Leonidas
Heliman
Location: UK
| When I saw a feature on the news last year by the Merseyside police I wrote to them explaining that there is no way they should be thinking of flying over crowds as they suggested and that the little 4 propped hairdryer they were assessing was not capable of chasing criminals on quad bikes over fields as they too suggested.
A quote from CAA ’Specific Impact Test’:
“Competition Assessment
As the proposed regulatory change will apply equally to all operators, except the Police who will operate UAS under the provisions of an Air Operator’s Certificate, it is assessed that there are no implications for competitions.” - I don’t think an a/c being flown in line of sight should be put in the same category as a machine packed full of electronics and set of on a mission way out of sight of the operator. This type of machine should have some regulation and be treated quite differently; this is what I call a true UAV. A helicopter with a camera onboard is no different to your regular model apart from the fact that it has a camera fitted and it is a lot more expensive, these two things alone will ensure that the operator will take even more care of his machine and how he operates it.
A quote from CAA proposal 4:
“Industry: the reputation of the emerging UAS industry will be protected from potentially
irresponsible operators.” – I’m not convinced as irresponsible operators would probably not have a ‘Permission’.
A quote from CAA Evidence Base:
“2.1 The objective of this consultation is to seek industry views on whether regulatory intervention is required for UAV’s under 20 kg (particularly for UAV’s under 7 kg) and, if deemed necessary, to amend the ANO accordingly, but without adversely affecting the operation of model aircraft.” – So this is not just looking at bringing the ‘under 7kg’ machines into the ‘Permission’ category but to see whether the regs. for the 7 to 20kg need to be amended. These are the regulations of a typical (current) ‘Permission’:
This Permission is granted subject to the following conditions, namely, that the said aircraft shall not be flown:
(a) other than by operators that hold a British Model Flying Association ‘B” Certificate or alternatively the Large Model Association or other national equivalent competency qualification;
(b) in controlled airspace, except with the permission of the appropriate air traffic control unit;
(c) in any aerodrome traffic zone except with the permission either of the appropriate air traffic control unit or the person in charge of the aerodrome;
(d) at a height exceeding 400 feet above ground level:
(e) at a distance beyond the visual range of the operator(s) of the said aircraft, or a maximum range of 500 metres;
(f) within 150 metres of any congested area of a city, town or settlement;
(g) within 50 metres of any person, vessel, vehicle or structure not under the control of the aircraft operator except that during the take-off or landing an aircraft to which this subparagraph applies shall not fly within 30 metres of any person other than the person in charge of the said aircraft or a person in charge of any other small aircraft or a person necessarily present in connection with the operation of such an aircraft;
(h) unless it is equipped with a mechanism that will cause the said aircraft to land in the event of disruption to or a failure of any of its control systems, including the radio link, and the person in charge of the said aircraft has satisfied himself that such mechanism is in working order before the aircraft commences its flight;
(i) unless the person in charge of the said aircraft has reasonably satisfied himself that any load carried by the aircraft is properly secured, that the said aircraft is in an airworthy condition and that the flight can safely be made taking into account of the Wind and other significant weather conditions;
(j) unless the flights have been notified to the local Police prior to the flights taking place;
(k) the operator maintains records of each flight made pursuant to this Permission and to make such records available to the Authority on request;
(l) unless using the UK PFAT allocated radio frequencies between 34.945 — 35.305 MHz;
(m) at a speed exceeding 70 knots;
I think the regs. are reasonably fair apart from (f) where even at 400’ a helicopter would never travel 450’ (150m) if it were dumped, so having to stay 450’ away from a settlement when filming from say 80’ high is ridiculous – maybe there should be some sort of ‘avoid curve’ graph to cater for this.
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I think those that fly models for recreational use (non-commercial) should be able to fit a camera to their model if they wish, without regulation, after all, models have been flown for generations and the hobby has a fantastic safety record, sticking a camera on the front does not turn a modeller into an idiot. An idiot is an idiot whatever the regulations. An idiot can use an air rifle without any official permission or regulation but (maybe soon) not a small helicopter with a camera on board.
People that take film or stills only should not be categorised with those that carry out surveillance. As for ‘data acquisition’, doesn’t 2.4Ghz radio gear do just this! |
Good luck with the enforcement!
