02/01/2021
Hi Guys
I meant to post this earlier but it’s been a busy couple of days.
On the 31st of December 2020 the drone laws in the uk changed (again).
The new drone laws are spelled out in a long document called CAP 722, it can be hard to get your head around sometimes but everything can be summarized into a nice little table shown below:
https://www.heliguy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/new-drone-regulation-guidance-uk.png
The other rule you need to remember is part of the Air Navigation Order called article 241:
A person must not recklessly or negligently cause or permit an aircraft to endanger any person or property, this applies to manned and unmanned flight, so even when you’re flying as per the rules in one of the below subcategories you still need to take this into account.
I'm not going to break down every sub category as there are tons of resources on the internet that do that, I’ll go through what it means to us as FPV drone pilots/operators.
You get up tomorrow and let’s say you don't have any extra permissions (we will come back to them shortly) and you want to go out to fly. What rules apply to you?
Since most of us build our own drones we fall in the privately built class, if you bought pre build machine (from a manufacturer) you may also fall in the legacy class.
If your drone weighs less than 250g at takeoff and its top speed is less then 19m/s or 42.5 mph you can fly following the A1 rules for the privately built class.
This means small drones ie tiny whoops and up to some 3 inch machines you can pretty much fly anywhere. As long as it can be done safely! (see article 241)
If your drone weighs more than 250g you now have to follow A3 rules, so you can't fly if there are “uninvolved people” (walkers/dog walkers) in the area of flight and you can’t fly within 150 metres of residential, commercial, industrial or recreational areas so basically done fly near areas of houses, factories and shops and now we can't fly in parks or areas people use for recreation this can involve somewhere like a hillside were there is a right of way path.
So the new rules are great if you have a sub 250g drone but pretty crap if your drone weighs over 250g as the places you can fly are very limited.
But……...
Fear not, we have “extra permissions” to get us flying again, they are basically work arounds to let us fly in other sub categories,
If you do a A2 CofC course (available online for around £100+) you are deemed a competent drone pilot / operator and you can now fly in the A1 and A2 sub categories under the A1 and A2 class’s
So what does this mean?
A drone that weighs under 500g would qualify as in the A1 class and be flown pretty much anywhere as long as it can be done safely and you do not over fly (fly over the top of) uninvolved persons. That's pretty much game changing.
On top of that if your drone weighs more than 500g but less than 2kg (2000g) you have to fly in the A2 Subcategory with a A2 Class so fly no closer than 50 meters horizontally from un involved persons.
So with a A2 CofC you have many more options available to you.
But wait there's more…. If you don’t want to spend £100 + on a course there are more options for you, and many of us already qualify for this extra permission.
People that are part of a flying association ie, The BMFA, the SAA and FPVUK are allowed to fly to a separate set of rules called Article 16, it basically means everything above does not apply to you. ( i bet you wish i started with this).
So what does article 16 say;
When the rules change on 31st December 2020 this authorisation will allow association members to enjoy privileges such as:
Flying FPV without a competent observer for each drone – in a sterile area (such as a race location).
Flying FPV with a competent observer. (same as before the change)
Flying your aicraft above 400ft (except multirotors).
Flying in a park (a built up area is normally defined as ‘An area substantially used for industrial, recreational, commercial or residential purposes’ and is now allowed. Under the authorisation flight is allowed in an area used for only ‘recreational purposes’ – such as a park).
Flying to a distance of 30m from uninvolved people (15m on take off and landing) – this is a bubble around the person, unlike the open category which is a horizontal distance – ie overflight is allowed for association members.
Flying sailplanes up to 400ft above the pilot – allowing for ridge soaring.
So with the rules changes there are more reasons than ever to join one of the associations.
Edinburgh Drone racing is affiliated with the BMFA and joining the club will afford you the new rules as per article 16, if you stay outwith the Edinburgh and Lothian area there are drone clubs all over scotland we will gladly point you in the direction of.
Links to all the rules and artiles :
https://www.fpvuk.org/files/20201215-UKMFA-UAS-7068-Article-16-Authorisation.pdf
https://rcc.bmfa.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/BMFA-QSG-V16.pdf
https://www.iaa.ie/docs/default-source/misc/iaa---eu-uas-regulations-outline.pdf?sfvrsn=6b1000f3_4
https://www.heliguy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/new-drone-regulation-guidance-uk.png
