After reading through the comments on this video, I want to address an important point. There’s been some discussion about my use of Article 16, so I want to clarify a few things. While I took off from a recreational area and maintained the required separation distances, the flight went slightly outside the designated zone. At the time, I believed I was operating within the rules, but I understand there’s room for interpretation. The flight was conducted safely, and with my experience flying in cities, I always prioritize safety and awareness. That said, I wouldn’t recommend others push these boundaries, as it’s important to stay fully compliant to avoid any issues. This situation reinforces what I’ve said about the complexities and, at times, the lack of clarity in drone regulations. It’s a conversation worth having because so many of us care about flying safely while still enjoying the creative freedom drones offer. Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts-your feedback helps keep these discussions productive. Let’s keep advocating for clearer guidance and smarter regulations.
Absolutely 100% SPOT ON! We need just one set of RULES to cover the whole of the UK. Everyone on the same page both from the recreational to professional, to the public service entities.
I live in the Scottish Highlands. I can and do fly just about anywhere. No airports anywhere near me. No prisons. No red zones on drone assist. Miles of space away from people or buildings everywhere. Just need to watch out for eagles....
Really! Thats pretty amazing, I wanted to come up to Scotland during my recent visit to England but the weather wasn't great. I will see what February is like. Do the castles not have no fly zones?
@DimmyV No you can fly over them although some don't want you taking off or landing on their property but you can take off outside and fly over. Many of the ruins you can just fly through.
@DimmyV most have "no drones" signs but a friendly query with the caretaker or tourist shop worker they will tell you to set up and fly from a quiet corner and fly around the site. Avoiding people and residential building. If nobody manning the site just fly from outside and get your shots.
The rule up to 250g only for drone toys and drones without camera. If the drone has camera the rule is clear you must register and get pilot ID. (the test is joke 40 questions and you can have reference documents open while you doing it and you can take the test many times). I used to work for Altitude Angels many years ago and it is great to see how their app has evolved. Altitude has great team of people with close connections to NATS and CAA and they have been working hard on opening the sky to all responsible hobby and professional drone pilots. I my self I'm member of BMFA (British Model Flying Association) and with the membership I get liability insurance for flying RC model planes, it can happen that you lose control of drone or plane and anything with little bit more weight and speed can do bit more damage then just bruse someone or scratch someones car. Unfortunately where ever you go you can see people not respecting the rules (perhaps not even having the CAA registration and any form of insurance), flying over the crowds especially, not having observer next to them while flying in FPV mode and the list goes on.
Appreciate this comment. Yes Altitude Angel have done a great job. I just wish all countries have an official app. Some done even have anything and it's done on paper, scanning and sending via email. If the process was simpler and more streamlined it would make things a lot clearer. I was thinking about this the other day but experience is not counted, if there was a way to determine this it could help those who fly more regularly and responsibly have freedoms. Something along the lines of no claims insurance.
Great video, thanks. I’ve just completed the A2 CofC to gain competence over air law. I found this to be the best way of gaining knowledge at present. I’ve subscribed to your channel as well.
Appreciate the comment. I wish that if you have the advanced license in other country theres some kind of grandfathering where we don't need the whole test, it can't be much different between countries. This is never counted and it's annoying.
Very apt! I got so frustrated with the whole thing that I just sold my drone. It's stifling and just plain annoying. They are killing off such a beautiful thing that drone piloting is.
The reason why sub 250g drones are allowed more freedom than, for example the DJI Air3s, is that at terminal velocity it has less than 80 joules of energy at impact. The latter is deemed to be unlikely to cause serious injury. A drone weighing almost 3 times 250g would easily exceed this safety threshold. That said, the number of serious injuries reported from incidences involving drones is negligible. The example you gave where a drone was reported as a near miss at 9600ft was unproven along with many other similar reports. Indeed, statistics reported by the CAA have also been criticised by learned representatives of the profession. EU Regulations are more stringent than the UK, you cannot fly any drone at night, or over property and every country in the EU has their own rules on top of EASA regs. Cant fly higher than 120m from the surface etc etc. Be careful what you wish for!
Appreciate this and understand your point. I don't disagree here but as you mentioned the likely hood is negligible. EU Rules are not perfect, Cyprus is pretty open here. My point about technology advancing faster than regulations means they cannot keep up to date and should ask drone flyers what should and shouldn't be allowed. Thanks for commenting.
Agreed - every statistic from the CAA needs an asterisk against it with the disclaimer "*May be inaccurate or just plain completely made up" They have form with completely messing screwing up, which in itself is harmful to the hobby because people will start ignoring the regs as their source has no credibility. 🖖
Yeah let's not underestimate this. Remember when the sky was filled with birds? We had so many accidents! So many needless deads that could have been avoided. Luckily the bird act for 1922 was a big step forwards in safety. But now that the birds are gone, suddenly we have the drones! And these things are dangerous. This year alone in europe over 50 000 people have died, mainly in eastern europe. These "toys" are so lethal man, you have no idea. What one of the motors stop midflight? This happens 0.04% of flights. Just think about it, would you drive a car knowing that it's possible that maybe your breaks stop working or your stearing breaks? Ofcourse not. And cars don't go as fast as drones. Drones can go 200 km/h easily. If they hit you, and on average they hit 5 or 6 londeners a day there are often deads. I think last year alone in londen we have had almost a 100 people die from getting hit by crashing drones going 200 km/h. Thanks for taking the time to take about drone safety! Because at this point I think that almost everybody in the world knows somebody that's been a victim of these viscious "toys" and enough is enough. We need safety! If we let 12 year old boys fly their toy drones wherever they want to fly in the garden of their parents we might as well bring all the birds back. And nobody wants that. What if they hit something?
Brilliant, someone that talks a lot of sense 👏 Although I still think that it's an up-hill battle. A lot of people and especially councils and the like, are very anti-drone 😢
Yes it will be an uphill battle but if we don’t bring to attention and just sit back nothing will get done. Better to keep knocking on door. Also the lack of public education for non drone flyers causes the unwanted confrontations.
Excellent high quality video Demetrios! 👏 The only bit with the EU regs that could cause a bit of an issue is the 120m rule where they brought in 'above take off point' rather than AGL which we have in the UK, but that's kindof a minor thing - if you're at the bottom of a hill and your flight takes you > 120m above takeoff point but not 120M AGL then you'd probably start to get issues with VLOS anyway... I'd gladly trade that in for the rest of the EU regs. Got an Air 3, but didin't bother with the Air 3s cos the main selling point is the low light obstacle avoidance and even with the A2 CofC the minimum separation distance is 50m from buildings and people - in a column!. This means that filming in urban areas is so restrictive that you could only really use article 16 in a park and can't fly out of that area and then hope you can get a good shot with the 3x lens + you can't use any automated modes under article 16 (except RTH). Wow - didn't expect to write an essay there! 🤣 Good luck my drone brother and again - great informative vid! 🖖
Thank you my friend, appreciate your thoughts and comments. Like many who have commented their frustrations we are united in some way. We just want to fly our drones and capture awesome places. EU rules are good but not perfect. I feel like each country has something we can each take and make into something better. 🍻
Hi buddy! Great video and big thanks for that. I’m traveling to London very often and never take my drone with me due to this messy regulations. In Poland we have an official apps like Drone Tower and KSIP and it’s easy to check-in or plan the mission and get approval. Cheers!
Thank you for making this important Demetrios. You make a great point of regulations not keeping up with technology. The police and even those involved in training and the CAA contradict themselves on VLOS and heights to fly! Here is SA 🇿🇦, getting a remote pilot certificate (RPC) costs around R22.000 (~£1,000), and you must still get a remote operator certificate (ROC) which can cost 10 times that much to cover you for liabilities! It’s not worth it for a small operators, let alone, hobbyists. All drone under 7kgs are governed under the same rules!
Thanks for the comment, helpful for others to know. That’s interesting about the SA RPC and ROC requirements. How does this work for tourists who want to visit? South Africa has some awesome landscapes!
Agree with most suggestions, I have been flying drones around 5 yrs and the rules are not always clear, changes are needed with so many new clueless pilots “it needs clear guidelines”.
@@DimmyV I fly a variety of drones from FPV tinywhoops to the Mavic Air 2s. Currently flying DJI Mini 4 pro, Air 2s and Avata 2. But also love the frill of a 4’ FPV quad.
Mini 2, Air 3, Air 3, Avata 2, GEPRC Mark5, Cinelog25, TinyHawk3, StarWars X-Wing. I flew at the Cyprus Rally back in October was wkd to fly FPV at that.
@@DimmyV really wanted to purchase the tiny hawk, it seemed to have the power of a 4” quad, hope they release an 04 system for the tiny hawk. We are all waiting for the DJI Air 04!!!!
Hi from Alan Birmingham man as your light RUclips information is superb and very well said and great comments as i agree with every thing you are saying as have the mavic 2 zoom. The new air 3s. The Neo and the mini two 4K as all of them are in the combo when i purchased them all as it’s a great hobby so improving new regulations and making it easier would be absolutely beneficial to all people that enjoy this hobby I’m sure as I’ve prescribed to your channel now and look forward to seeing future footage that will come up from time to time. Best wishes from me to you. 👍
Hi Alana, Thanks for commenting, thats a nice range of drones you have. All regulations take an ages to adjust to technology, its just a matter of time but they are super slow.
I like this idea, I have a TinyHawk 3 and not that this is going far nor is video quality good but to just rip in a park and have fun would be awesome.
Move to Australia. Our aviation laws are amazing, and Cival Aviation Safety Authority is absolutely wonderful to deal with, and there is no overreach in any way, shape, or form, and they were actually extremely helpful with my outcome.
@DimmyV we still have your standard safety restrictions, helipads, and airports, but providing you not flying within 30m of people, not flying over people of moving vehicles while staying under 120m in open air space. You're pretty much free to fly. Under 250g drones can fly with 5.5kms of an airport but is restricted to 45m in altitude. The areas where aircraft are taking off and landing is still a strict no-fly zone, but that's 100% understandable. All the aviation laws here make perfect sense, and we actually have a little more freedom with drones than most countries.
Bravo! Spot On! I bought an Air 3 s a month a go having sold a mini pro 4! I haven’t opened the air3 s box due to restrictions flying in built up areas… Seriously thinking about selling it and buying another mini pro 4
1k+VAT fee for flying and filming is just outrageous. I could understand if that was some private property. But public park? In my country (Poland) I can just fly without any prior operation plan (at least in VLOS) - we just report the flight in DroneTower mobile app and it can be done 2 minutes before the takeoff. If there is any geographical zone restricting the flight, the app shows it and describes the actual specific requirements. Sometimes the zone is restricted, but the restriction is lifted for drones like mine (DJI Air 3s), sometimes a phone number is given to make a call and ask for permission. Another cool thing is that I can see other registered missions in real time and can see phone numbers to other drone operators (which I recently had to use when I suddenly realized an unknown drone just flew over me in the area of my flight - which I registered earlier. A short phone call made us both safe in the air). A thought had crossed my mind that when visiting London next time, I could take the drone and do some cool footage. Now I know it's not gonna happen.
Thanks for commenting, this is super handy for others to know. Yes some of the fees are really high. If you sign up to the British Drone Club you get fly under Article 16, comes with insurance and will allow you some more freedoms.
One problem is the priority given to manned flight in terms of their share of airspace. Unmanned craft are only allowed to basically "borrow" the first few hundred feet of lower airspace while manned craft are allowed anywhere anytime. A simple rule to keep manned aircraft above (say) 2000' except when landing/takeoffs/working would reduce the chances of drone/aircraft collisions dramatically. Why isn't there such an obvious safety rule for the 21st century? I think its only because the manned aviation industry has a lot more clout than the drone/RC organisations.
I thought about something the other day. What happens when we started having drone deliveries? I’m certain discussions are already being made but those drone won’t be small and light and buzzing around. They are being used in remote areas like Africa to transport healthcare items. Cities would be a different story but we’ve come this far who’s know what happens in future. End of the same the drones most people fly are cameras and we just want a photo or small video. Appreciate your comment and insights definitely valuable there 🍻
@@DimmyV "What happens when we started having drone deliveries?" I firmly believe the drone rules we are seeing pushed on us now are mostly to do with regulating lower airspace for the benefit of large global companies. Its almost all about preparing the way for large scale commercialisation of the lower airspace for such as drone deliveries. Its very little to do with safety as such (or manned aircraft would have minimum height rules of at least a couple of thousand feet!). When all is said and done... to safely fly a drone all you SHOULD need to know is: 1. Keep away from airports, people, housing and traffic. 2. Don't go too high. (p.s. I fly RC fixed wing planes FPV. I used to fly fixed wing manned aircraft. I've experienced both sides.)
People don't understand, they seemed to think they are non stable, hard to control. Not what safety features are built in or how advanced this technology is. They think of these as cheap rc toys that crash easily.
As long as it is a street or a road you don't need to ask the council for anything. You can even take off from the street and then walk into public spaces which the council own. Publicly accessible is also good reason to take off. Only reason is if council have a PSPo which restricts drones
Yes I have done this too, what make it illogical is that streets have more foot traffic and ground obstacles compared to lets say park which has more open space. We have creative ways to take off. Appreciate the comment 🍻
The thing is, some things just aren't that simple. There is nuance, for example national aviation law interacting with local bylaws, which is unavoidable. The reason why it isn't necessarily obvious to people that they can fly in Flight Restriction Zones, for example, is that the general drone rules web pages are trying to *avoid* that wall of text! People don't respond well to complexity and nuance. They just stop reading! IIRC, it does say that if you want to things not permited by the usual drone rules, you need additional training/authorisation.
Excellent content. I reduced the size of my drone for ease of use and less regulation. Croatia has a good system with an app that give immediate permission and maximum height or distance (AMC Portal) As a hobbyist you sometimes just rock up at a place and want to chuck your drone up in the air.
Talk to the guy who runs the Geeksvana YT channel - that channel provides a focus for UK drone pilots and interacts with the CAA and the police and so on.
I’m a subscriber of Sean’s channel and follow along. Just haven’t seen any action in anything being done. There’s been a lot of response in comments so I’m thinking what to do cause many of us are frustrated. Some us want it as a hobby others would like to start a side hustle. Appreciate the comment
@@josephfredbill but this guy has put wrong information about article16 out. I linked Seans video on Article 16, he deleted it, I linked FPVUK video explaining it, he deleted it. Clear,y he does not think he is doing anything wrong flying a 750g drone directly over people and buildings in London, saying Article 16 covers him, absolute rubbish
@gimbalair "this guy has a name" also don't make assumptions that I've deleted links, I'm not trying to prevent misinformation. My point of the video stands, that larger drones up to 900g like in the EU can be flown safely, they have the technology to make flights safe. I don't disagree that with you on article 16 but again this is not clear, FPVUK also doesn't updated videos proving my point that education is lacking. it shouldn't all be walls of text some people learn differently. Not just the UK but all countries have made drone flying cumbersome with over regulation.
Great video. I have an Air 3S and am an FPV UK member so have Article 16 operational authority. Membership good value at £25 per year. Is that a Man U hat? 🤔 oh dear 😂😂
@ 123 days to go till we go to our happy place 🇨🇾 I watch the footie in the Rives Bar when over there. Will be over there for your orthodox Easter. Can’t wait. Hoping I’ll catch some pink flamingos on the Larnaca Salt Lakes. You back in Cyprus yet mate?
Yes im back now busy capturing for my next video and checking out the Christmas villages, another big video then I can take a break until new year. Its been non stop every week.
@ sounds good, well deserved break! In case you’re not aware, new firmware update out today for the drone only, nothing for DJI Fly app or RC2 itself. Aircraft firmware 01.00.0600 ‘fixes known issues’ and ‘optimised flight performance’. Looking forward to your next video
Great video & explanation! I really can’t believe someone went to 9000 feet I mean wtf 😬… also 500 pound fee to take off is mental. That’s completely bonkers 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️ Demetrios again great video keep doing what your doing my friend!! Top guy 🙌🏻🙌🏻
Appreciate it. So wild to be that high. Imagine a plane went down because of it. The Hyde park fee was £1000! Hopefully this video does the rounds to a wider audience 🙏🏼
@ a 1000? Oh my days! I know can you imagine that? Irresponsible people my friend!! Yeah let’s hope it does make enough noise and get the European laws set for the UK! 🇬🇧
@ DJI Mavic 1, DJI Neo. Self built and designed tricopter based on speedyBee F405 Mini, with FPV. Self built 3D printed tricopter based on KK2.0 board, this is about as OG as you can get, right back where I started the multirotors, this has FPV too. Self built 5" FPV quad based on the Kakute F4. 3D printed Eclipson model A plane. 3D printed Eclipson UAV wing. UMX Turbo Timber plane. Naze32 based mini hexacopter. DJI Naza V2 based large hexacopter. Pentacopter. Flying LED pentagram. Large tricopter with 12" props.
BVLOS will eventually come but may require some kind of training. I think using the apps map and being well coordinated can help but its never reflected.
It's ridiculous that you need an operator id from the CAA to fly a 21gram fpv tiny whoop ...more of a choking hazard than a threat to aviation or personal injury..
Oh man, you guys don't know how lucky you are in the UK. I was born there but have lived in Spain for the last 14 years and things are much worse here. New law passed in the summer. Now, even if you want to fly only a sub 250g drone, in any kind of urban environment, you must notify the interior ministry 5 days before. The process is incredibly bureaucratic and frustrating. They can refuse your request to fly, or send police to supervise the operation. You need building owners' permission to fly over any buildings. The fines for falling foul of the law are astronomical. There is way more freedom to fly in the UK, even if it has to be a lighter drone.
No way, is Spain that strict? I have to look into this as I'm visiting Spain next year. The EU rules are good but not perfect. Again this proves my point that technology is just outpacing the regulations. Thanks for commenting your insights its appreciated.
@DimmyV yes, it's crazy! The EU restrictions are reasonable but Spain has gone beyond them with this new law. They're making it as hard as possible to fly. I'd advise being very careful with your drone when you come here, and just sticking to rural areas far away from any buildings or infrastructure. It's virtually impossible for a non resident to fly here, because without a Spanish DNI/NIE number, you cannot complete the online form for the interior ministry. Half the the time it doesn't even work properly for residents, it's a website which isn't fit for purpose. The police here love handing out fines too.
Last year I invested a lot of time into getting my A1/A3 licence from the EASA and then the A2 licence. Now, if I want to fly over any buildings with my mini 4 pro, without getting owners' permission, I have to get the Sts licence which costs money and I would also have to travel to do a practical test. The hoops they're making us jump through are ridiculous!
This sounds like such a pain, this hinder the drone industry for you guys which is a shame. I was going to be in Seville but I will check nearer the time. Maybe over Christmas I can take a look.
For TOAL I find the nearest public path or standard on public pavement wait for it to be clear and take off and if I’m landing and anyone is in distance is speak loudly drone landing so everyone is now aware and involved but then again I have me a2cofc currently doing my GVC
@ a mini2. Will need to upgrade at some point but it does for now - the industrial videos are fine but the beauty spots like National Trust ones (only one live atm and one in editing) don’t look as good as others so think I need a better camera haha
This will be a silly question, but I know others are thinking about it. If you take off from your hand, does that count as public land, and can the council charge you? Always trying to find loopholes😉
I think its where you are standing but others have said take of the pavement but in my opinion though this is allowed I find it has more obstacles and makes less sense than an open space away from people. If they had dedicated spots that would handy.
You should not be able to buy a drone (they’ve all got cameras now) from a retailer and fly it without a valid Operator ID being needed to be entered into the controller to release it for flight.
Interesting take, this could be impact sales for companies which I don't think companies or governments would want as it could impact the industry and economy. I get what you mean this will prevent rogue pilots.
you're totally right that the newer bigger drones are safer than the minis that blow about like a crisp packet. plus the pathetic 25mw limit on transmission is unsafe as the screen goes pixelated in testing spots like built up areas, whereas America allow 100mw power so much more stable signal. Typical nanny state nonsense. can take a day to get approval from airports i find which is just no good.
This couldn't be a better solution. Im flying the AIR3 (and building a 400g fpv drone) thankfully I live in a rural area making it "easier" to fly. But the amount of different private land areas that just say "no drones" is crazy to the point why even bother. When i started to get into drones I had the point of view that you gotta follow the rules and all will be fine. But at this point im quite literally holding onto article 16 operational authorisation act to save me. even then its not clear that where im flying is "legal". At the moment i really understand why most UK drone pilots go off the "i dont follow the rules i just fly safe". Because the rules are such a mess. about the up to 1kg, that would genuinely be such a nice change. I would actually argue that sub 250 drones should be limited to 60 meters. that's purely due to how unstable some of them can get. Only drone i was semi confident going about 60 ish meters was the mini 4 pro but even that struggled to hold its own. I personally wanting to get into the agriculture side of drones for farmers. more as a automated inspection and delivery aid to reduce the time spent by the farmers. But the UK law by enlarge just stops that idea from coming to light.
Appreciate the comment. Still look into drone in agriculture. Some of those large drones look awesome. Though the uproar right now with Inheritance Tax on farmers is causing some unwanted stress again. Typical government.
Hey great video I know about article 16 but it’s a lot to remember, I don’t fly that often think I’ve done a total 2.5 hrs in the past year, I just looked up altitude Angel and couldn’t find it on play store or the app store any advice or a link please thanks
It used to be called altitude angel it’s now Drone Assist by Altitude Angel. I wish each country had an official app. English language is a must and in other country native language. I looked at Spain’s other day at it was only in Spanish.
The law in EU doesn't "really" allow to fly drones like DJI when observed via FPV transmission. What really matters is the visual line of sight (VLOS) - it has to be maintained at all times, even though you can have good video transmission and better understanding of drone's position. Therefore, in order to fly FPV, you need a 2nd person (an observer) who will look at the drone physically ;) Madness. But obviously nobody does that. Also, I'm a little frustrated by the 120m AGL altitude limit. Just a few days ago I couldn't film the roof of a building, because it was above 120m
So, you poke at Brexit but go on to say we need to adopt the American system?? I found your video both interesting and informative, thank you for the time and effort you put into it. I agree wholeheartedly that recreational drone flying is becoming more complicated and I do wonder if by design they want to stop it.
In America they at least have a functioning system. Might no be perfect but its functioning and quicker approvals than 14 days in UK. Yeah they are almost criminalising drones for hobbyist.
I gave up on drones back when the CAA insisted on commercial fliers (which included anyone who might be paid in coffee) having to maintain an operations manual every year, which could sometimes take up to three months to get approved by the CAA, and needing to take things like fire extinguishers and landing pads with us! I was ready to give drones another go when the UK was originally supposed to adopt the EU rules, but then Brexit screwed all that up.
So I’m planning near Edinburgh airport and have authority from them do I need permission from anyone else? It very unlikely if it is just the airport I need permission from or not
@@DimmyVit with in the 5k off the airport and I do have airport permission, drone assist is that helpful with just a few numbers to different departments of the airport, caa make it very you have to have permission from the airport but it not clear if you need permission from anyone else like caa them self
@ this is exactly my point in the video there nothing black and white and trying to get permission is from several places rather than one place. The recent DJI removal of geozones handing it over to us pilots means authorities. Should step up. But they lag behind.
Great video. I've flown drones as my job for 9 years in the UK and still hobby fly. A few of your facts and numbers need tweaking, for example the 6000 police reports of drones aren't incidents, they include lots of legitimate drone flights that require Police Incident numbers from booking that flight in with the Police. Reach out to me if you want to know more about drone stuff in the UK 👍👊
I can't imagine England going back into the EU even though I've been watching a few videos lately on the mess of the current state of England. Such a headache. We can only try by keep knocking on the door.
It still a problem if you are filming in a public place, so many people do not know that this is perfectly legal, so drones just scramble peoples heads, but its understandable as you say, the laws are difficult to follow, ive been flying for 7-8 years now, and most people are just interested, but a few become judge jury and executioner and know every law out there, ive only had a few people that have tried, but I tend to print an up to date CAA sub 250g page on drones and take it with me, handing out if confronted, I found it just shuts people up, well they walk away grumbling, but at least im left to fly and film. In all honesty the laws on sub 250g laws has killed a fantastic hobby, the best drone I had was the DJI mavic pro, I say this because it could handle high winds, my little DJI is good but limited so much, as you have to not just be able to see it but you also have to know the direction its facing, so any further than about 50 meters you lucky if you know without looking at your screen, so in reality its just become a tool to check my roof or take selfies now. I personally think its not been the CAA, its been pressure put on them by people who have no idea how drones work, as the laws at first were good enough, but they have been slowly chipped away.
The separation distances are a too much, I would understand if its a huge industrial drone but Mini, Air 3 or Mavic lines are not that big, a reasonable distance would be sufficient.
Yes but also the likely hood of this very low. If you do your risk assessment in urban areas, makes sure drone firmware up to date then a technical failure and or bird strike would be an outside factor beyond your control. Let’s just hope it doesn’t happen.
Modern mini drones are so good, unless abused as you stated, that there isn't the need for all the laws we currently have. Time to return to just common sense.
Based on videos on RUclips it seems that the UK drone rules are already more slack than in the rest of the world. I see the problem when British tourists are breaking rules in the EU and in Thailand almost in every video they make. They don't care about basic security when other people are around. It's my considered opinion that the British rules need an update but certainly not to be slackened even further.
The issue is the commonplace and popularity of drones, most notably DJI, they make it easier to fly drones, and more appealing compared to freestyle, tinywhoops etc, tinywhoops being like under 100g wouldn't harm a soul etc, dji have simple easy to use controllers compared to the to the others, if something becomes popular and there's a massive spike in use, and people are idiots and idiots can buy them and fly them without commonsense and you make them commonplace for business etc then yeah restrictions are going to be put in place......all I want to do is fly tinywhoops, theu won't harm a fly, they're like under 100g and can not go as far or as high as dji drones, freestyle wouldn't go above 400ft and wouldn't be used above cities etc, nor would racing.........DJI etc however
Yes good point. It only takes a few to give the rest of us a bad name. I was flying some tiny whoops indoors the other day which was super fun. A few of us had a circuit and even chase some remote control cars. I’m glad everyone is leave comments because there’s so many of out there that use drones in different ways and don’t need over cumbersome rules. What tinywhoop you got?
A bit more straight forward here on the Isle of Man. You don't need to register, or have a licence for RC aircraft 4kg and under. I was going to purchase a Mini 4 pro fly more bundle until I found that out. I have an Air 3s for the same price now, much better drone for the windy conditions we get here. Drone at 9000ft, WTF is wrong with these numpties. I was with you until you started whinging about Brexit 😉Good video though.
Thanks for the info on Isle of Man, might have to pay a visit now. The Air 3S is amazing! Also thats why I left England and reside in Cyprus, much nicer here.
@@DimmyV Good move. You get more flying time than me, but I'm not one for the heat out there, I prefer the temperate climates. I moved to the Isle of Man in 2002 from south London with my, then, young family. Best decision we made. Keep safe fella.
Was that really a drone at that height? Given the sizes of drones and the speed of the aircraft I doubt it would be visible let alone identifiable. It's a bit like trying to identify a small bird species at say 70mph in the car. U s there are unfortunately idiots with drones but is this just drones getting a bad reputation.
When I first read it I started laughing because I coolant believe it. I wouldn't be too surprised tbh but I know what you mean. It's definately how rogue pilots ruin it for the rest of us.
Talking about drones like they are a Quad lol, not all drones are multirotors and not all multirotors are drones, a drone is classed by its capability, it is not an Airframe type.
You still need a commercial drone licence man for this, because your video is monetised and you still earning money of this video, and you have to pay tax as well.
I watched ur 12 minutes video as quick as i could, to summarize in one question, whats the worse that could happen if ine fine day in the morning u just go to the street and u fly urbair 3s and film around london ??.... let me hear ur answer to give u my anseer whether ur video is informative or just rant (trust ull hear my side of story where i live in first...)
As far as the EASA A2 category, in reality it is only of any use for someone flying a C2 class drone. In the prosumer segment, that really comprises one drone - the Dji Mavic 3 pro. An A2 cert affords no other benefits to a pilot. In the Enterprise segment it becomes a little more useful, with the Mavic 3E/T/M, and the M30.
Appreciate the comment. Yes when it comes to commercial applications it would be wise to have this. Especially when the revenue is much higher for commercial drone work. EASA isn’t perfect but it’s the best right now.
After reading through the comments on this video, I want to address an important point. There’s been some discussion about my use of Article 16, so I want to clarify a few things. While I took off from a recreational area and maintained the required separation distances, the flight went slightly outside the designated zone. At the time, I believed I was operating within the rules, but I understand there’s room for interpretation.
The flight was conducted safely, and with my experience flying in cities, I always prioritize safety and awareness. That said, I wouldn’t recommend others push these boundaries, as it’s important to stay fully compliant to avoid any issues.
This situation reinforces what I’ve said about the complexities and, at times, the lack of clarity in drone regulations. It’s a conversation worth having because so many of us care about flying safely while still enjoying the creative freedom drones offer.
Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts-your feedback helps keep these discussions productive. Let’s keep advocating for clearer guidance and smarter regulations.
Absolutely 100% SPOT ON! We need just one set of RULES to cover the whole of the UK. Everyone on the same page both from the recreational to professional, to the public service entities.
Bloody BREXIT and next year all the mini visas needed just to travel into Europe.
I live in the Scottish Highlands. I can and do fly just about anywhere. No airports anywhere near me. No prisons. No red zones on drone assist. Miles of space away from people or buildings everywhere. Just need to watch out for eagles....
Really! Thats pretty amazing, I wanted to come up to Scotland during my recent visit to England but the weather wasn't great. I will see what February is like. Do the castles not have no fly zones?
@DimmyV No you can fly over them although some don't want you taking off or landing on their property but you can take off outside and fly over. Many of the ruins you can just fly through.
@typhoon-7 interesting. Thanks for this. Which would say is better to fly city wise? Many have said Edinburgh
@@DimmyV both can access the Highlands easily. I think Edinburgh has more flight options depending where you're flying from/to.
@DimmyV most have "no drones" signs but a friendly query with the caretaker or tourist shop worker they will tell you to set up and fly from a quiet corner and fly around the site. Avoiding people and residential building. If nobody manning the site just fly from outside and get your shots.
Balanced, well thought out and delivered. Keep going !
Much appreciated!
Great video mate. Another subscriber added!
The rule up to 250g only for drone toys and drones without camera. If the drone has camera the rule is clear you must register and get pilot ID. (the test is joke 40 questions and you can have reference documents open while you doing it and you can take the test many times). I used to work for Altitude Angels many years ago and it is great to see how their app has evolved. Altitude has great team of people with close connections to NATS and CAA and they have been working hard on opening the sky to all responsible hobby and professional drone pilots. I my self I'm member of BMFA (British Model Flying Association) and with the membership I get liability insurance for flying RC model planes, it can happen that you lose control of drone or plane and anything with little bit more weight and speed can do bit more damage then just bruse someone or scratch someones car. Unfortunately where ever you go you can see people not respecting the rules (perhaps not even having the CAA registration and any form of insurance), flying over the crowds especially, not having observer next to them while flying in FPV mode and the list goes on.
Appreciate this comment. Yes Altitude Angel have done a great job. I just wish all countries have an official app. Some done even have anything and it's done on paper, scanning and sending via email. If the process was simpler and more streamlined it would make things a lot clearer. I was thinking about this the other day but experience is not counted, if there was a way to determine this it could help those who fly more regularly and responsibly have freedoms. Something along the lines of no claims insurance.
Great video
Keep up the great content man
Thanks! Trying my best to make things better for all of us!
Great video, thanks. I’ve just completed the A2 CofC to gain competence over air law. I found this to be the best way of gaining knowledge at present. I’ve subscribed to your channel as well.
Appreciate the comment. I wish that if you have the advanced license in other country theres some kind of grandfathering where we don't need the whole test, it can't be much different between countries. This is never counted and it's annoying.
@@DimmyV GVC and A2 in EASA jurisdiction dont work in the UK and visa versa due to Brexit!
Very apt! I got so frustrated with the whole thing that I just sold my drone. It's stifling and just plain annoying. They are killing off such a beautiful thing that drone piloting is.
Totally agree with everything mentioned in the video.. we do need to all be on the same playing field
The reason why sub 250g drones are allowed more freedom than, for example the DJI Air3s, is that at terminal velocity it has less than 80 joules of energy at impact. The latter is deemed to be unlikely to cause serious injury. A drone weighing almost 3 times 250g would easily exceed this safety threshold.
That said, the number of serious injuries reported from incidences involving drones is negligible.
The example you gave where a drone was reported as a near miss at 9600ft was unproven along with many other similar reports.
Indeed, statistics reported by the CAA have also been criticised by learned representatives of the profession.
EU Regulations are more stringent than the UK, you cannot fly any drone at night, or over property and every country in the EU has their own rules on top of EASA regs. Cant fly higher than 120m from the surface etc etc. Be careful what you wish for!
Appreciate this and understand your point. I don't disagree here but as you mentioned the likely hood is negligible. EU Rules are not perfect, Cyprus is pretty open here. My point about technology advancing faster than regulations means they cannot keep up to date and should ask drone flyers what should and shouldn't be allowed. Thanks for commenting.
Agreed - every statistic from the CAA needs an asterisk against it with the disclaimer "*May be inaccurate or just plain completely made up" They have form with completely messing screwing up, which in itself is harmful to the hobby because people will start ignoring the regs as their source has no credibility. 🖖
Yeah let's not underestimate this. Remember when the sky was filled with birds? We had so many accidents! So many needless deads that could have been avoided. Luckily the bird act for 1922 was a big step forwards in safety. But now that the birds are gone, suddenly we have the drones! And these things are dangerous. This year alone in europe over 50 000 people have died, mainly in eastern europe. These "toys" are so lethal man, you have no idea. What one of the motors stop midflight? This happens 0.04% of flights. Just think about it, would you drive a car knowing that it's possible that maybe your breaks stop working or your stearing breaks? Ofcourse not. And cars don't go as fast as drones. Drones can go 200 km/h easily. If they hit you, and on average they hit 5 or 6 londeners a day there are often deads. I think last year alone in londen we have had almost a 100 people die from getting hit by crashing drones going 200 km/h.
Thanks for taking the time to take about drone safety! Because at this point I think that almost everybody in the world knows somebody that's been a victim of these viscious "toys" and enough is enough. We need safety! If we let 12 year old boys fly their toy drones wherever they want to fly in the garden of their parents we might as well bring all the birds back. And nobody wants that. What if they hit something?
There is a lot of sense in what you say here...I'd be supportive of most of those suggestions!
Brilliant, someone that talks a lot of sense 👏
Although I still think that it's an up-hill battle. A lot of people and especially councils and the like, are very anti-drone 😢
Yes it will be an uphill battle but if we don’t bring to attention and just sit back nothing will get done. Better to keep knocking on door. Also the lack of public education for non drone flyers causes the unwanted confrontations.
@@PhiIYourPants but his information on Article 16 is wrong and misleading.
Excellent high quality video Demetrios! 👏
The only bit with the EU regs that could cause a bit of an issue is the 120m rule where they brought in 'above take off point' rather than AGL which we have in the UK, but that's kindof a minor thing - if you're at the bottom of a hill and your flight takes you > 120m above takeoff point but not 120M AGL then you'd probably start to get issues with VLOS anyway...
I'd gladly trade that in for the rest of the EU regs. Got an Air 3, but didin't bother with the Air 3s cos the main selling point is the low light obstacle avoidance and even with the A2 CofC the minimum separation distance is 50m from buildings and people - in a column!. This means that filming in urban areas is so restrictive that you could only really use article 16 in a park and can't fly out of that area and then hope you can get a good shot with the 3x lens + you can't use any automated modes under article 16 (except RTH).
Wow - didn't expect to write an essay there! 🤣
Good luck my drone brother and again - great informative vid! 🖖
Thank you my friend, appreciate your thoughts and comments. Like many who have commented their frustrations we are united in some way. We just want to fly our drones and capture awesome places. EU rules are good but not perfect. I feel like each country has something we can each take and make into something better. 🍻
Hi buddy! Great video and big thanks for that. I’m traveling to London very often and never take my drone with me due to this messy regulations. In Poland we have an official apps like Drone Tower and KSIP and it’s easy to check-in or plan the mission and get approval. Cheers!
Thanks for your comment and letting others know about what apps to use in Poland. That is very helpful for visitors!
Thank you for making this important Demetrios. You make a great point of regulations not keeping up with technology. The police and even those involved in training and the CAA contradict themselves on VLOS and heights to fly!
Here is SA 🇿🇦, getting a remote pilot certificate (RPC) costs around R22.000 (~£1,000), and you must still get a remote operator certificate (ROC) which can cost 10 times that much to cover you for liabilities! It’s not worth it for a small operators, let alone, hobbyists. All drone under 7kgs are governed under the same rules!
Thanks for the comment, helpful for others to know. That’s interesting about the SA RPC and ROC requirements. How does this work for tourists who want to visit? South Africa has some awesome landscapes!
Agree with most suggestions, I have been flying drones around 5 yrs and the rules are not always clear, changes are needed with so many new clueless pilots “it needs clear guidelines”.
Appreciate it. There’s a lot of information out there and when you want to dig deeper it’s just not clear or not available. What done you flying?
@@DimmyV I fly a variety of drones from FPV tinywhoops to the Mavic Air 2s. Currently flying DJI Mini 4 pro, Air 2s and Avata 2. But also love the frill of a 4’ FPV quad.
@@DimmyV what drones do you fly? I enjoy flying both for sport and photographer.
Mini 2, Air 3, Air 3, Avata 2, GEPRC Mark5, Cinelog25, TinyHawk3, StarWars X-Wing. I flew at the Cyprus Rally back in October was wkd to fly FPV at that.
@@DimmyV really wanted to purchase the tiny hawk, it seemed to have the power of a 4” quad, hope they release an 04 system for the tiny hawk. We are all waiting for the DJI Air 04!!!!
Hi from Alan Birmingham man as your light RUclips information is superb and very well said and great comments as i agree with every thing you are saying as have the mavic 2 zoom. The new air 3s. The Neo and the mini two 4K as all of them are in the combo when i purchased them all as it’s a great hobby so improving new regulations and making it easier would be absolutely beneficial to all people that enjoy this hobby I’m sure as I’ve prescribed to your channel now and look forward to seeing future footage that will come up from time to time. Best wishes from me to you. 👍
Hi Alana, Thanks for commenting, thats a nice range of drones you have. All regulations take an ages to adjust to technology, its just a matter of time but they are super slow.
Brilliant and informative video. Well thought out and presented.I will subscribe and learn more about a hobby I truly enjoy.Thank you.
Appreciate it glad you enjoyed.
I'd like to see a new category for whoops, sub 100g where they can fly wherever.
I like this idea, I have a TinyHawk 3 and not that this is going far nor is video quality good but to just rip in a park and have fun would be awesome.
Move to Australia. Our aviation laws are amazing, and Cival Aviation Safety Authority is absolutely wonderful to deal with, and there is no overreach in any way, shape, or form, and they were actually extremely helpful with my outcome.
Oh I can sense the sarcasm. Is it that bad in Australia? I had a friend visit and they said he found it difficult. What drone you flying?
@DimmyV not at all. I'm being genuine. Australia is amazing with their aviation laws. It's the Americans that got screwed over by the FAA.
@@DimmyV i'm flying the dji mini 4 pro.
@ oh really. Well that’s amazing then. What about in major cities? This is good info for others to see.
@DimmyV we still have your standard safety restrictions, helipads, and airports, but providing you not flying within 30m of people, not flying over people of moving vehicles while staying under 120m in open air space. You're pretty much free to fly. Under 250g drones can fly with 5.5kms of an airport but is restricted to 45m in altitude. The areas where aircraft are taking off and landing is still a strict no-fly zone, but that's 100% understandable. All the aviation laws here make perfect sense, and we actually have a little more freedom with drones than most countries.
Bravo! Spot On!
I bought an Air 3 s a month a go having sold a mini pro 4! I haven’t opened the air3 s box due to restrictions flying in built up areas… Seriously thinking about selling it and buying another mini pro 4
Where are you based? I think we can all agree the Air 3S is safer than a mini.
Bristol
@ must be some nice spots to capture
Stick mini 4 pro labels on it
1k+VAT fee for flying and filming is just outrageous. I could understand if that was some private property. But public park? In my country (Poland) I can just fly without any prior operation plan (at least in VLOS) - we just report the flight in DroneTower mobile app and it can be done 2 minutes before the takeoff. If there is any geographical zone restricting the flight, the app shows it and describes the actual specific requirements. Sometimes the zone is restricted, but the restriction is lifted for drones like mine (DJI Air 3s), sometimes a phone number is given to make a call and ask for permission. Another cool thing is that I can see other registered missions in real time and can see phone numbers to other drone operators (which I recently had to use when I suddenly realized an unknown drone just flew over me in the area of my flight - which I registered earlier. A short phone call made us both safe in the air). A thought had crossed my mind that when visiting London next time, I could take the drone and do some cool footage. Now I know it's not gonna happen.
Thanks for commenting, this is super handy for others to know. Yes some of the fees are really high. If you sign up to the British Drone Club you get fly under Article 16, comes with insurance and will allow you some more freedoms.
One problem is the priority given to manned flight in terms of their share of airspace. Unmanned craft are only allowed to basically "borrow" the first few hundred feet of lower airspace while manned craft are allowed anywhere anytime.
A simple rule to keep manned aircraft above (say) 2000' except when landing/takeoffs/working would reduce the chances of drone/aircraft collisions dramatically. Why isn't there such an obvious safety rule for the 21st century? I think its only because the manned aviation industry has a lot more clout than the drone/RC organisations.
I thought about something the other day. What happens when we started having drone deliveries? I’m certain discussions are already being made but those drone won’t be small and light and buzzing around. They are being used in remote areas like Africa to transport healthcare items. Cities would be a different story but we’ve come this far who’s know what happens in future. End of the same the drones most people fly are cameras and we just want a photo or small video. Appreciate your comment and insights definitely valuable there 🍻
@@DimmyV "What happens when we started having drone deliveries?"
I firmly believe the drone rules we are seeing pushed on us now are mostly to do with regulating lower airspace for the benefit of large global companies. Its almost all about preparing the way for large scale commercialisation of the lower airspace for such as drone deliveries. Its very little to do with safety as such (or manned aircraft would have minimum height rules of at least a couple of thousand feet!).
When all is said and done... to safely fly a drone all you SHOULD need to know is:
1. Keep away from airports, people, housing and traffic.
2. Don't go too high.
(p.s. I fly RC fixed wing planes FPV. I used to fly fixed wing manned aircraft. I've experienced both sides.)
@stevep4131 appreciate this. 🙏🏼 what drone are you flying now?
Nothing more annoying than a client asking you the day before for some drone footage and it a restricted zone!
Honestly I hate that, then they go with a rogue pilot.
People don't understand, they seemed to think they are non stable, hard to control. Not what safety features are built in or how advanced this technology is. They think of these as cheap rc toys that crash easily.
Some are cheap rubbish toys but DJI for example have improved so much.
Finally a drone video that made sense
What drone you flying?
@@DimmyV Currently an Air2s though I have asked Santa for the 3s.
@davidclaurie 🎅🏻🚁😂🎄
As long as it is a street or a road you don't need to ask the council for anything. You can even take off from the street and then walk into public spaces which the council own. Publicly accessible is also good reason to take off. Only reason is if council have a PSPo which restricts drones
Yes I have done this too, what make it illogical is that streets have more foot traffic and ground obstacles compared to lets say park which has more open space. We have creative ways to take off. Appreciate the comment 🍻
Definitely, you make so much sense 👏 😁👌👍 🇬🇧
Some great points. New subscriber!
Appreciate it. What drone you flying?
@DimmyV DJI mini 3 pro when I can but so many restrictions in place!
The thing is, some things just aren't that simple. There is nuance, for example national aviation law interacting with local bylaws, which is unavoidable. The reason why it isn't necessarily obvious to people that they can fly in Flight Restriction Zones, for example, is that the general drone rules web pages are trying to *avoid* that wall of text! People don't respond well to complexity and nuance. They just stop reading! IIRC, it does say that if you want to things not permited by the usual drone rules, you need additional training/authorisation.
Excellent content.
I reduced the size of my drone for ease of use and less regulation.
Croatia has a good system with an app that give immediate permission and maximum height or distance
(AMC Portal)
As a hobbyist you sometimes just rock up at a place and want to chuck your drone up in the air.
Sometimes we want to take a photo spontaneously, drones are just flying cameras. Thanks for your comment
hey mate, great vid!
Thanks, what drone you flying?
@DimmyV mini 4 pro. Next time you're flying in London, let me know! 👍
Talk to the guy who runs the Geeksvana YT channel - that channel provides a focus for UK drone pilots and interacts with the CAA and the police and so on.
I’m a subscriber of Sean’s channel and follow along. Just haven’t seen any action in anything being done. There’s been a lot of response in comments so I’m thinking what to do cause many of us are frustrated. Some us want it as a hobby others would like to start a side hustle. Appreciate the comment
@ so raise it with him in one of his live sessions that has questions
@@josephfredbill but this guy has put wrong information about article16 out. I linked Seans video on Article 16, he deleted it, I linked FPVUK video explaining it, he deleted it. Clear,y he does not think he is doing anything wrong flying a 750g drone directly over people and buildings in London, saying Article 16 covers him, absolute rubbish
@@gimbalair ok. I’ll not get further involved.
@gimbalair "this guy has a name" also don't make assumptions that I've deleted links, I'm not trying to prevent misinformation. My point of the video stands, that larger drones up to 900g like in the EU can be flown safely, they have the technology to make flights safe. I don't disagree that with you on article 16 but again this is not clear, FPVUK also doesn't updated videos proving my point that education is lacking. it shouldn't all be walls of text some people learn differently. Not just the UK but all countries have made drone flying cumbersome with over regulation.
Great video. I have an Air 3S and am an FPV UK member so have Article 16 operational authority. Membership good value at £25 per year. Is that a Man U hat? 🤔 oh dear 😂😂
Yeah the membership is good value and comes with insurance! Yes it's Utd, I saw the game tonight, Utd are work in progress. Appreciate the comment 🍻
@@DimmyV yep up to £5m public liability.
Just 123 days to go until we’re back in our happy place 🇨🇾. Usually watch the footie in Rives Sports Bar
@ 123 days to go till we go to our happy place 🇨🇾 I watch the footie in the Rives Bar when over there. Will be over there for your orthodox Easter. Can’t wait. Hoping I’ll catch some pink flamingos on the Larnaca Salt Lakes. You back in Cyprus yet mate?
Yes im back now busy capturing for my next video and checking out the Christmas villages, another big video then I can take a break until new year. Its been non stop every week.
@ sounds good, well deserved break! In case you’re not aware, new firmware update out today for the drone only, nothing for DJI Fly app or RC2 itself. Aircraft firmware 01.00.0600 ‘fixes known issues’ and ‘optimised flight performance’. Looking forward to your next video
Great video & explanation! I really can’t believe someone went to 9000 feet I mean wtf 😬… also 500 pound fee to take off is mental. That’s completely bonkers 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️ Demetrios again great video keep doing what your doing my friend!! Top guy 🙌🏻🙌🏻
Appreciate it. So wild to be that high. Imagine a plane went down because of it. The Hyde park fee was £1000! Hopefully this video does the rounds to a wider audience 🙏🏼
@ a 1000? Oh my days! I know can you imagine that? Irresponsible people my friend!! Yeah let’s hope it does make enough noise and get the European laws set for the UK! 🇬🇧
Great video and I couldn't agree more.👍
Appreciate it 🍻
Thank you for making this video
I just bought a mini 3 do I have to register before flying or am I good to go ? Straight out the box
You need to register. Check CAA website
Great video, thank you.
Appreciate it, glad you enjoyed. What drone you flying?
I have my A2CofC, however I fly mostly recreationaly, I use drone assist to check where I’m flying and it’s either go or no-go.
Thanks for commenting. What drones you flying.
@ DJI Mavic 1, DJI Neo.
Self built and designed tricopter based on speedyBee F405 Mini, with FPV.
Self built 3D printed tricopter based on KK2.0 board, this is about as OG as you can get, right back where I started the multirotors, this has FPV too.
Self built 5" FPV quad based on the Kakute F4.
3D printed Eclipson model A plane.
3D printed Eclipson UAV wing.
UMX Turbo Timber plane.
Naze32 based mini hexacopter.
DJI Naza V2 based large hexacopter.
Pentacopter. Flying LED pentagram.
Large tricopter with 12" props.
Sick. You enjoy building your own?
@@DimmyV yeah, it’s a major part of the hobby for me, the design process, building it and then ripping it around the field 😁
Good video. Best just leave all this to geeksvana 😊
VLOS on a DJI Neo is a pain.... I'd like to see charges to the VLOS rule for smaller, harder to actually see, drones.
BVLOS will eventually come but may require some kind of training. I think using the apps map and being well coordinated can help but its never reflected.
Why is it a pain? If the Neo is set to follow you VLOS doesn't apply, in the UK at any rate. I get that being small it's harder to see though.
@draculusdinosqueezer6346 I fly with a controller, so it's in front and flying, not following.
It's ridiculous that you need an operator id from the CAA to fly a 21gram fpv tiny whoop ...more of a choking hazard than a threat to aviation or personal injury..
Do you fly indoor or outdoors? Which one you got?
Govts are always slow to catch up with tech ..
Yup, so annoying, they chat too much bs in house of commons
Oh man, you guys don't know how lucky you are in the UK. I was born there but have lived in Spain for the last 14 years and things are much worse here.
New law passed in the summer. Now, even if you want to fly only a sub 250g drone, in any kind of urban environment, you must notify the interior ministry 5 days before. The process is incredibly bureaucratic and frustrating. They can refuse your request to fly, or send police to supervise the operation. You need building owners' permission to fly over any buildings. The fines for falling foul of the law are astronomical.
There is way more freedom to fly in the UK, even if it has to be a lighter drone.
No way, is Spain that strict? I have to look into this as I'm visiting Spain next year. The EU rules are good but not perfect. Again this proves my point that technology is just outpacing the regulations. Thanks for commenting your insights its appreciated.
@DimmyV yes, it's crazy! The EU restrictions are reasonable but Spain has gone beyond them with this new law. They're making it as hard as possible to fly. I'd advise being very careful with your drone when you come here, and just sticking to rural areas far away from any buildings or infrastructure. It's virtually impossible for a non resident to fly here, because without a Spanish DNI/NIE number, you cannot complete the online form for the interior ministry. Half the the time it doesn't even work properly for residents, it's a website which isn't fit for purpose. The police here love handing out fines too.
Last year I invested a lot of time into getting my A1/A3 licence from the EASA and then the A2 licence. Now, if I want to fly over any buildings with my mini 4 pro, without getting owners' permission, I have to get the Sts licence which costs money and I would also have to travel to do a practical test. The hoops they're making us jump through are ridiculous!
This sounds like such a pain, this hinder the drone industry for you guys which is a shame. I was going to be in Seville but I will check nearer the time. Maybe over Christmas I can take a look.
For TOAL I find the nearest public path or standard on public pavement wait for it to be clear and take off and if I’m landing and anyone is in distance is speak loudly drone landing so everyone is now aware and involved but then again I have me a2cofc currently doing my GVC
Good to know. What drone(s) you flying?
For NSF I normally get a response in 2 days
Thats quick how you getting them so fast?
Great video mate
Appreciate it. What drone you flying?
@ a mini2. Will need to upgrade at some point but it does for now - the industrial videos are fine but the beauty spots like National Trust ones (only one live atm and one in editing) don’t look as good as others so think I need a better camera haha
Well made video! Have you heard of drone assist?
Drone Assist is what it's called now, Altitude Angel was what it was previously called I believe.
This will be a silly question, but I know others are thinking about it. If you take off from your hand, does that count as public land, and can the council charge you? Always trying to find loopholes😉
I think its where you are standing but others have said take of the pavement but in my opinion though this is allowed I find it has more obstacles and makes less sense than an open space away from people. If they had dedicated spots that would handy.
You should not be able to buy a drone (they’ve all got cameras now) from a retailer and fly it without a valid Operator ID being needed to be entered into the controller to release it for flight.
Interesting take, this could be impact sales for companies which I don't think companies or governments would want as it could impact the industry and economy. I get what you mean this will prevent rogue pilots.
can you link the app pls
With great powers, young jedi, great responsibility, you shall have.😂
I hope so! 🍻
you're totally right that the newer bigger drones are safer than the minis that blow about like a crisp packet. plus the pathetic 25mw limit on transmission is unsafe as the screen goes pixelated in testing spots like built up areas, whereas America allow 100mw power so much more stable signal. Typical nanny state nonsense. can take a day to get approval from airports i find which is just no good.
Appreciate the feedback. What drone are you flying?
@@DimmyV 3s
Well says mate
This couldn't be a better solution. Im flying the AIR3 (and building a 400g fpv drone) thankfully I live in a rural area making it "easier" to fly. But the amount of different private land areas that just say "no drones" is crazy to the point why even bother.
When i started to get into drones I had the point of view that you gotta follow the rules and all will be fine. But at this point im quite literally holding onto article 16 operational authorisation act to save me. even then its not clear that where im flying is "legal".
At the moment i really understand why most UK drone pilots go off the "i dont follow the rules i just fly safe". Because the rules are such a mess.
about the up to 1kg, that would genuinely be such a nice change. I would actually argue that sub 250 drones should be limited to 60 meters. that's purely due to how unstable some of them can get.
Only drone i was semi confident going about 60 ish meters was the mini 4 pro but even that struggled to hold its own.
I personally wanting to get into the agriculture side of drones for farmers. more as a automated inspection and delivery aid to reduce the time spent by the farmers. But the UK law by enlarge just stops that idea from coming to light.
Appreciate the comment. Still look into drone in agriculture. Some of those large drones look awesome. Though the uproar right now with Inheritance Tax on farmers is causing some unwanted stress again. Typical government.
Hey great video I know about article 16 but it’s a lot to remember, I don’t fly that often think I’ve done a total 2.5 hrs in the past year, I just looked up altitude Angel and couldn’t find it on play store or the app store any advice or a link please thanks
It used to be called altitude angel it’s now Drone Assist by Altitude Angel. I wish each country had an official app. English language is a must and in other country native language. I looked at Spain’s other day at it was only in Spanish.
@ ah that explains why drone assist came up, but thanks for getting back to me
Greedy councils should be wearing a mask esp the royal parks
Madness init
If you're not from the UK what are your frustrations with the regulation where you are based?
The law in EU doesn't "really" allow to fly drones like DJI when observed via FPV transmission. What really matters is the visual line of sight (VLOS) - it has to be maintained at all times, even though you can have good video transmission and better understanding of drone's position. Therefore, in order to fly FPV, you need a 2nd person (an observer) who will look at the drone physically ;) Madness. But obviously nobody does that. Also, I'm a little frustrated by the 120m AGL altitude limit. Just a few days ago I couldn't film the roof of a building, because it was above 120m
So, you poke at Brexit but go on to say we need to adopt the American system?? I found your video both interesting and informative, thank you for the time and effort you put into it. I agree wholeheartedly that recreational drone flying is becoming more complicated and I do wonder if by design they want to stop it.
In America they at least have a functioning system. Might no be perfect but its functioning and quicker approvals than 14 days in UK. Yeah they are almost criminalising drones for hobbyist.
I gave up on drones back when the CAA insisted on commercial fliers (which included anyone who might be paid in coffee) having to maintain an operations manual every year, which could sometimes take up to three months to get approved by the CAA, and needing to take things like fire extinguishers and landing pads with us! I was ready to give drones another go when the UK was originally supposed to adopt the EU rules, but then Brexit screwed all that up.
The rules makers probably dont even fly drones so they are making them without having the experience. Im taking a guess here. Yes Brexit was stupid!
So I’m planning near Edinburgh airport and have authority from them do I need permission from anyone else? It very unlikely if it is just the airport I need permission from or not
What does drone assist say
@@DimmyVit with in the 5k off the airport and I do have airport permission, drone assist is that helpful with just a few numbers to different departments of the airport, caa make it very you have to have permission from the airport but it not clear if you need permission from anyone else like caa them self
@ this is exactly my point in the video there nothing black and white and trying to get permission is from several places rather than one place. The recent DJI removal of geozones handing it over to us pilots means authorities. Should step up. But they lag behind.
Did you go through Edinburgh airports form to seek approval or use a phone number? I’d like to fly over a farm within the 5km circle
@@david71991filled out the form online supper simple and straightforward
What’s the names of the app or apps you mentioned? I can’t find anything named Altitude Angel. What other apps do you recommend?
It would be under Drone Assist by Altitude Angel. UAV forecast also good for weather.
Why? Because of very bad press, public misunderstanding and overbearing CAA rules.
Yes to all.
Great video. I've flown drones as my job for 9 years in the UK and still hobby fly. A few of your facts and numbers need tweaking, for example the 6000 police reports of drones aren't incidents, they include lots of legitimate drone flights that require Police Incident numbers from booking that flight in with the Police. Reach out to me if you want to know more about drone stuff in the UK 👍👊
Appreciate this. When I’m back in Feb that would great to meet. Send us a dm on Instagram to connect.
Well informative as usual. Some great info and ideas. Lets hope we go back into the EU. 👍
I can't imagine England going back into the EU even though I've been watching a few videos lately on the mess of the current state of England. Such a headache. We can only try by keep knocking on the door.
§can you link altitude angel I can’t find it in the app store1
Loon up drone assist. It’s by altitude angel
It still a problem if you are filming in a public place, so many people do not know that this is perfectly legal, so drones just scramble peoples heads, but its understandable as you say, the laws are difficult to follow, ive been flying for 7-8 years now, and most people are just interested, but a few become judge jury and executioner and know every law out there, ive only had a few people that have tried, but I tend to print an up to date CAA sub 250g page on drones and take it with me, handing out if confronted, I found it just shuts people up, well they walk away grumbling, but at least im left to fly and film. In all honesty the laws on sub 250g laws has killed a fantastic hobby, the best drone I had was the DJI mavic pro, I say this because it could handle high winds, my little DJI is good but limited so much, as you have to not just be able to see it but you also have to know the direction its facing, so any further than about 50 meters you lucky if you know without looking at your screen, so in reality its just become a tool to check my roof or take selfies now. I personally think its not been the CAA, its been pressure put on them by people who have no idea how drones work, as the laws at first were good enough, but they have been slowly chipped away.
The separation distances are a too much, I would understand if its a huge industrial drone but Mini, Air 3 or Mavic lines are not that big, a reasonable distance would be sufficient.
End game tho if the drone does fail or have a bird strike over people the over all weight would cause the issue.
Yes but also the likely hood of this very low. If you do your risk assessment in urban areas, makes sure drone firmware up to date then a technical failure and or bird strike would be an outside factor beyond your control. Let’s just hope it doesn’t happen.
I don't understand! I passed the test A1,A3 CAA I can fly in England with Mavic 3 Pro 150 m from people?
50m from people, 150m from built up areas.
A first grader can pass a1/a3. Go for a2, so u can fly closer
@@petrub27 The A2 does not allow you to get any closer to people in the UK. It is 50m in A2 and A3.
@DimmyV you back in the UK???
I was. Back in Cyprus now.
correct me if I'm wrong but is this not why the UK is currently in consultation ???
god knows, UK is a mess
Modern mini drones are so good, unless abused as you stated, that there isn't the need for all the laws we currently have. Time to return to just common sense.
Agree with your there it only takes a few to ruin it for the rest of us. Appreciate the comment. What you flying?
@@DimmyV Just a mini 3, nice and easy, some would say over cautious.
You say Inglands weather is unpredictable. Not according to many Brits.
😂 I get what you mean.
@@DimmyV Hehehe rain must of gotten me to misspell England.
😂
Based on videos on RUclips it seems that the UK drone rules are already more slack than in the rest of the world. I see the problem when British tourists are breaking rules in the EU and in Thailand almost in every video they make. They don't care about basic security when other people are around. It's my considered opinion that the British rules need an update but certainly not to be slackened even further.
Good point. I think with better education and simpler rules it can make it better for responsible pilots and still get the amazing footage.
I agree man. US isn't any easier. I can't even fly in my back yard anymore.
Really, how comes you can't fly from your own back yard?
The issue is the commonplace and popularity of drones, most notably DJI, they make it easier to fly drones, and more appealing compared to freestyle, tinywhoops etc, tinywhoops being like under 100g wouldn't harm a soul etc, dji have simple easy to use controllers compared to the to the others, if something becomes popular and there's a massive spike in use, and people are idiots and idiots can buy them and fly them without commonsense and you make them commonplace for business etc then yeah restrictions are going to be put in place......all I want to do is fly tinywhoops, theu won't harm a fly, they're like under 100g and can not go as far or as high as dji drones, freestyle wouldn't go above 400ft and wouldn't be used above cities etc, nor would racing.........DJI etc however
Yes good point. It only takes a few to give the rest of us a bad name. I was flying some tiny whoops indoors the other day which was super fun. A few of us had a circuit and even chase some remote control cars. I’m glad everyone is leave comments because there’s so many of out there that use drones in different ways and don’t need over cumbersome rules. What tinywhoop you got?
@DimmyV easiest way to fly without an actual plane aha and a mobula 6, but going to custom building one for my next aswell as a 5" for freestyle
I like the Cetus X kit, I would love a tiny whoop with HD, but I dont mine the analog, feels retro
👏
get your A2 CofC its £100> problem solved.
If you need something explaining like a 5 year old then you probably shouldn't be flying a drone.
Good point
A bit more straight forward here on the Isle of Man. You don't need to register, or have a licence for RC aircraft 4kg and under. I was going to purchase a Mini 4 pro fly more bundle until I found that out. I have an Air 3s for the same price now, much better drone for the windy conditions we get here.
Drone at 9000ft, WTF is wrong with these numpties.
I was with you until you started whinging about Brexit 😉Good video though.
Thanks for the info on Isle of Man, might have to pay a visit now. The Air 3S is amazing! Also thats why I left England and reside in Cyprus, much nicer here.
@@DimmyV Good move. You get more flying time than me, but I'm not one for the heat out there, I prefer the temperate climates. I moved to the Isle of Man in 2002 from south London with my, then, young family. Best decision we made. Keep safe fella.
Was that really a drone at that height? Given the sizes of drones and the speed of the aircraft I doubt it would be visible let alone identifiable. It's a bit like trying to identify a small bird species at say 70mph in the car. U s there are unfortunately idiots with drones but is this just drones getting a bad reputation.
When I first read it I started laughing because I coolant believe it. I wouldn't be too surprised tbh but I know what you mean. It's definately how rogue pilots ruin it for the rest of us.
Talking about drones like they are a Quad lol, not all drones are multirotors and not all multirotors are drones, a drone is classed by its capability, it is not an Airframe type.
How are we supposed to trust what you say wearing that hat?
Best team in the past 1968!
😂
You still need a commercial drone licence man for this, because your video is monetised and you still earning money of this video, and you have to pay tax as well.
Another reason why the regulations need to be challenged, it hinders the economy.
I watched ur 12 minutes video as quick as i could, to summarize in one question, whats the worse that could happen if ine fine day in the morning u just go to the street and u fly urbair 3s and film around london ??.... let me hear ur answer to give u my anseer whether ur video is informative or just rant (trust ull hear my side of story where i live in first...)
As far as the EASA A2 category, in reality it is only of any use for someone flying a C2 class drone. In the prosumer segment, that really comprises one drone - the Dji Mavic 3 pro. An A2 cert affords no other benefits to a pilot.
In the Enterprise segment it becomes a little more useful, with the Mavic 3E/T/M, and the M30.
Appreciate the comment. Yes when it comes to commercial applications it would be wise to have this. Especially when the revenue is much higher for commercial drone work. EASA isn’t perfect but it’s the best right now.