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is an aircraft like this legal in Alberta, Canada? It's basically a human sized quadrocopter. If so do you need any license?Human sized quadrocopter

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    $\begingroup$ That looks like a great way to make mince meat of someone's legs... $\endgroup$
    – FreeMan
    Commented Sep 11, 2020 at 19:01

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It's not possible to tell for certain based just on this one picture, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be. Unlike the US, Canada doesn't recognize the concept of an ultralight helicopter, so you'd need a regular helicopter license to actually fly it.

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This is an EHang 184 autonomous passenger drone photographed in 2017.

You don't need a pilot's license to fly it, because you don't fly it.

It has preset routes and the passenger selects the intended destination. The vehicle will then start automatic operation, take off and cruise to the set destination before descending and landing in a specific spot. A ground-based centre will monitor and control the entire operation.

Transport Canada hasn't yet figured out how to certify and license such a ground-based centre. Even so, it's a moot question whether this aircraft is legal in any sense at all in Canada, because no ground-based centre has been built there yet.

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  • $\begingroup$ One reason the ground facilities haven't been built yet may be that it's not permitted (yet?) to operate the thing in Canada. It's similar with Segways in several European countries, there are no dealerships because they're not legal to operate. $\endgroup$
    – jwenting
    Commented Sep 11, 2020 at 7:29
  • $\begingroup$ If a human being gets into this and selects a destination, surely that means that, legally, the human is the pilot, doesn't it? The person is both occupying and controlling the aircraft, after all; the fact that the controls are very unusual doesn't seem like it would be legally relevant. $\endgroup$
    – Sophie Swett
    Commented Sep 11, 2020 at 21:29
  • $\begingroup$ The human is the pilot just like a subway passenger who's bought a ticket from A to B is the conductor. They can't see-and-avoid. They have no responsibilities. They can make almost no decisions based on what they observe. They haven't been trained in what to observe. They might deploy a parachute, just like the straphanger can yank the emergency brake. $\endgroup$
    – Camille Goudeseune
    Commented Sep 11, 2020 at 21:54

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