UK DRONE LEGISLATION

DRONE LEGISLATION INTRODUCTION

Drone legislation and training is complex so we’ve simplified what’s happening as much as we can … including a drone code fact file with the do's and don’ts for people who fly drones for fun.

When talking about drones you may see people using the abbreviation UAS which stands for unmanned aircraft systems, UAV which is short for unmanned aerial vehicle or even RPAS which means remotely piloted air systems. Don’t be fooled. They’re all drones. Some drones are capable of BVLOS (Flight beyond the visual line of sight) and are piloted remotely. These tend to be referred to as 'Work Class Drones' and are flown by professional pilots in the aviation industry.

New rules came in on December 31 2020 and include 2 main categories – Open and Specific with 3 levels of training and assessment. The different categories have different restrictions on where and how people can fly drones.

Level 1: A basic online competency test which has a lot of restrictions as to where people who pass this can fly their drones.

Level 2: To fly in the main Open category the A2 Certificate of Competency (A2 CofC) is needed which means you can fly near people. Drone pilots need to complete an online course and pass a 30 question exam and there is no practical flight assessment.

Level 3: To fly in the Specific Category which gives far more flight freedom drone operators need to take the new General Visual Line of Sight (GVC) certificate which includes passing a theory exam, writing an operations manual and passing a flight assessment. This replaced the commercial drone flying course called the Permission for Commercial Operations certificate (PfCO).

HOW DID DRONE TRAINING CHANGE FOR 2021?

People using drones commercially now need a General Visual Line of Sight (GVC) certificate. Drone users will also have the option to do the new A2 Certificate of Competency (A2 CofC) course designed for relatively slow-flying and lightweight drones but there are more restrictions as to how close they can fly their drones to people than the GVC course.

The reason for the changes, is that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) which authorises drone flying in the UK wants to harmonise drone training across Europe. The decision to adopt these regulations was taken before the UK left the European Union but is widely considered to be the right thing to do as it will make operating a drone in EU countries the same throughout the continent, thus avoiding confusion.

The CAA has replaced PfCO with the Operational Authorisation (AO) and drone operators will only be able to achieve this if they have passed the GVC course or they have a valid PfCO. When the PfCO comes up for renewal it will automatically become an Operational Authorisation but the difference is that only pilots with the GVC can then in the future have extra bolt-on permissions such as Extended Visual Line of Sight (EVLOS) and Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) training which will make them elite drone pilots. These cannot be added on to PfCO.

Training companies such as Flyby Technology will issue GVC certificates once their drone students have completed the GVC course and these training companies must be what is known as an RAE (Recognised Assessment Entity) which means they are authorised by the CAA.
The GVC needs to be renewed every year while the A2 CofC is valid for 5 years.
Flyby offers both qualifications – GVC and the A2 CofC – as one world class course.
Flyby also offers advanced drone training. You can read more about their BVLOS aviation school, based in Leicester, here www.bvlosdronetraining.com

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR PEOPLE WHO FLY DRONES FOR LEISURE?

A new Open Category became effective from January 1, 2021 which allows people to fly drones up to 20kg in weight without any qualifications or permissions but they must have completed the Drone Registration scheme including an online theory test to get a Flyer ID and then register their drone with the CAA to get an Operator ID. This is done through the website register-drones.caa.co.uk/drone-code and they must abide by the drone code at all times. 

It costs £9 to take them both. A flyer ID is valid for 3 years while an operator ID is valid for 1 year. Flyby Technology highly recommend that some training is undertaken, at the very least the A2CofC to keep the standards high and drone flight safe.

WHAT IS THE DRONE CODE?

Drone Code Factfile

All Open Category drone operators must strictly follow the drone code or face hefty punishments including the possibility of prison if they flout them.

The basic rules are:

• The drone must always be in sight.
• It must never be flown more than 400ft (120m) high to avoid risk of collision with planes and helicopters.
• Never fly closer than 50m (164ft) to people.
• Never fly closer than 50m (164ft) to buildings, vehicles, boats and trains.
• Never fly closer than 150m (492ft) to built-up and busy areas such as villages, towns, beaches, parks, housing estates, schools, offices and business parks. You also can’t fly above them at any height.
• Can’t fly closer than 150m (492ft) to crowds of 1,000 or more people and never over them – such as a rally, demonstration, sports event, concert or carnival.
• Don’t fly within 3 miles (6km) of an airport.
• You can’t use your drone to make any kind of money.
• Use apps such as Drone Assist, the new drone safety app from NATS (formerly the National Air Traffic Service) to check where it’s safe to fly.

 

There's a great infographic in our Media Assets section that you can download called 'The 10 Golden Rules for Flying a Drone Safely' >

 

Legislation for people wanting to fly drones for commercial gain and what the training covers

 

People wanting to fly drones as a business must now obtain a General Visual Line of Sight (GVC) certificate. It’s also known as a drone licence, although strictly speaking you do not need a licence to fly a drone, you need the GVC Certificate! This means the operator can be classed a professional drone pilot although there are lots more skills they can learn on further advanced courses.

GVC involves completing a course that includes passing a theory exam, writing an operations manual and passing a flight assessment. The course includes air law and regulations, meteorology and weather, navigation, map exercises, aircraft knowledge, pre-flight planning, safe set-up and site surveying, airspace operating principles, airmanship and safety, operating procedures and human factors such as people making mistakes.

The operations manual is a very detailed document that explains to the CAA how the drone operator will be working commercially and the sections include safety and training, flight planning, reporting incidents and dealing with emergencies.

Another option is the CAA A2 Certificate of Competency – or A2 CofC for short – but this means the drone operator has more flying restrictions. Flyby currently offer a course that provides both qualifications in 1.

 

Legislation for people wanting to operate drones over 2kg and take advanced drone flying qualifications

You now need a General Visual Line of Sight (GVC) course and includes ground school theory, a flight test with a qualified examiner and then an operations manual which is individual to each pilot and lays out in detail exactly how they intend to operate their drone.

The GVC is valid for 5 years and at that point the drone pilot will need to go on a refresher course.

Without one, drone pilots won’t be able to get an Operational Authorisation from the CAA for commercial work.

Flyby Technology offers a PfCO conversion course to the GVC qualification as well as a combined A2 CofC and GVC course.

Pilots can then take an Extended Visual Line of Sight (EVLOS) module so they can fly their drones further than 500m.

The next generation of pilots will be looking to do the most advanced drone training course, the Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS), exclusive to Flyby as its instructors are all ex-fighter pilots, combat helicopter pilots or CAA examiners. This course launched in Spring 2021 and is the World's first BVLOS Aviation School, based in Leicester in the UK. 

This will give pilots the skills to fly drones in one country while sitting in another and control large and heavy drones transporting loads … and to do so both at night and in bad weather. A new era for drone technology.