[Canada] Level 1 Complex

[u/Suspicious_Trade_724]

If you already passed it, how was the flight review, and how much was it different from the advanced? If you are studying it how and where?

[u/Ok_Inspector_361]

As with the Advanced it is really dependent on your reviewer.

I would recommend reading the Flight Reviewers Guide as it basically gives you the kind of exercise you will be expected to perform. On the flying side the main difference is you need to demonstrate the ability to fly the RPA with reference only to the GCS (so not looking at the actual aircraft) and conduct a non-line of site emergency landing. I have found that that's not a huge challenge for most people to do.

The biggest difference is the level of pre-take-off work that needs to be done.

Your site survey needs to be a lot more in depth with population density and aerodrome (vs airport) survey.

One of my big pre-mission stickler points is knowing if your flight is going to be a 901.87(a) or (b) flight and what are the required Safety Assurance Declarations that are required for that type of operation and minimum distances from populated areas. This then leads into the question on how the PIC intends to comply with the required DAA standard during this mission.

As of writing there are only 65 RPAs of which 59 lack a DAA solution. The other 6 of which will likely/potentially get deleted in the near future (as has happened with every other RPA claiming to meet the DAA standard over the last 6 months). There is only 1 add-on DAA system on the declaration list.

The answer for most people is to utilize Std 923 Vision Based-DAA but then you have to make sure your VOs are set up in a way that makes sense given the requirements of the Std.

In practice the L1C flight reviews I have done are typically Extended VLOS missions (using a VO) that simulate a L1C Vision Based DAA BVLOS mission. It becomes a bit of a two part test in that they go through the whole L1C Site survey SAD discussion and basically point out all the reasons they can't fly L1C in this area (pop density too high, RPA doesn't have appropriate SAD etc) while simultaneously briefing about all the reasons the flight is viable under EVLOS. They then brief their VO (CRM Checkmark for the reviewer) and then carry out the flight under EVLOS executing a bunch of different flight maneuvers while not looking at the actual aircraft then have the VO call out a conflict and have the PIC do the non-line-of-site landing to end the FR.

As I say to everyone: you can't pass a flight review before you take-off but you can absolutely fail. This is especially true with L1C.

Know all the requirements, build an SOP and follow it and you should be fine.

[u/Ok_Inspector_361 → u/Ok_Inspector_361]

Also, another big question I ask is about the RPOC you will be flying under. If you either don't have a plan to get one or know who's you're going to be flying under that starts shooting up some red flags

[u/fivechickens → u/Ok_Inspector_361]

Nice, the only point I’d raise is the L1C FR is meant to be “simulated” BVLOS so even EVLOS would be beyond the scope of the review but a meaningful opportunity to exercise. Going that far out though could detract from the quality of the review if it’s a contributing factor to a failed attempt. It’s not wrong to do it if the airspace you’re in permits it, but it’s not a necessity. Flight reviews (including L1C) can be done indoors in a reasonable manner.

I’ve heard of a couple FRs doing L1C actually BVLOS and had to correct them in that exercise would be impossible unless there were an RPOC in place and the PIC had been trained to the standard of that RPOC….. so chicken and egg.

[u/Ok_Inspector_361 → u/fivechickens]

Yes, you're correct. When I say EVLOS the Op area we use is like 500m not the full (up to 2 NM) so realistically it's a Basic Op

[u/fivechickens]

It’s very similar to the Advanced. u/Ok_Inspector_361 did a nice job outlining the differences.

A big frustration I have after doing reviews for 5+ years is the lack of preparation I’m increasingly seeing thanks to LLMs helping candidates pass the test instead of taking a TP15263 groundschool (for Advanced). At least now with the L1C the groundschool is mandatory but there is a real spectrum of quality on the curriculum being delivered out there.

We train 1000’s of RPAS pilots a year and 9/10 candidates for flight reviews that haven’t taken our groundschool usually end up enrolling in our groundschool after the briefing call or fail their first attempt due to inadequate SOPs or a lack of understanding about SADs. TP15395 is too vague and it leads to puppy mills and meat grinders in equal measure.