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Flying drone in EU – what do you need to fly legally?

eu flag swaying with the wind

“I live in South Africa and will be traveling to EU soon. What do I need to be able to fly there? Do all EU counties have same regulations?”

Non-EU citizens (or at least those who do not have EU qualifications as yet) wishing to perform drone operations in an EU member state should register in the first EU country where they intend to fly a drone. If you are not sure where you will be flying first, registration in any of EU countries will do. I found that registration in Poland is very easy and completely free from hassles and fees.

To register at drony.ulc.gov.pl, select the English version of the site, set up an operator profile and a pilot profile, and then put the operator’s number on the drone.

  • If operations will be carried out with a drone that has a camera and weighs up to 250 g, registration alone will suffice.
  • If the drone weighs more than 250 g, you will need to take an online training course and pass an online test (the whole thing will take about 50 minutes).

The training is free of charge and consists of a few dozen slides describing the applicable regulations and rules of flight.

For more information on the rules of flight operations, available ratings and the new European regulations, visit official EASA website: https://www.easa.europa.eu/en

Privileges acquired in one EU country, are valid throughout the EU.

Easy, right?

Please, note that although the drone rules are same accross the EU, there are different interpretations of the rules in respect to privacy laws and flying over properties.

In some countries as long as you have the right certification, you will be permitted to fly over properties of others, and in some others (like Germany) this is not permitted.

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RPL practical exam for drone license: part 2/3

As mentioned in previous post, in South Africa you still require to take (and pass) RPL practical exam, regardless of the size of the drone and where you will be flying. This is unlike EU, part 101 exams for A1 and A3 certifications are online only (no practical) and USA for part 107 certification where for A1/A3 there is no practial exam.

As a short reminder – the practical exam in South Africa consists of the following:

  1. Interview with examiner (to check what you learned and what you understood).
  2. Practical flying test – done in non GPS mode.

Today’s video is a reminder on yawing and focuses on cirquits and circles, where the yawing has to be smooth. Again, this is done in non-GPS mode. Take your time. Practice multiple times until you are confident. If you get frustrated with one maneuver, move to the next one and come back later. I find the cirquits and circles easier than the boxes, so if you managed the boxes, you will manage the cirquits.

Remember – PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!

If you missed part 1, please check it here

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RPL practical exam for drone license: part 1/3

The requirement for RPL (drone license) vary and depend on location. In EU, part 101 exams for A1 and A3 certifications are online only (no practical). I believe same process applies in USA for part 107 certification. A2 certification exam in EU is based on on line and self monitored practical training, after which checklist with competency statement is signed and put on record. That’s it. No actual RPL practical exam takes place.

In South Africa, also governed by part 101 of the aviation law, we not only have to take quite lengthy and detailed course from a SACAA approved institution, but also take RPL practical exam.

The RPL practical exam in South Africa consists of the following:

  1. Interview with examiner (to check what you learned and what you understood).
  2. Practical flying test – done in non GPS mode

Since there is no “golden formula” to convince examiner that you are knowledgeable – I will focus on practical part of the exam. In the video below, you will see set of maneuvers. You will be required to show competency in all of them.

Today’s video focuses on lines and boxes. What you need to practice is some space, cones (or other area markers) and a drone capable of flying in non-GPS mode. Take your time. Practice multiple times until you are confident. If you get frustrated with one maneuver, move to the next one and come back later.

Remember – PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!

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Drone License – who needs it?

When you need a “drone license”?

Drone License is officially called Remote Pilot License (RPL). It is a document (or one of them, but that depends on location) that allows drone pilots to fly commercially within part 107/ 107 aviation laws. It has limited purpose, if you only intend to fly within hobby rules (although knowledge of the rules is always useful), although in some locations there are restrictions as to what drone you can fly without a license.

But what does it mean? Law describes this as any activity where commercial gain achieved either via direct or indirect activities. This is far from being clear as well, however based on few developments in various locations of the world, the following transpired:

  1. Any paid services done for others done using drone while flying in air space. Logically, this excludes flying indoors with landlord’s permission, such as in warehouses, storage tanks and fly-throughs unless part of flight is outside.
  2. Commercial activity includes any monetization of YouTube, TikTok and any social media platforms.
  3. “Valuable consideration” – as in where video or work is used to attract customers or promote business.

While the first two are clear, the “valuable consideration” remains unclear. Where do you draw the line? In fact, there is no clear line. So far not many people worldwide has been taken to court JUST for making money on flying drones (none in South Africa) and where they have been taken to court, the cases were on their own merits.

photo of man wearing black clothing

What if you don’t have it?

Most court cases in USA had to do with negligence, property invasion, privacy or other sort of violations (such as air space and flying conditions violation, in which one of the pilots raked up a fine of over 180 000 USD).

This is perhaps because it is so easy to obtain p. 107 license (it costs about 150-200 USD to get yourself trained, certified and up in the air making money) that most pilot actually comply.

In one of the rulings, it was decided that it is in fact legal to sell existing footage as long as the footage was originally obtained without commercial gain in mind. So it is in fact all about intention (and what can be proven in court).

What else do you need?

One way or another, RPL may not be the only thing that is needed, and in South Africa getting RPL is only one small step towards the full compliance process.

In order to fly here commercially, one needs ROC (Remote Operator’s Certificate). ROC process is lengthy and expensive. In involves RPL, registration of the drone (possibly RLA of the drone), filing application that states all details of the operations, obtaining radio and some other safety equipment.

Altogether it will cost approx. 200-250 000 ZAR (I would LOVE to get corrected on this one – if there are any new developments in SA on this front, please, let me know). ROC is only valid for a year.

If you do not want to obtain own ROC, another option is to work as a pilot for one of the existing ROC holders (and salaries are very low here), or to pay monthly fee to ROC holder for the privilege of using their ROC…

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No fly zones – what are they and do we need them?

To fly or not to fly… What exactly are “no fly zones”?

No fly zones (NFZ) exist in what is in aviation called “controlled airspace” which includes airspace classes A, B, C and D. For drones – no fly zones in classes B (some countries don’t have this class) C and D would typically apply as class A is designated for high flying air planes.

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Drone Intrusion – what you can and cannot do (legally)

Drone Intrusion?

Few days ago, I “committed” a story on my drone Instagram account @drones.n.pixels – I archived it as Drone Intrusion, so have a look 😊

It was about incident that happened to me recently. It appears that someone took a shot at my drone. To my knowledge, I was not over anyone’s property, but this is actually completely irrelevant for now as we will be looking at situation when a drone actually does harass you. I don’t know, if this was in fact real shot or a tyre blow out, but I didn’t want to bother anyone or risk my drone or to, so I quickly landed.

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South Africa drone no-fly zones

No-Drone

To fly or not to fly…

Knowing where to fly and where not to fly can be challenge. Most hobby pilots rely on applications to find drone no-fly zones. For Europe and North America they are very accurate. Where apps are lacking are the less developed parts of the world, and this still includes South Africa. The best I found for South Africa so far is Altitude Angel available for both, iOS and Android.

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Drone regulations – mini rule book

BE SAFE – ALWAYS

For hobbyists, there are only very few rigid rules that need to be followed and rule number one has to do with safety. Drones vary in shapes, sizes and capabilities, and it’s a “no brainer” that different level of awareness has to be applied when flying a “sub 250 gram” mini drone like Mavic Mini 2 or a semi professional Inspire 2 or Pantom 4.

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