EASA Rules on Drones - Nearly the End

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Rob Buckley
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EASA Rules on Drones - Nearly the End

Postby Rob Buckley » February 8th, 2018, 1:19 pm

EASA have recently published their Technical Opinion on UAV regulation here-

https://www.easa.europa.eu/document-library/opinions/opinion-012018

The timescales they're quoting are for this all to come into law later this year, with an implementation phase to be agreed, maybe up to three years.
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Re: EASA Rules on Drones - Nearly the End

Postby Bob Thompson1894 » February 9th, 2018, 9:23 am

Not being of a lawyer type background I need an 'Idiots Guide' to all this. From what I have read from the BMFA, those of us who fly at clubs or under the auspices of national bodies (BMFA, LMA, JMA etc) will remain unaffected. Does the LMA concur?

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Re: EASA Rules on Drones - Nearly the End

Postby Rob Buckley » February 9th, 2018, 8:55 pm

Seeing as you asked so nicely Bob...

Unaffected isn't likely to be quite the way it all pans out, 'minimally affected' will be more like it.

The mention of 'clubs' in the UK is slightly misleading, as what the rules mean is 'National Associations' not 'Local Clubs'. It's worded that way as some European national modelling associations are the equivalent of the Royal Aero Club in the UK.

Once these regulations come into force (or earlier if our government choose to put rules into place earlier), everyone who flies an unmanned aircraft over 250g will have to-
- Register themselves as an operator
- Pass a theoretical test of competence to fly
- Fly at up to 120m altitude
- Some other stuff that’s not as exciting, but all in the proposed rules

There is the mechanism for model associations (in the UK, the LMA, BMFA, SAA and FPVUK) to be issued with Operational Permissions to allow their members to operate beyond the limits set in the main body of the rules, and the limits will depend on what we agree with the ‘competent authority’ (in the UK, the CAA) as appropriate based on our long history of safe model flying. The aim is for our members to be able to fly basically as they do today (permission limitations based on the good bits of CAP658), but it’s highly likely that mandatory registration and competence testing will apply to us, as the government are keen on those parts.

What we have offered to do is use the membership information we already have to meet the registration requirement, and potentially do the testing too so as to get an appropriate test to model flying.

We as an association will also have legal responsibilities that go with holding a permission, which are-

1. make available to their registered members appropriate procedures to comply with the conditions and limitations defined in the operational authorisation issued by the CAA
2. assist UAS remote pilots, who are registered members of the association, in achieving the minimum competency required to operate the UAS safely in accordance with the procedures defined in paragraph 1;
3. take appropriate action when informed that a registered member does not comply with the conditions and limitations defined in the operational authorisation and, if necessary, inform the CAA;
4. provide, upon request from the CAA, the documentation required for oversight and monitoring purposes.

Actual ability to fly will not be a part of the ‘competency’, just theoretical knowledge. How we deal with beginners needs to be worked out, but the test will be pretty simple and not beyond what any of us should know anyway.

Does that make sense?
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Re: EASA Rules on Drones - Nearly the End

Postby Bob Thompson1894 » February 9th, 2018, 9:09 pm

Absolutely. If I can understand it then it is nice and simple. Almost common sense, if you can use that phrase in Government matters. Thank you Rob.

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Re: EASA Rules on Drones - Nearly the End

Postby chris-berry » February 10th, 2018, 9:50 pm

Thanks for that Rob, that's very useful.

In terms of the height limit your saying that its likely that the CAA will delegate authority to the LMA et.al to issue height exemptions, similar to the delegated authority the LMA have for over 20kg?

I.E. the national associations will deal with the nitty gritty on behalf of the CAA, having come to a mutually agreeable solution.

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Re: EASA Rules on Drones - Nearly the End

Postby Rob Buckley » February 11th, 2018, 12:40 pm

No. The limitations will be mutually agreed with the CAA, and will be published in the detail of the operational permission for each association.

The LMA doesn't actually have any delegated authority over 20Kg operations today, the exemptions are issued directly by the CAA and have their specific limitations on them.

The operational permission will be along the lines of the limitations on an over 20Kg exemption and the interesting bits of CAP658 today.

Provided you're flying line of sight in accordance with the rules today, the limitations in the operational permission shouldn't make any difference to how you fly today.
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