UAV / Drones

Any drone pilots in here? Just been given one of these to use at work for survey work and it seems there are now a million rules and regs governing these things. Anyone know if I can just take it to an open field for a spin just to practice with the thing?

If you’re using it for work there are some regs you’ll need to adhere to, this might help you https://www.caa.co.uk/consumers/remotely-piloted-aircraft/

If you’re just flying it for practice, you still need to register as a drone user, (£9 annually) then the other rules will mainly relate to the weight and intended use, if it’s under 250grams, it’s classed as a hobby drone and all that’s needed is the £9 registration, but if it’s heavier, or you’re using it for work, the rules change significantly.

or you’re using it for work, the rules change significantly.

all of which will have of course been explained by your employers 🙂

Have a look on here. https://mavicpilots.com/

Very helpful and friendly.

For a commercial situation there are additional things to be considered and your employer should be ensuring these are covered, and also any additional company policies.

I can fly one and other RC places and wanted to use one my employer had just got for some footage of a project in a very remote location, but wasn’t allowed to just borrow it for the day due to having to comply with their policies.

As to taking it to an empty field to have a go, that your choice to make.

the CAA registration is for the owner of / person responsible for the drone… and not necessarily the person using it. Get your employer to register it- that way anyone else from the company using it doesn’t become an issue for you

I think you have to pass a short test too. For hire or reward in a commercial setting then there are lots of different restrictions….beware

There are two CAA registrations required:
a flyer-id, which everyone who flies a drone should have
an operator id, which is for the company that owns the drone and which should be labelled on the drone somewhere.

Re. flying in a field to practise, when I did my quals that was allowed as it wasnt commercial work. However things have changed (We are still operating under grandfathered approvals). I’d be surprised if it wasnt, but should be easy to check. make sure you are insured though! You may need a flight assistant to act as an observer

Thanks guys. We have an operator license and operational approval for survey work. Got all the training to do but want to take the thing for a quick spin somewhere before spending 6 months doing all the desktop exercises. Shall have a read of all the content and hopefully a remote field somewhere would be fine for a quick training flight.

As per above rules have got more complex and less complex at the same time with the weight and class of the Drone being setting the rules effectively.

It does mean you can fly a sub 250g drone many places with very little issue and restriction. Providing you still operate within the law.

Beyond that the class of drone determines what you can and can’t do without older PfCO or newer A2 C of C or GVC.

When I got one for work, I have was truly shit at flying the thing. I bought a small, cheap Hubsan I could use in the garden and house to practise with. That really helped, and reduced the chance of me smashing up the big, expensive one.

I’ve got a DJI Phantom and I took the online test to get a registration. The number needs to be stuck on the drone so you can be traced if it comes down in a field etc. You should also consider filing flight plans although for recreational use this is not compulsory IIRC.

Commercial flying, as others have said, has many other requirements.

There are useful apps to help you with No Fly Zone data.