue remain down, that could be worth $90 to $100 million for airports.” The biggest bucket in Ottawa’s airport support package is the Airport Critical Infrastructure Program (ACIP), a $490 million investment over five years to help NAS airports with infrastructure improvements related to safety, security and ground connectivity. Just over 20 per cent of the ACIP is already earmarked for a new Réseau express métropolitan (REM) light rail underground station at Montréal Trudeau, part of a $600 million project that includes a $300 million loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Canada lags behind other developed economies in plugging airports into a broader public transport grid so REM puts ACIP on the right track. The size of the project also illustrates that the fund will run out of money long before airports’ critical infrastructure wish list does. Covid has pressed the pause button on major infrastructure projects such as Vancouver’s CORE program, including an estimated $350 million environmentallyfriendly Geoexchange system that was expected to cut carbon dioxide emissions from passenger terminal heating and cooling by up to 35 per cent from 2012 levels. WWW.WINGSMAGAZINE.COM
A night view of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which saw commercial traffic return in the fall of 2021.
As the Covid crisis eases and markets rebound, Canadian airports will have to navigate a course of billions of dollars in environmental and social sustainability projects, many that will be government-mandated, while anchored to the financial devastation left by the pandemic. Where will the money come from? Prior to Covid, airports had a solid business model based on landing and terminal fees and non-aeronautical revenue streams such as retail and parking concessions, and the golden goose of all; airport improvement fees. “The only way airports can raise funds right now is to borrow,” Gooch said. “Airports have traditionally had access to fairly good terms. But borrowing is now the problem. All that added debt and interest has to be repaid and the only way is to recoup that is in rates, charges and fees.” In the U.S., airports are expected to share in President Joe Biden’s massive US$1 trillion infrastructure bill intended to modernize and upgrade roads, bridges and other key assets. American airports faced a US$115 billion backlog in necessary infrastructure upgrades before Covid hit. “We’re trying to build 21st-century airports. But we have 20th-century airports that are, on average, more than 40 years old,” Kevin Burke, ACI North America’s chief executive told NBC News. Canada’s airport infrastructure is not in a similar fix, but there is also no equivalent of the U.S. infrastructure spending bill on the horizon to help airports crawl out from under the Covid rock and modernize in a post-pandemic world, where responding to climate change will be at the top of air transport’s agenda. There is also concern over the next crisis and when it will happen. In a world where ‘once-in-a-century’ storms are now once-in-a-decade or less it is not unreasonable to assume that years the timeline between major pandemics will also shrink. “Resiliency is critical,” Gooch said. “Airports have taken on all this debt. What
happens if there is another crisis in five years or another pandemic in 10? They won’t have recovered yet.” Without added rent relief, a boost to the ACIP infrastructure fund and ARF for smaller airports, operators are going to have to rely on the revenue tools available, including raising user charges and non-aeronautical revenue streams such as the airport improvement fee. Some of the smaller local airports may have to shut down altogether. Several NAS airports have already hiked fees, but there is a limit. And as the Covid-19 bills pour in, the federal government is going to have less money to enrich programs like the ACIP and ARF, especially when weighing a commercial and quasi-commercial sector like transport against other spending priorities such as health care, Canada’s dysfunctional long-term care sector and child care. Forcing the government and airport authorities to confront the controversial issue of private equity stakes, or privatization. on the government and airport authorities. Australia privatized the last of its airports in 2003, only the third country to do so. In July, Sydney Airport Holdings, the operator of Australia’s busiest airport rejected a US$16.6 billion take over offer, describing the bid as “opportunistic” and not reflecting the airport’s “true value”, even during a pandemic. Which offers a peek into the value of the portfolio of “non-share” airport corporations that the cash-strapped federal government is sitting on. “When we get to the other side of Covid, we are going to have some very good conversations with government about how we address high debt loads, the situations some airports find themselves in and how we strengthen airports for the long-term,” Gooch said. “Those conversations will need to be smart ones. Some of the commentary about privatization in the past has been superficial and about the private sector doing things better. It is more complex than that.” | W November/December 2021 | WINGS 21
The Calgary Airport Authority in 2019 embarked on the East Deicing Apron construction project that would greatly improve its winter operations.
AN INNOVATION IN CONCRETE
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED IN NOVA SCOTIA HELPS CALGARY INTERNATIONAL REDUCE ITS CARBON FOOTPRINT THROUGH A DEICING APRON PROJECT
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he process of building and operating airports can be emissions intensive. The building materials that are used take significant emissions to create, aircraft use fossil fuels to operate, and goods are transported to and from airports using similar carbon-intensive resources. As the world moves toward more environmentally progressive solutions, the aviation industry is working to reduce its carbon footprint. Airports are being powered using greener energy sources. Aircraft manufacturers are experimenting with, and implementing, lower-carbon fuels. Passengers are travelling to and from airports using modes of transportation with less carbon intensity. And airport authorities are investing in opportunities to reduce emissions in all aspects of the construction and maintenance of their facilities. At WPS, it’s important for us to understand where emissions savings can be found. We ensure that we are aware of the newest technologies and innovations available to the industry that can help reduce emissions at any step of the operation. One of our more recent discoveries was applied to a project we were involved with, creating a new way to reduce emissions for airport projects here in Canada and around the world. In 2019, the Calgary Airport Authority embarked on a new construction project that would greatly improve its winter operations, the East Deicing Apron project. The project 22 WINGS | November/December 2021
called for the construction of a central area where planes would get de-iced, rather than have this operation take place at their assigned gates. The pad, approximately the size of six football fields, was built to reduce delays, ease congestion, and increase throughput times day and night. Added lighting ensured nighttime operations could be done as efficiently as daytime activities. The apron was sized to accommodate up to six aircraft at any time. Part of the project mandate for the apron included looking for ways to deliver the project with a reduced carbon footprint. Harris Switzman, Environment Manager, Calgary Airport Authority, explains one of the airport’s guiding principles is to “Take action to care for our wellbeing, economic prosperity and environment in an equitable way today and into the future. YYC is aligned in continuing a path towards net-zero emissions with the Canadian aviation sector and the country’s bold commitments.” The research conducted landed on a new product, in the early stages of commercialization, that had developed a way to bury carbon with concrete. “CarbonCure beneficially repurposes postindustrial carbon dioxide into concrete production in order to reduce the carbon footprint of the concrete without compromising its performance,” says Christie Gamble, Senior Director of Sustainability of CarbonCure Technologies, based in Halifax. “CarbonCure’s WWW.WINGSMAGAZINE.COM
PHOTO: CARBONCURE TECHNOLOGIES
BY MARCO MEJIA AND ALBERTO RUIZ
technology injects a precise dose of the captured CO2 into concrete while it’s mixing. Once introduced, the CO2 reacts with cement and converts into a calcium carbonate mineral that becomes permanently embedded in the concrete. This mineralization provides a compressive strength benefit that enables the concrete producer to reduce cement, and associated carbon emissions, all while maintaining the strength and durability properties that are critical for this type of project.” CarbonCure was engaged to help the project team learn more about the technology process and to ensure it would be suitable for an all-weather outdoor application. Calgary winters face extreme cold, with temperatures dipping below -30 degrees Celsius. The city is also facing hotter summers, with temperatures reaching well above 30 degrees Celsius. Any pavement used for the deicing facility would need to withstand the entire range of weather experienced in Calgary. As part of the research to see how the solution could work at YYC, the team was given the opportunity to participate in a site tour at another major Canadian airport, where the product had been implemented on an apron expansion. The application of concrete for YYC’s deicing apron, approximately 25,300 cubic metres in total, was directed by project contractor PCL. The company employed the use of an onsite batch plant, enabling them to have a steady stream of material ready when needed. The injected carbon, shipped by truck to the airport, was derived from waste CO2 from industrial processes. The concrete was applied to the apron through August and September of 2019. During the application, there were no notable complications that were reported based on the pouring or curing of the material. Approximately 160 tonnes of carbon savings were realized using the technology. That is comparable to the amount of CO2 emissions generated from burning more than 59,400 litres of diesel fuel or the annual carbon sequestration of 196 acres of forest. In its first season of operation, the deicing apron serviced more than 8,000 aircraft, with no issues realized from the use of the new pavement technology applied. It is important to find ways to apply innovative new technologies that will improve the overall quality of a project’s constructability and lifecycle. CarbonCure’s technology enabled the team to provide a tangible climate benefit to the Calgary Airport Authority thanks to a made-in-Canada innovation. The first-of-its-kind application
represents a potential breakthrough for the aviation sector, using carbon sequestration in concrete pavement to reduce each airport’s overall environmental footprint. Early results of this application as seen in Calgary are encouraging and have regenerated interest within other WSP global market sectors. We recognize that it may not be a solution for every concrete pour on every site, as you have to balance the economic and environmental costs of the products you use. In many cases, concrete pours of a certain scale will be necessary to make this solution work for your
bottom line. However, this is a valuable option for airports looking at cost-effective options for positive, long-term environmental impacts. As Canada works toward its goal of net zero emissions by 2050, we look forward to working with companies that can provide environmental solutions to reduce the aviation industry’s carbon footprint. | W Alberto Ruiz is senior national manager, aviation planning and terminal buildings lead, for WSP in Canada, Caribbean, and Latin America.
A QUIET CABIN FOR A PLANE THAT SPEAKS VOLUMES www.pilatus-aircraft.com
Stan Kuliavas, Vice President of Sales | sales@levaero.com | 1.844.538.2376 November/December 2021 | WINGS 23
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AIRCRAFT ACQUISITION SIMPLIFIED
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR NEXT AIRCRAFT INVESTMENT WITHIN THE CURRENT TIGHT SUPPLY ENVIRONMENT
BY PHIL LIGHTSTONE
D
uring the past 20 months, aircraft values have been on the increase. Buying an aircraft can be as simple as handing over a cheque to the seller, receiving the keys and a bill of sale. This approach is fraught with risk and potential hidden costs. New aircraft from the factory come with warrantees to provide the owner with piece of mind and that new aircraft smell. The journey into aircraft ownership begins with selecting an aircraft that meets your mission, useful load, number of seats, fuel consumption, powerplant, service ceiling, avionics, condition of the paint and interior, length of ownership before upgrading, and budget. From a Business Aviation (BA) perspective, operating costs (cost per nautical mile) needs to be balanced against capital acquisition costs. In a highly competitive charter environment, increasing margin per passenger enhances Net Profit or cost contributions. The hunt for that just right aircraft begins with education. Online shopping tools like Canadian Plane Trade, Trade-A-Plane, Controller, as well as local brokers and airframe manufacturers 24 WINGS | November/December 2021
like Cessna, Diamond, Embraer, Bombardier and Piper (to name a few) are a starting point. Critical to picking the right aircraft is engaging an aviation broker who can help guide you through the acquisition or sale process. Stan Kuliavas, Vice President, Sales and Business Development, Levaero Aviation, explains, “For the average aircraft buyer, buying a $5 million home is easier than buying a $1 million aircraft.” During a seller’s market, with low aircraft inventory and long wait times for new aircraft delivery, picking the right broker is critical to ensuring a smooth(er) transaction. Kuliavas recommends engaging with a broker who is a member of International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA). All members of IADA are accredited dealers who meet rigorous standards and must be re-accredited every three years. Jim Gregory of IADA, explains, “Comprising only seven per cent of the world’s business jet dealers, IADA dealers buy and sell over 40 per cent of aircraft transactions by dollar volume, averaging over 700 transactions and US$6 billion in annual volume. Recently, IADA members WWW.WINGSMAGAZINE.COM
actually registered over 1,200 global transactions, worth more than US$10 billion, in the 12-month period from April 2020 to March 2021.” Critical to picking the right aircraft is to see it and have a test flight. Aviation conferences and expos like SUNnFUN, AirVenture, NBAA and CBAA (to name a few) are great venues to see the latest aircraft. As with buying a used car, it’s not desirable to purchase a used aircraft sight un-seen. Here’s where a broker can help you with the purchase, remembering that the seller is the broker’s customer (most of the time). Purchasing an aircraft close to home simplifies the process and reduces some out-of-pocket costs. Anna Pangrazzi, President of Apex Aircraft, reports, “My challenge with first-time buyers is not to throw water on their dreams, but provide insightful guidance about flying and aircraft ownership for low-time pilots.” Levaero Aviation offers aircraft buyers a fee for service aircraft acquisition program, where the buyer is their client. For acquisitions, Levaero charges a flat fee, rather than a percentage of the acquisition price. Their job is to secure the best possible overall aircraft for the client and that does not always mean it will be the least expensive option. In a flat-fee scenario, a client never has to question their broker’s motives if a more expensive option was recommended. Conversely, in selling a client’s aircraft, Levaero prefers to charge on a percentage basis. Levaero is there to assist with every step of the acquisition or sales process. Their expert market knowledge allows Levaero to help clients secure more favourable acquisition or selling prices than they would on their own. The company’s process involves seeing the transaction through to the end, including pre-purchase inspections. Kuliavas reports, “These approaches allow Levaero to truly be on the same team as our client.” Ray Nissan, former CEO of Cybermation Inc., a Canadian software company, owned a Cessna Conquest to facilitate the business transportation needs of his employees and his personal needs. To simplify his regulatory and operational requirements, Nissan utilized a charter management company to facilitate the Air Operator Certificate process for his turbine aircraft and to offer the aircraft for charter services, contributing to the aircraft’s operating costs. As an aircraft fleet owner, Nissan added an Eclipse Aerospace 550 twin turbine
jet aircraft to his fleet. “The Eclipse jet is more cost effective, safer and more comfortable than other aircraft I have owned,” he explain. There are a number of companies like Skyservice, Levaero and PrivateAir that provide end-to-end aircraft management services, inclusive of acquisition. PrivateAir, founded in 2008, a wholly owned subsidiary of Levaero, provides aircraft management services (AMS), and a complete solution to aircraft ownership. Its AMS is tailored to their client’s needs, and provides
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charter services to help offset aircraft costs. Its business model uses a management fee structure with costs (hanger costs, pilots, insurance and maintenance) as a flow through without margin. This delivers a business relationship providing transparency to clients. PrivateAir’s boutique offering allows clients to customize a solution to their needs, such as parking their aircraft at airports close to their businesses or homes versus specific airports. Clients are part of the air crew interview process to ensure that their dedicated air
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crew aligns with their needs and personali- entity like Savvy Aviation, which offers a ties. PrivateAir has 34 full-time pilots on its managed pre-purchase service (SavvyPrepayroll. The goal of the service is to allow Buy). Savvy’s service is offered on piston clients to maximize their aircraft both for (US$750), turboprop (US$1,500) and turbojet (US$2,000) single-engine aircraft, as pleasure and business purposes. “I started working at Levaero over 20 well as piston twins (US$1,500), plus the years ago as an employee, enjoying every cost of the mechanic’s time to perform the day,” says Robert Arnone, President and pre-purchase inspection. The service follows a well thought out CEO, Levaero. “When the opportunity presented itself, my partner and I bought the progressive process designed to make a company.” go-nogo decision early during the process. If you are unable to engage a broker to Using a three-phased approach, phase one represent your interests, and for aircraft (no cost) focuses the buyer on finding the located farWings from home, consider an right out of a number of candidates ad your Nov 2021.pdf 1 2021-10-30 1:30aircraft PM
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through performing a preliminary logbook review. Once the aircraft is on a Conditional Offer to Purchase, phase two delivers a firewall forward review of the aircraft and logbooks to provide an unbiased view to the condition of the powerplant and history of the aircraft. If phase two is successful, phase three begins, focusing on the airframe. This approach is designed to provide a fair assessment of the aircraft, including repair costs with the goal of supplying the buyer with accurate information and guidance as to who should pay for which repairs. Mike Busch, President of Savvy, reports, “As a rule, the pre-buy must be done by a shop experienced with the make and model; and who does not have a prior relationship with the seller and broker. We have found a first-time buyer phenomenon; where the buyer falls in love with the aircraft, picturing in their mind that they already own the aircraft, but knows that a pre-buy is needed.” Once you’ve found an aircraft, is the aircraft Canadian registered or will it be imported into Canada? Importation will add more cost and complexity to the purchase. An imported aircraft will be required to comply with Transport Canada standards. FAA and Transport Canada regulations may vary causing unforeseen speed bumps, impacting capital costs and time. When buying, escrow services and lien checks should be utilized to ensure that you obtain an aircraft with a clean title. Do not forget to consult with your lawyers and accountants to ensure that the contractual agreements fairly represent both buyer and seller and that the budgets are accurate, inclusive of all taxes (including the new, pending Luxury Tax). Moving up the ladder from singleengine turbine aircraft such as Piper M600, Daher TBM940 and Pilatus PC-12 to intercontinental aircraft, adds more complexity and steps to the acquisition process, regulatory compliance, maintenance and daily management of the aircraft. Flight departments, whether internal or outsourced, provide skilled assets to ensure the aircraft is operating at peak performance while safeguarding passengers and flight crews. The first step to stop an aviation incident is to select the right aircraft for your mission. Trusted advisors acting in your best interests, especially for uneducated first-time buyers, can help ensure that the acquisition process has as few speed bumps as possible. | W
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uav - canada . com November/December 2021 | WINGS 27
2022 RPAS DIRECTORY The Remotely Piloted Aerial System industry in Canada continues its exponential growth, reaching well beyond the transformation of aviation services into most every sector of the economy. There are now more than 64,000 Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS) registered in the country, with approximately 10% of all drone operators holding what Transport Canada outlines as Advanced Operations Pilot Certificate holders. The 2022 RPAS Directory is designed to highlight leading commercial operations providing RPAS services and training by province. The directory also includes details of primary resources and support organizations for the RPAS sector.
BRITISH COLUMBIA 43 DEGREES NORTH ENTERPRISES Lake Country, 43north.ca 43 Degrees, having operated in both remote and urban environments, provides a range of services, including specialties in aerial photography and LiDAR surveys with a full-size certified aircraft for larger areas of interest. This includes geo-referenced surveying, aerial inspection and data processing. 43 Degrees North has 20 plus of years of experience in drone pilot training, course development, management and implementation. AGILE DRONE SERVICES Victoria, agiledrones.ca Agile provides drone services for aerial photography and videography projects, as well as aerial surveys with LiDAR and LiDAR RGB capabilities, inspections with thermal imaging (Radiometric Heat Visualization) and mapping, featuring Zenmuse H20T Sensor payloads. It also provides pilot training with commercially licensed instructors, safety management system development, and DJI drone sales across British Columbia. BC UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES Chemainus, bcuav.ca BC UAV has been Transport Canada certified since 2015 (SFOC), providing drone photography and videography with an emphasis on the real estate market. It also provides inspection services with both visual and FLIR cameras, including confined space work. BC UAV is noted as providing commercial drone pilot training, including for clients like the Department of Fisheries & Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. BLUEFORCE UAV CONSULTING & TRAINING Comox, blueforceuav.com Blueforce provides a range of high-end RPAS consulting services, which includes helping to build programs from the ground up, as well as securing facilities and VIPs from UAS threats. It provides assistance with RPAS regulatory and compliance issues, video streaming of tactical situations and collision reconstruction examinations.
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Blueforce training services include Radio Frequency Counter Measures (RFCM), Extended Visual Line of Sight (EVLOS), DJI and Aeryon flight training, ground school and photogrammetry, among others. COASTAL DRONE Langley, coastaldrone.co Coastal Drone, noted to have more than 20,000 online enrolments over its history, is one of the country's leading drone pilot training provides. This includes programs tailored to Transport Canada requirements for basic and advanced pilot ground school (delivered online), flight review prep, inperson flight review and flight training, as well as photography and videography courses and industrial inspections courses, among others. HUMMINGBIRD DRONES Kamloops, hummingbirddrones.ca Hummingbird is a specialized RPAS operator in Canada, founded in 2014 by Initial Attack wildfire fighters. The company was among the first in Canada to focus on leveraging the potential of drones for wildfire suppression efforts. Hummingbird has worked across western Canada, providing data and intelligence to support a variety of fireline operations and detecting hotspots. The company also provides Basic or Advanced RPAS operator training. INDRO ROBOTICS Vancouver, indrorobotics.com InDro Robotics is a leading Canadian UAV, ground and sea robotics research and development company. Accumulating thousands of safe and compliant flight hours, InDro continues to be among the first companies in Canada to hold Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) certification. It is a leading service provider within Ottawa International Airport’s pioneering drone detection program. PERRYAIR Garibaldi Highlands, perryair.ca PerryAir has 10 years of combined experience in photography, videography, aviation and surveying. Its pilots have worked throughout BC for critical missions like
mapping wildfires and assisting search and rescue crews. PerryAir sells pre-captured images and videos, while also offering onsite drone and astrophotography services. SKYDRONE UAV SERVICES Grand Forks, skydroneuavs.com Skydrone provides a range of services focusing on the power and energy sector, including work with train paths, power lines, right of ways, wind turbines, tower structures, bridge structures, photovoltaic arrays, substation and hydroelectric facilities, forestry and mining operations, oil and gas pipelines and facilities, and construction and maintenance operations. It is also noted as providing Advanced RPAS operator training, in addition to a range of industrial licences. STINSON AERIAL SERVICES Black Creek, stinsonaerial.ca Stinson, with its background in helicopter management, provides industrial drone programs to assist in site surveys and inspections, often in complex of environments. It focuses on the use of drones to mitigate risks and costs while optimizing data capture in environmental research, forestry, energy, city planning and more. SUAVAIR AERIAL IMAGING Campbell River, suavair.com SuavAir, established in 2014, specializes in providing aerial photography and data capture services in gravel and mining volumetrics, as well as mapping and services tailored to the forestry industry. SuavAir uses photogrammetry software to stitch anywhere from dozens to thousands of high resolution photos to produce an orthomosaic for environmental monitoring, industrial safety planning (mills), post harvest inspections, or incident investigations. VICTORIA AIR PHOTOS AND SURVEY Victoria, victoriaairphotos.com Victoria Air, in operation since 2012, provides a range of RPAS services to the general public, corporations and government, including applications for real estate, construction monitoring, thermography, roof and building inspections, precision agriculture, marine aerials and security. The
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ALBERTA ABORIGINAL TRAINING SERVICES Edmonton, abtraining.ca Aboriginal Training provides Advanced RPAS operator ground school prep courses and study guides to prepare for the Transport Canada Exam. Its training courses include bringing in hands-on guest speakers from the RPAS industry, including pilots, drone racers and mappers from the notable surveying organizations. It is a member of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. AERIAL OBSERVATION SERVICES Lethbridge, aerialobservationservices.ca AOS was founded in 2012 with an emphasis on television production. Its services now also include inspection and monitoring, and work for search and rescue crews. AOS continues to specialize in promotional production for real estate and corporate marketing. It now serves clients in the energy, insurance and construction sectors with mapping and inspection. AERIUM ANALYTICS Calgary, aeriumanalytics.com Aerium, perhaps best known for its pioneering RoBird wildlife management program with Edmonton International Airport, is a multi-disciplined RPAS solutions company conducting operations across Canada and in the United States. Aerium provides geospatial intelligence, data analytics, visualization and software development to clients in a range industries. AGCON AERIAL Calgary, agconaerial.com AgCon is a unique RPAS operator with a collection of agronomists, geomatics professionals and engineers working to provide a range of customized program like mapping of an area, assessing crop health or acquiring images for marketing materials. It provides Advanced RPAS operator training and certification, with ground school, flight and software training. BLACKHAWK AERONAUTICAL SOLUTIONS Edmonton, blackhawkaeronautical.com BlackHawk provides RPAS consulting for businesses working with tourism, real estate, production and film companies, as well as in the construction and oil and gas sectors. It provides applications like aerial mapping, inspection, photography and videography. BlackHawk is noted as providing training or Advanced RPAS operators for more than five years
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CANADIAN DRONE CONSULTING. Millet, cadroneconsulting.ca Canadian Drone Consulting leverages more than 25 years of aviation experience to provide an RPAS consultant service. This includes a focus on integrating aerial imagery for applications in agricultural, surveying, real estate, oil and gas, and infrastructure inspection. The company is noted as providing flight training services.
BVLOS operations and is approved for night operations, operations near/over people, and distance corridor operations. IN-FLIGHT works with energy companies to provide time-sensitive operational data for asset integrity assessment, environmental and geo-spatial analytics, engineering integrity and compliance, detection and inspection of assets. It also works in emergency services and with forestry clients.
CANADIAN UAVS Calgary, canadianuavs.ca Canadian UAVs is a relatively large aviation company in the RPAS space spanning a range of disciplines like engineering, software development, training, piloting, maintenance, Geographic Information Systems, oil and gas, quality systems and finance. In addition to its military programs, the company is certified to handle Canadian Controlled Goods and Canadian Secret information. Canadian UAVs states its core mission is to provide the ecosystem for the integration of UAVs into complex airspace.
MIR AVIATION Calgary, miraviation.com MIR Aviation, led by David Curry, brings more than 30 years of aviation experience to the RPAS sector. MIR provides the required documentation for safe RPAS operations, including writing Company Operating Manuals, Safety Operating Procedures, and related policy and procedures. The company is noted to provide training for Basic and Advanced RPAS operators.
CASWELL AVIATION Calgary, caswellaviationyyc.ca Caswell provides aerial photography and videography for real estate, sporting events, entertainment industry, construction inspections, exterior home and business building inspections, and the oil industry, among other sectors. The company is also noted as a certified DJI Repair Dealer and a member of Drone Academy Canada for training services. DRONE FX CANADA Leduc, dronefxcanada.com Drone FX provides aerial videography for film, television and real estate clients, including insurance. It provides applications for corporate and private events, as well as aerial inspection for oil and gas, agriculture, crop inspection, construction, mining, architecture, engineering and infrastructure sectors. The company also provides atmospheric and scientific missions, as well as private, group and corporate training. EARTH & SKY GEOMATICS Calgary, earthandskygeomatics.ca Earth & Sky Geomatics specializes in the planning, production and analysis of RPAS mapping, supported by more than 20 years experience in the geomatics industry. This includes large-scale orthomosaic imagery, terrain creation and analysis, as well as volumetric analysis. The company also works with real estate and agriculture clients (crop and livestock), among a range of high-resolution imagery applications. IN-FLIGHT DATA Okotoks, inflightdata.ca IN-FLIGHT, established in 2014, provides
NUSKAN Calgary, nuskan.com Nuskan specializes in providing mapping inspection, surveying, RPass, and cargo services with three high-end platforms, including Swissdrones, Voliro and Ukrspec. Training. Its expertise lies in implementing long endurance heavy duty RPAS and flying AI-based robots with advanced airborne sensors. The company also provides VLOS and BVLOS RPAS operator training, payload design, and technical data capturing for various industries. OSPREY INTEGRITY Cochrane, ospreyintegrity.com Osprey Integrity specializes in visual inspection services for industrial infrastructure, including thermal imagery and data analysis. The company also focuses on investments in collaborations and specific equipment, such as with Skyguage Robotics for aerial ultrasonics. PEGASUS IMAGERY Sturgeon County, pegasusimagery.ca Pegasus describes itself as a technology company with hardware and software to deliver intelligent data. It focuses on deploying sensors to provide actionable information in real-time, with high payload capacity and long endurance. It is involved with emergency management, asset inspection, wildlife and environmental monitoring, and agricultural surveillance missions. RESOURCEFUL UAV WORKS Cochrane, resourcefuluavworks.ca Resourceful UAV Works provides progress monitoring, precision mapping, aerial thermography, and asset digitization by leveraging advanced sensor technology. The company is also noted as providing training for Basic and Advanced RPAS operators with
This past May, the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA)–the largest aviation association in Canada– introduced new membership options to include the growing drone community. From delivery hub trials at our airports to safer search and rescue missions and more, drones are profoundly changing the world of aviation. As this new technology evolves, so too will its role in society. As a trusted leader in advancing and promoting aviation safety, and as a long-recognized voice for General Aviation in Canada, COPA is uniquely positioned to represent both piloted and remotely piloted aircraft and pilots. COPA has been involved with drones and related matters for several years. The association has contributed to the development of popular RPAS tools, including the National Research Council of Canada’s drone site selection tool and has partnered with Canada’s aviation regulator to support education awareness initiatives. In recognizing the importance of safe integration of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) into Canadian airspace, COPA is focusing its attention on the following areas: RPAS pilot training and certification; RPAS Traffic Management (RTM); Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Operations; RPAS airworthiness; detect and avoid; search and rescue; and the emergence of the next generation of RPAS.
COPA MEMBERSHIP Curious what comes with a COPA membership? COPA RPAS members can look to COPA for regular updates on the regulations or issues that affect their operations, for education and safety programs, insurance coverage, scholarship opportunities and significant training discounts. DRONE SCHOLARSHIPS COPA offers an annual scholarship to three individuals who demonstrate an interest in drone technology. COPA will cover everything from advanced certification training, exams, and flight reviews for the successful recipients. Applications for the new COPA Drone Pilot Scholarship will be accepted between January 4, 2022 and March 31, 2022. Visit copanational.org to learn more. INSURANCE COVERAGE Through Magnes and Coverdrone, COPA is offering its recreational and commercial RPAS pilot members an exclusive insurance program. This insurance program, available worldwide, includes physical damage coverage, public and products liability; as well as professional and privacy breach liability coverage for commercial drone operations. ADVOCACY Through involvement in industry and government working groups – including Transport Canada’s new Canadian Drone Advisory Committee (CanaDAC), COPA will advocate for enhancements to the current Canadian regulatory framework governing RPAS operations as well as other necessary policy development. TRAINING COPA will be launching several education materials, including guides, webinars and other resources to support pilot development. The organization is hosting RPAS panels, pilot recurrent training and other drone related workshops on a quarterly basis through its online safety seminar program.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COPA’S NEW MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS, VISIT COPANATIONAL.ORG/RPAS TODAY.
ground school, exam preparation and flight review. VISUALIZE UAV Fort McMurray, visualizeuav.ca Visualize UAV provides a range of RPAS services for mining, quarry, and aggregate companies for volumetric calculations, surface and terrain modeling, boundary and erosion monitoring, and drainage reports. It also provides services for construction, real estate and environmental missions. The company is noted as providing Basic and Advanced RPAS training, from ground school to flight review. UAVERTICAL Calgary, uavertical.com UAVertical provides services primarily for the oil and gas sector, inspecting onshore and offshore facilities and flare stacks. It also provides RPAS missions for construction, wind turbine, cell towers, solar farms, mapping, power lines and real estate. The company runs Calgary Drone Academy to provide a range of training services. VOYAGEUR TECHNOLOGIES Morinville, voytech.ca Voyageur provides inspection services for infrastructure, telecommunications and buildings. It also provides aerial mapping (2D and 3D) with orthomosaic programs and a range of environmental and wildlife monitoring. The company is also noted as providing Basic and Advanced RPAS operator training.
SASKATCHEWAN BARNSTORMER UAV SOLUTIONS Regina, barnstormeruavsolutions.com Barnstormer provides training at a secure facility where students can practice VLOS techniques, refine operating procedures and safety protocols, and hone piloting skills. It is familiar with training for orthomosaic photos, 3D models and volumetric calculations, including integration into geographic information system like ArcGIS. DRAGANFLY INNOVATIONS Saskatoon, draganfly.com Draganfly is one of the Canada’s most experienced RPAS operators providing mapping, surveying, inspection, data collection and delivery services. The company is also a developer of hardware systems, sensors, and software for the sector. Founded more than 20 years ago, Draganfly has developed expertise in prototyping and engineering (multi-rotors, fixed wing, controllers, AI) for the commercial RPAS space. ELEVATION DRONEWORKS Regina, elevationdrone.ca Elevation provides aerial photography and
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videography services, including detailed orthomosaic photos that can be used to measure distances with centimeter level accuracy. It produces 3D models and conducts volumetric surveys for aggregate stockpile reporting. The company also focuses on construction, inspections and acreage calculations.
MANITOBA CANADRONE Winnipeg, canadrones.ca Canadrone specializes in inspection and imaging services for industrial infrastructure clients, including construction, railways and roadways, communications towers, power transmission, wind and solar farms, oil and gas, mining, agriculture and forestry, among others. It equips fixed wing RPAS with multiple payloads for a range of imaging applications. M3 DRONE TRAINING ZONE Winnipeg, m3aerial.com M3 Drone is focused on online and in-person training in both the U.S. and Canada. With a team of experienced RPAS pilots, M3 provides the training needed for FAA Part 107 Certification or Transport Canada’s Advanced Operations Licence and Flight Review. The company develops practical training for industry-specific environments like agriculture, inspections, first responders and public safety.
ONTARIO 3 POINTS IN SPACE MEDIA Dryden, 3points.ca 3 Points specializes in emergency response, ISR, photogrammetry, thermal, SAR and maritime archaeology mapping. Certified in the National Incident Management Command System, the 3 Points team can be deployed to support emergencies with real-time situational awareness in any location, an ISR function it describes as being fundamental in the successful resolution to time sensitive missions. The company also provides Basic and Advanced RPAS operator training. AERO PHOTOS Merrickville, aero-photos.ca Aero Photos provides aerial photography, videography, mapping and inspection services with an emphasis on leveraging smaller RPAS (25 kg or less). This includes orthomosaic maps, digital surface models and 3D models. In addition to consulting, the company is also noted as providing Advanced RPAS operator training. AG BUSINESS AND CROP Palmerston, agbusiness.ca AG Business specializes in the application of RPAS in agriculture, including elevation
mapping for drainage, crop heights and land usage. The company also provides services to scout for specific seasonal crop positioning, which can be integrated with satellite maps. The company is noted as providing Advanced RPAS operator training. ALTEX UAV Toronto, altexuav.com AlteX provides a range of consulting services for deploying RPAS programs. It designs an workflow from planning and operating to post-flight management of RPAS operations. In addition to its commercial arm, AlteX Academy provides a range of Advanced RPAS training, including ground school, exam preparation and Flight Review. AlteX also provides courses on Drone Real Estate Photography and Intro to Drone Survey & Geomatics, among others. BRAMPTON FLIGHT CENTRE Brampton, bramptonflightcentre.com Brampton Flight Centre, as one of Canada’s largest flight schools, is uniquely positioned to deliver both Basic and Advanced comprehensive RPAS courses, providing pilots with regulation and operations training, as well as preparation for Transport Canada exams with structured Flight Review. The programs are taught by both qualified flight instructors and commercial RPAS pilots. Its RPAS Transport Canada Exam Preparation Course provides the opportunity for work placements with RPAS operators. CITY HOVA Hamilton, cityhova.com CITY HOVA provides turn-key solutions to allow companies to integrate RPAS into their current business models. The company handles all aspects of the operation, including crewing, insurance, regulatory compliance, permitting and flight safety. Its urban core services include multi-operator drone videography, mapping and inspection and construction cycle monitoring. CKMM PHOTOGRAPHIC Brampton, ckmmphotographic.ca ckmmphoto provides a range of RPAS services with an emphasis on aerial photography and videography. This includes flying in complex operational situations in urban cores and controlled airspace, capturing 4K video and high resolution stills. It also provides Operational Manual Development, pilot training and RPAS implementation development. CLARION DRONE ACADEMY Kitchener, clariondrones.com Clarion has been in the aviation industry for more than 40 years and now provides RPAS training for a diverse set of clients operating in areas likes search and rescue, agriculture, security, real estate, thermal inspections and
more. Its clients include National Defence, CBC, Parks Canada, Enbridge and a range of cities and colleges. D-LABS AEROSPACE Woodbridge, d-labs.ca D-Labs, founded in 2009, provides RPAS services for the oil and gas industry, federal, provincial, and municipal agencies, motorsports, surveyors and inspectors, as well as a range of research companies. It provides photography and videography. The company is noted as providing Advanced RPAS operator training. DIGITAL CONTENT SOLUTIONS Toronto, dcsdigital.ca DCS focuses on the creation of digital content with expertise in aerial imagery, photography and videography. It specializes in aerial inspection and photogrammetry. It delivers RGB (visible) and infrared (thermal) imagery to engineers, surveyors, general contractors, construction companies, utilities, aggregate companies and insurers. DRAGON AIR UAS Cambridge, dragonairuas.com Dragon provides volumetrics, thermal imaging, inspections, photography and videography services. It works with architecture, construction projects, GIS, agriculture condition reporting (thermal), insurance, real estate portfolios, 2 & 3D mapping and security imaging missions. DRONE DELIVERY CANADA Vaughan, dronedeliverycanada.com Drone Delivery Canada is an ISO 9001 certified drone technology company focused on the design, development, and implementation of its proprietary logistics software platform, using drones. The company’s platform is used as a Software as a Service (SaaS) model for government and corporate organizations. ELEMENT 3 ROBOTICS INC. Alliston, element3robotics.com E3R specializes in working with the First Responders sector, from where its founders have gained firsthand experience, in policing, fire, tactical and other emergency services. As a result of this background, E3R’s training scenarios are based on practical experience. The company provides Advanced RPAS operator training with Flight Review. KADAM AERO Beeton, kadamaero.ca Kadam Aero provides RPAS training for industry and government agencies. This includes refresher courses, Advanced RPAS training and Flight Reviews and comprehensive programs. It provides RPAS consulting for industry and emergency services, including collision reconstruction, high-risk
warrant services, surveillance, containment, scene mapping, SAR and fire investigation. RPAS CENTRE Markham, rpascentre.com RPAS Centre, established in 2016, holds experienced instructors to specialize in RPAS pilot training, career preparation, drone safety management system, standard operating procedures, service consultation, and retail drone sales. It provides a range of enterprise services from procurement consulting to setting up a drone fleet. The company develops training programs for DJI, senseFly and Parrot RPAS. SAFESIGHT EXPLORATION North Bay, safesightxp.com SafeSight leverages drone and ground solutions to reach tight spaces to capture critical decision support data. It works with the mining industry and emergency services, for example, by gathering underground data. Its teams can collect HD Video, 3D geo-referenced point cloud models using LiDAR or photogrammetry. VOLATUS AEROSPACE Oro-Medonte, volatusaerospace.com Volatus provides integrated drone solutions based on a network built through strategic partnerships and acquisitions throughout Canada, the U.S. and South America. Volatus provides enterprise and industrial RPAS solutions including training, equipment sales and support, imaging and inspection, design and manufacturing, and research and development. WATERLOO WELLINGTON FLIGHT CENTRE Breslau, wwfc.ca Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre, founded in 1932, is one of the largest professional flight schools in Canada. It provides a range of RPAS expertise around regulations, maintenance and proper operations from industry professionals. The program was established in 2014 and has now worked with government, education, research, public and private sector students.
QUEBEC ACCESS Saint-Hubert, access.rsb.qc.ca ACCESS provides a RPAS operator courses for both recreational and VLOS commercial operations, including courses on deployment, inspection, pre-flight, flight operation, site survey, Flight Review prep, Flight Review and the ROC-A exam. COLLÈGE IFLY Québec City, iflycollege.ca iFly College, based in Quebec City since 2010, is a flight school that now provides
Advance RPAS operator training. This includes all of the necessary courses from ground school to Flight Review. DRONE ACTION 360 Longueuil, droneaction360.ca Drone Action 360 is a bilingual company working with the various government and municipal stakeholders, focusing on the photogrammetry, capture of aerial images, detection of drones. It provides ground instruction and Flight Review. DRONE BOX PRODUCTION Montreal, dronebox.ca Drone Box RPAS are equipped with multispectral cameras to take images of agricultural fields, construction and quarries. It provides a range of professional training courses for drone operators and documentation requirements. DRONEXPERTS Quebec City, dronexperts.com DroneXperts provides a range of RPAS services as an operator and technology provider. In addition to being an authorized DJI Enterprise reseller, DroneXperts is staffed with DJI-certified technicians. It provides professional training for drone operators, focusing on DJI, AUTEL Robotix, LiDAR sensors, data acquisition and air sampling sensors. EXOTACTIK St. Jean Sur Richelieu, exotactik.com EXO Tactik is an RPAS operator specializing in public safety and municipal services. Its core mission is to support the work of public servants and emergency responders. HELIOS UAV Terrebonne, heliosuav.com Helios UAV provides a range of services for the mining industry, civil engineering, earth observation, thermography, and visual productions. This includes work for forestry and agricultural clients. HIGHCLOUD SOLUTIONS TÉLÉPILOTÉES Cowansville, highcloud.ca Highcloud provides operational management services, including a specialty in comprehensive airport structure inspection services. This expertise include rapid deployment of inspection services across various industrial infrastructure sectors such as solar and wind farms. KOPTR IMAGE St-Mathieu-de-Beloei, koptr.ca KoptR has served professionals and industries with RPAS training services since 2012. It specializes in turnkey service for the specific needs of companies wanting to integrate drones into their operations. Coming
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from the worlds of aviation, television production and agriculture, KoptR holds expertise in sensor payloads for applications like night vision, thermal, multispectral, LiDOR and RAW.
EAST COAST AEROVISION CANADA Halifax, NS, aerovisioncanada.com AeroVision provides commercial asset inspection, thermal imaging, survey-grade mapping, and 3D modeling, with an emphasis on energy and utilities, oil and gas, and infrastructure clients. The company is also involved with natural disaster services and accident investigations. It is noted as providing Advanced RPAS operator training from ground school to ROC-A. ALTOMAXX St. John’s, NL, altomaxx.com AltoMaxx focuses on providing RPAS services to the power, public safety, and oil and gas sectors. It missions include LiDAR, ground penetrating radar, fugitive emissions management, infrastructure inspections, confined space inspections, magnetometry and bathymetry sensing, and AI. The company also provides Advanced RPAS operator training. FLYTBOX AERIAL SOLUTIONS Dartmouth, NS, flytbox.ca Flytbox was founded to provide RPAS training to individuals, small organizations and large enterprises. This includes instructorled ground schools flight training and enterprise solutions. It provides ROC-A and a range of documentation support services related to the RPAS sector. RPM AERIAL SERVICES Holyrood, NL, rpmaerialinc.ca RPM provides aerial LiDAR imaging services and photogrammetry for 3D mapping, including applications for offshore operations. It also provides RPAS training equipment supply and service. The company is noted to provide Advanced RPAS operator training from ground school to Flight Review. SKYGATE VIDEOGRAPHY Summerside, PE, skygatedrones.com Skygate Videography, which is now part of Volatus, works with production companies for news reels, documentaries and films. It also provides inspection and precision agriculture services, among others. The company provides Advanced RPAS operator training throughout the Maritimes. TIER 1 UAV SOLUTIONS Aylesford, NS, tier1uavs.com TIER 1, based in the Annapolis Valley,
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provides UAV training programs, consultation and RPAS operations. TIER 1 specializes in aerial imaging leveraging fixed wing aircraft for longer duration agricultural surveys, as well as multi-rotor systems. It is noted as providing Advanced RPAS operator training.
NUNAVUT ARCTIC UAV Iqaluit, NU, arcticuav.ca Arctic UAV provides a range of imaging services, including sea ice monitoring, wildlife surveys and habitat assessment, land surveying and contour mapping, environmental studies, aerial photography, construction site monitoring, inspections, archeological site monitoring, and emergency response support. Arctic UAV recently completed a project as the lead of a BVLOS project.
RESOURCES AND SUPPORT CANADIAN ADVANCED AIR MOBILITY Vancouver, BC, canadianaam.com Canadian Advanced Air Mobility is a not-for-profit organization that acts as a national catalyst for the Advanced Air Mobility industry in Canada. It has partnered with more than 50 organizations including industry, academia, private capital and all three levels of government. CANADIAN OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION Ottawa, ON, copanational.org The Canadian Owners and Pilots Association was founded in 1952 to serve as the unified voice for general aviation in Canada. It is now the largest aviation association in Canada with more than 15,000 members. In 2021, COPA expanded its mandate to promote the safety and development of Canada’s RPAS sector by introducing a drone membership option. Recreational and commercial drone pilots alike can look to COPA for training, scholarship opportunities, advocacy, networking and more. . CANADIAN WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION Ottawa, ON, cwta.ca CWTA is the authority on wireless issues, developments and trends in Canada. It represents companies that provide services and products across the wireless sector. CWTA administers a number of initiatives on behalf of its members, including corporate social responsibility programs and the national common short codes program. CED ALMA Alma, QC, cedalma.com Alma CED is a pioneer in the civil and commercial RPAS industry, serving as a community of interest. It has been working since
2008 in collaboration with industry, various government departments and local, regional and provincial communities. Alma’s UAS Centre of Excellence was launched in 2011 with the active participation of CAE as a founding partner. FOREMOST UAS TEST RANGE Foremost, AB, foremostuasrange.ca The Foremost UAS Test Range is available to gain operational RPAS experience or to prove capabilities of systems. Whether developing BVLOS capabilities, implementing new systems and procedures, adding a new capability or flight testing newly manufactured aircraft, Foremost Range has the airspace and experience to accommodate a range of activities. LOOKNORTH, St. John’s, NL, looknorth.org LOOKNorth is a centre of excellence for remote sensing innovation to support resource development. LOOKNorth is a C-CORE national Centre of Excellence for commercialization and research, established under the federal Networks of Centres of Excellence program and supported by a network of industry and academic partners. It is focused on advancing BVLOS operations and working with stakeholders in Canada’s northern communities. NAV CANADA Ottawa, ON, navcanada.ca NAV Canada is a private, not-for-profit company, established in 1996, providing air traffic control, airport advisory services, weather briefings and aeronautical information services for more than 18 million square kilometres of Canadian domestic and international airspace. The new NAV Drone app allows operators to safely and legally request permission to fly a drone in airspace controlled by NAV Canada. TRANSPORT CANADA Ottawa, ON, tc.canada.ca Transport Canada provides rules and regulations for how and where RPAS operators can fly. It provides a range of services such as how to choose a drone, best practices, pilot licensing, finding flight schools, permission for special operations, registering a drone through a Drone Management Portal. It recently established the Canadian Drone Advisory Committee. UNMANNED SYSTEMS CANADA Ottawa, ON, unmannedsystems.ca Unmanned Systems Canada is a not-forprofit association founded in 2003 to represent the interests of Canada’s RPAS community. It is committed to promoting public awareness, education and appreciation for the social, economic and environmental benefits of the RPAS sector. | W
ATAC COMMENTS ON PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO APPROACH BAN REGULATIONS The Transportation Safety Board’s recommendations to review the Approach Ban regulations has prompted Transport Canada to propose an amendment introducing prescribed approach visibility minimum requirements in Canada. ATAC appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on behalf of our membership on this Notice of Proposed Amendment. In general, ATAC supports the overall direction TCCA is proposing for the Approach Ban regulatory amendment. Since the time when the initial regulation was developed and implemented, the subject of approach bans has been highly contentious and ATAC and its members have been keen to find solutions to improve this very cumbersome regulation, especially as it relates to the required actions of the flight crew during safety critical phases of flight. ATAC is pleased to see that the intent of the current regulatory proposal is to simplify the requirements especially as they relate to the operating flight crew members. While keeping this goal in mind we must also not lose sight of the necessity to maintain the ability to operate flights safely, efficiently, and reliably to locations that are very much dependent upon air transport of people and supplies. While ATAC is supportive and in fact often initiates regulatory change requests to harmonize with other major authorities such as the FAA and EASA, this must always be done within the context of the issue being addressed and the regulation being considered. As ATAC often remarks, “one size doesn’t fit all” and that applies to regulations developed for certain environments and then adopted for use in totally different environments. Such is the case of adopting the FAA’s regulations wholly as they pertain to the Approach Ban. The United States has an enviable record of investment throughout their country at airports of all sizes whereas Canada has for the most part only invested in large infrastructure projects at major airports, and by far the majority of these are in the south near major metropolitan areas. This has created an unfortunate dilemma wherein the vast part of the country that relies the most upon air transportation for its survival and economic wellbeing is also where the worst weather occurs, over the longest period, and
yet has the least amount of the required aviation infrastructure ensuring safe operations. ATAC members that operate in Canada’s remote and northern regions utilize some of the most modern and well-equipped aircraft that are best suited for the most challenging geographic and meteorological scenarios that nature can create. To operate under such conditions, operators create and fully use stringent standard operating procedures and training for their flight crews. The combination of better equipment on board the aircraft, excellent training, and well-established company procedures ensures the ever-improving safety environment in which our companies operate now, especially compared to days long ago before many of the technological advancements as well as the safety culture brought about through Safety Management Systems. The use of the latest technology and safety programs continue to evolve and are fully used by forward thinking companies, especially those operating in areas with the least amount of infrastructure, in order to be successful from a safety perspective which leads to financial success as well. As it has been well described in our members’ submissions and during our consultation sessions, ATAC never wants to see regulations that would encourage the use of VFR flights in lieu of IFR flights. The vast amount of experience within the ATAC operator community, especially within our members that operate in the remote and northern parts of this country, justifies why their input must be fully understood and taken seriously. Taking all the above into account, ATAC encourages Transport Canada to carefully understand the many interactions at play within our industry that affect aviation safety. ATAC is supportive of improving dated regulations but not just adopting other jurisdiction’s requirements without seriously considering the differing geographic and socio-economic situations in remote and northern parts of Canada. The Government of Canada and its Provinces and Territories must seriously reconsider the severe neglect of aviation infrastructure in remote and northern communities, most of which are the home to many of Canada’s indigenous peoples. Infrastructure improvements for airports including approach lighting and weather reporting are long overdue and key enablers for improving operations into remote and northern airports. These infrastructure improvements are a mandatory part of a balanced approach to solving the Approach Ban issue. ATAC looks forward to working with Transport Canada in developing such a complete solution.
Air Transport Association of Canada 1110 - 222 Queen Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 5V9 • Phone: 613-233-7727 • Website: atac.ca
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November/December 2021 | WINGS 37
ON
FINAL by Nick Pearce | guest columnist
Report on 2017 Fond du Lac crash
TSB finds systematic deicing issues in north after three year investigation
A
38 WINGS | November/December 2021
recommendations for Transport Canada. The first was to ensure adequate deicing and anti-icing equipment is available for operators. The second was “to take action to improve compliance with the regulations to reduce the likelihood that crews take off with snow or ice contamination.” “Although Transport Canada has said it agrees with the recommendations, and some steps have been taken, more action is required,” TSB chair Kathy Fox said in a news release. The agency also expressed concerns over Transport Canada’s monitoring of the airline’s safety standards. Transport Canada reduced its surveillance of the company to a detailed inspection every four years, despite finding several concerns with West Wind’s safety management system in 2010 and 2013, the release said. In 2016, the federal department found “systemic failures,” but chose “enhanced monitoring” instead of a notice of suspension, the release said. “If the application of Transport Canada’s surveillance policies and procedures is inconsistent, there is a risk that resulting oversight will not ensure that operators are able to effectively manage the safety of their operations,” it added. However, the TSB also noted that the company has since improved its “internal risk assessments, and now provides additional training, guidance, and better deicing equipment to its crews.” Vermette insists the problem identified has to do with practices at northern and remote airports. While Transport Canada has “satisfactory intent,” action is needed, he said. “More needs to be done to reduce the risk of this type of accident happening again.” | W
The lack of adequate deicing equipment and the normalized practice of taking off without deicing created the conditions. crew landed it without incident and turned on anti-icing and deicing systems, though some remained on the aircraft, the new report said. The flight crew wasn’t aware of the full extent of the ice, it said. One crew member walked around the aircraft on a dimly lit apron at night without a flashlight and inspected the top of the left wing from the plane’s stairs, the report stated. The resulting crash prompted the TSB to ask remote northern pilots how often they took off without adequate deicing. It learned they frequently flew with ice on “critical aircraft surfaces,” the report noted. Departing in that condition has become normalized as common practice, which influenced the flight crew’s decision to fly in 2017, according to Vermette. “This is not just a West Wind issue,” he added. Fond du Lac’s airport has also been targeted for upgrades in the years since the crash. In 2018, the agency also gave two
Nick Pearce, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The StarPhoenix WWW.WINGSMAGAZINE.COM
PHOTOS: ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE, WITH TSB ANNOTATIONS
years-long investigation into the cause of a fatal plane crash in northern Saskatchewan has determined the aircraft wasn’t properly deiced before takeoff. The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada found that a West Wind Aviation flight bound for Stony Rapids from Fond du Lac airport was taking off when it lost control, reflecting “the known risks associated with taking off with ice contamination, ultimately (leading) to the aircraft colliding with terrain.” The Dec. 13, 2017 crash of West Wind ATR-42 injured all 25 people on board. One person, 19-year-old Arson Fern Jr., died two weeks later in a Saskatoon hospital. The lack of adequate deicing equipment and the normalized practice of taking off without deicing created the conditions for the crash, the TSB said. Crew members were aware there was ice on critical surface areas when they took off, its report stated. “While we do recognize that this investigation took a little bit longer than our normal investigations, we looked at many, many factors which caused (it) to last this long,” said the TSB’s investigator in charge, Eric Vermette. Derek Nice, CEO of Rise Air – which West Wind rebranded as earlier this year – claimed responsibility for the issues that led to the crash. “We are sorry for the harm caused to the passengers and crew on that flight, to their relatives and loved ones and their communities. And we are determined that something like this can never happen again,” he said. None of the crew members involved are currently employed by the airline. Since the crash at Fond du Lac airport, the company now uses heated ice fluid tanks and a vehicle with a lift that allows access to every part of the plane, Nice said. Fond du Lac Denesuline First Nation Chief Kevin Mercredi wasn’t immediately available for comment. In a 2018 update, the TSB made it clear that the flight was “contaminated” with ice before takeoff and that its de-icing equipment was insufficient. Prior to the crash that evening, ice had already formed on the plane but the flight
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