pigs dont fly
Key Veteran
Location: Ruined UK
| I have a reply as follows:
Thank you for your message which Doug Robertson has passed to me for a response. I'm sorry to have taken a while to repspond but I went on holiday the day you sent your e-mail and only returned a week ago, so I'm still catching up.
We are in the process of consulting with industry on our proposal to amend the Air Navigation Order to include UAS with a vehicle mass below 7 kg within the scope of regulation. If you would like to participate in the consultation, which is intended to identify issues such as those you have raised, you can find the Letter of Consultation and associated Impact Assessment on the CAA website at:
http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?c...=90&pageid=9644 or alternatively by accessing the CAA website at: www.caa.co.uk and clicking on the "Consultations" link in the blue box on the left of the page under "tell me more about..."
To answer your questions, if you are intending to carry out aerial work using an unmanned aircraft system, including a model aircraft, that is equipped for surveillance or data gathering, then we will require you to obtain a permission from us. Aerial work, as I'm sure you know, essentially means that you will be paid for the activity. We anticipate that you will be able to apply for a permission using a standardised paper form or, when available, an electronic format.
For the sort of operation that you are planning to undertake I anticipate that a multiple use permission would be required and for that we would wish to see a small operations manual that would detail the nature and scope of your activities, how you had identified and assessed the risks inherent in those activities and introduced mitigating measures to ensure the safety of other airspace users and persons on the ground as applicable. The permission would probably be renewable annually and would be covered by the CAA's Scheme of Charges. Currently a multiple use permission costs some £200.
We are not proposing to introduce airworthiness requirements for UAVs under 7 kgs. CAP 722 Ch 2 states that: "For a civil UAS with an operating mass not exceeding 20 kg (without fuel), no
airworthiness certification is required. However, an operational permission may be required for such aircraft – see Section 3, Chapter 1.
Lastly, as regards the use of model aircraft and other UAS for non-commercial or purely recreational activities, we are particularly mindful of the need to avoid interfering with the long established and generally responsible model flying community and its activities, and so we are only looking to regulate aerial work not recreational flying.
To understand more about what we are proposing, I recommend that you have a look at the consultation. Any further comments you might have in response to the consultation would be very welcome.
Yours sincerely,
Chris Finnigan
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Many thanks to Mr Finnigan, so reading that as follows...
snip...
To answer your questions, if you are intending to carry out aerial work using an unmanned aircraft system, including a model aircraft, that is equipped for surveillance or data gathering, then we will require you to obtain a permission from us. Aerial work, as I'm sure you know, essentially means that you will be paid for the activity. We anticipate that you will be able to apply for a permission using a standardised paper form or, when available, an electronic format.
Along with the last part regarding AP for fun...
snip...
'Lastly, as regards the use of model aircraft and other UAS for non-commercial or purely recreational activities, we are particularly mindful of the need to avoid interfering with the long established and generally responsible model flying community and its activities, and so we are only looking to regulate aerial work not recreational flying.'
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This means to me that hobby AP remains the same as before, and commercial needs a cert, fee, permission etc.
Seems ok and good news, or does anyone else interpret that differently?
Cheers
Ian
Warning...This hobby is very addictive and may damage your wealth |
