caa Archives - Approved Drone Pilots

National Geographic Take Position

ADPADMIN — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 23:18:57 +0000

The CAA have revised the ANO, the UK government are undertaking a consultation that we seriously urge you to take part in, the details can be found here, and some customers are beginning to ask about insurance, PfCOs etc.

Now, grandaddy worldwide magazine, National Geographic have joined in on the ‘safe drone use’ campaign. They’ve issued a release today, updating the rules to their photo guidelines. Not only have they now included a section on drones but they have stated that any submitted images by drone must comply with aviation law. The guidelines only state Federal and State laws but we can only assume it’ll be rolling out worldwide and apply to the country that you are taking the photo in.

How exactly they’ll police this? We can only guess and no doubt the rule is as much for them (as advised by an expensive lawyer) as it is about safe drone use. But, they’re a big player and if they start trying to remind people to be safe and not break the law then that can only be a good thing for us all.

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CAA scrap 7kg-20kg catagory, night ops, and more.

ADP Members — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 20:31:55 +0000

Air Navigation (Amendment) Order 2018 –
Guidance for small unmanned aircraft users

In case you haven’t seen this from the CAA. It seems in many respects they are making the lives of us easier.

Requirements for UAS applications and PFCO amendments
Please be aware that UAS applications received after 30/07/18 may be rejected if they do not reflect the latest amendment to the Air Navigation Order (ANO).

Before you make an application please ensure that your Operations Manual has been updated and meets the requirements set out in latest Air Navigation Order 2018 amendment.

Please refer to CAP 1687 which provides full guidance for small aircraft users.

Key areas to consider include:

ANO changes for small UAS (20kg or less)
400ft height limit for all
Distance restriction from ‘Airports’
The following areas are included and will become ‘effective’ at a later date
Registration
Pilot competence requirements

When updating your manual please also ensure that your amendment log and version number/date have also been updated.

All existing applications submitted up until 30/07/18 will be accepted if referencing the Air Navigation Order 2016 prior to the 2018 amendment. Any NQE recommendations which have been granted by an NQE prior to 30/07/18, will not be affected by the Air Navigation Order amendments.

The standard Permission For Commercial Operations (PFCO) will be amended as follows from 30/07/18:

The classes have been reduced from 4 to 2, i.e. 0-20Kg Multirotor and 0-20Kg Fixed Wing.
The standard permission now also permits operations in congested areas down to 50m for all UAS 20Kg or less.
Flights at night will be automatically granted provided a procedure for this has been established in the OPS Manual. Procedures covering night operations must also be incorporated into your Ops Manual for renewal applications.
Current permissions will be grandfathered until an application is submitted to the CAA. However in the interim current Permission holders will need to use CAP 1687 to update their procedures accordingly to meet the new requirements.
This will simplify the application process and grant additional privileges to applicants. It will also help to reduce queries to the CAA and reduce costs to industry for variations to standard permissions. The current OSC process remains unchanged.
Finally please note that the UK government has issued a further public consultation regarding drone operations within the UK, which we encourage you to read and respond to.

Further details can be found on the CAA website.

If you have any issues or queries with the above please do not hesitate to contact us at uavenquiries@caa.co.uk

https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP1687-SUAANOAmendmentOrder-3.pdf

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How much to apply for or renew/amend my PfCO?

ADPADMIN — Mon, 21 May 2018 23:22:54 +0000

The UK CAA is a big organisation. They look after the regulations of airspace, aircrew and aircraft so they have a lot to do. One thing they have been doing a lot recently, is returning PfCO applications or renewals as the applicant has applied an incorrect fee to said application.

This isn’t necessarily the fault of the applicant. A search on Google will generally lead you to the prices that came into force in April 2017. It’s now May 2018.

The correct reference document is ORS5 No. 336: CAA Scheme of Charges (General Aviation)

As you will see in section 3.11, the fees are as detailed below;

And in case you’re wondering, I’ll explain the column you’ll fall under below:

NB. Incidentally, I’m not going into OSCs and craft with a mass greater than 20kg at this time.

You are eligible for the renewal fee if:

Nothing has changed since your previous application.

You’ll have to pay the fee under the initial charge if:

It’s your initial application.

If you are making a variation however to an existing PfCO, either at renewal (no extra fee for renewing and adding a variation at the same time) or during the period of your permissions, then you feature in the next table:

As you can see from note 15, the CAA don’t define all possible Technical Changes but some are if:

You are adding a weight category or,
You are adding night permissions or,
Any other ‘variation’ of significant nature.

You don’t need to pay a variation if you’re merely adding additional craft of an existing weight category to your fleet, as long as your Operations Manual reflects the change and your insurance provider is aware where relevant. For example, you may upgrade from an Inspire 1 to an Inspire 2. This is NOT a technical change.

Hopefully this helps in your renewal processes and the long and the short of it is, you either need to pay £247 or £185 as from April 2018.

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