Australia - Drone Licensing from July 1st 2019

[Simmo]

Sadly Myrks, that is the way of the world! Differant rules over every border!

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

CASA update email today, links . . .

Proposed Part 101 (Unmanned aircraft and rockets) Manual of Standards 2018 - (CD 1807US) - Civil Aviation Safety Authority - Citizen Space (nearly a month ago)

The PDF https://consultation.casa.gov.au/regulatory-program/cd1807us/results/d1990641soconcd1807us.pdf

Haven't had a chance to look through it yet, just confirming something to do with consultation results, and things that are being considered.

 

[Simmo]

I havent bothered, but early comments are it looks like it was written by an 8 year old?

 

[Phill]

I havent bothered, but early comments are it looks like it was written by an 8 year old?

You did better than me.
I didn't get past the contents page.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Mostly this update seems to be for RePL on RoOC holders, with a little on excluded category.
The respondents data is interesting, seems very low in number overall.

 

[Simmo]

IMO, they didn't listen to shite!!
They followed protocol, to put it out there, and then went by their own views any way??!!

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Looking at the new US system coming into play, CASA has almost copied this to the letter.
Apart from a US commercial operator has to pay just $5 per drone vs Oz $100-$160 !!

See some of this thread . . . Confused

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

I think this is a response to the industry consultation of early 2018 not a response to the public consultation of later last year. That one had over 2000 submissions. I read it through all the way. I'm still no wiser in a number of areas ..... I hope ATC communicates more clearly than that.

Regards
Ari

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I think this is a response to the industry consultation of early 2018 not a response to the public consultation of later last year.

Yes the dates on the website and report were old, but this all in the last update newsletter from CASA.
Not terribly good form posting old info like that way past relevant timeline.

 

[Maniac_au]

Hi, all new to Mavics, but previously had a P3A just spotted this new requirement, regarding registration, spent the morning while waiting on some work being done on our car @ the dealers, reading through the Public responses. To the proposed changes, never knew it was coming as very rarely get to watch TV let alone the news.
A lot of the Public responses I read appeared to have their own agenda, the people who build FPV Racers basically saying they were better than people who have graduated/bought into to DJI gear, as they had gone through the programming, building of their RPA, saying only the DJI/ready built RPA owners should be paying, as they don’t have a clue, therefore more likely to break the laws, as they apparently haven’t got the skills knowledge from building them, thereby less invested in it, even though FPV would appear to not comply with VLOS.
Model Aircraft owners saying leave MAAA flyers alone as they fly on registered fields.. Have seen some on non-registered fields, with land owners permission, most accomplished/sensible, pilots.the only ones now allowed on, who if they continue to fly there will need to register.

Some of the Commercial Operators who were only interested in themselves @ the detriment of recreational operators.
Some very valid points regarding training operators having to register RPA’s that could be total losses very quickly, & just another expense to write off.Could soon be very costly.

Regarding the cost $20 should last longer.

I have just finished self repairing the last of 4 Mavics that I bought crashed or faulty through transporting without the gimbal being protected. So would have to disagree with not being educated as some of the responses indicated.

All flown within the rules, but have seen kids with their parents flying cheap drones where/when they shouldn’t have as well.

 

[AnzacJack]

Yep. I think there are people that may only be flying DJI craft, that may have more aviation experience than all those drone racers combined. Building a drone doesn’t make you an expert aviation law and airspace requirements or even much of an expert of aerodynamics and physics of flight. It may just mean you can program a flight controller and be able to solder. I have primary school students that can do that, I also know people with 30+ years in aviation that have never flown a drone.

 

[Oglo]

How about a future where all piloted aircraft have beacons that transmit a signal 5+ kms in all directions giving speed & height. Then all RPA's have receivers that interpret this data, initially give warnings, then if no action is taken initiate a rapid de-elevation turning on down facing sensors for obstacle avoidance.
I know this is wishful, but the technology is already there, the coding to incorporate it into RC/AC achievable, and it moves the responsibility back onto the aircraft with the most to loose.
With the expected future possibilities of all hobby/commercial/surveillance/delivery/disaster/etc uses of RPA (I'm talking 5-100yrs into the future) surely we should be pushing for and developing these sort of capabilities.
Planes & helicopters cost $100k to $100m's, costs of installing beacons and developing would be miniscule per aircraft. RPA's cost fractions of this but mass market forces mean that future software development & hardware implementation would not be significant.
Food for thought.

I know there will some out there that will come out with reasons why it can't currently be done, but look at the doomsayers back 15 years ago regarding the adoption of electric vehicles and solar power - where there's a will, there a way.

 

[Ben B]

I'm about to go to Australia, and will be taking my Mavic Mini.

Is there anything I need to do? It's under the 250g limit, so I'm assuming I don't need to do anything specific.

If I want to get some nice coastal shots, I'll make sure I'm well away from other people, but I wonder what exactly they mean by "over" and "populous" and how this is enforced.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I'm about to go to Australia, and will be taking my Mavic Mini.

Is there anything I need to do? It's under the 250g limit, so I'm assuming I don't need to do anything specific.

If I want to get some nice coastal shots, I'll make sure I'm well away from other people, but I wonder what exactly they mean by "over" and "populous" and how this is enforced.

No nothing is going yet for hobbyists, and if you are flying a drone like the mini at 249gm, you are outside the incoming registration etc to be brought in.
You just follow our air authority rule of drone flight.

This is our drone flight / airspace app, OpenSky, available ios and android, also web based version here . . . OpenSky

Not much is enforced solidly now as far as proactive policing, who knows where this will go when the new licence / registration thing comes in.
For now, fly sensibly, to the rules as best one can, most importantly using common sense, and if you do have serious discretions, don't post to social media like a few total numpties I've seen doing.

Here are CASA rules to fly Drones rules
I'm seeing more and more CASA rules pages now with reference to "populous area", their interpretation . . .

Flying near emergencies and in public spaces

You must consider the people and the environment around you – before you take-off. [TOC] Flying near emergencies You must not fly your drone during emergency operations. Flying your drone near emergencies can cause major safety hazards to response teams in the air and on the ground. Using your...

www.casa.gov.au

Over populous is so open to individual interpretations, it's a bit like your flying over people in the US, no distance being set etc. Ambiguous.
(Here, it's 30m laterally from people, never over and / or within that 30m or ~ 100'.)
Some will say here don't fly over homes, vehicles, buildings, etc etc, others will say don't fly over the 'burbs if you see people below etc.

Most of this is common sense.
If you look at that sentence "You must not fly where, if your drone should fail and fall, it could harm people or property."
Well, if one really follows that to the letter, you can just about rule out all but remote beach, forest, outback etc flight.

I think who (as a hobbyist) really wants to fly ANYWHERE near people or suburban habitat anyway ?

In a few years of drone flying, I've never come close to losing control, I trust my M1P systems enough to fly briefly over a highway (during a break in traffic), or straight out over some buildings when flying to a point to film etc.
at this point in time, it is probably still mostly when an incident where one does crash, cause injury / damage etc, when CASA may get involved and reactively police their drone rules. (Very rarely so far.)

Be aware of our National Park rules, 2 of our mainland states / territories are totally drone friendly, 1 is easy enough to get a permit from, the other 5 are near impossible to deal with as a hobbyist flyer.

Many of our 'cities' or local councils have bans on drones being flown from or landing on lands under their authority, but if using common sense, flying in quiet times, no people around, you would be unlucky to get bothered by the council rangers.
A google of the council name (city of *), drone, bylaw should bring up info on most larger regianl council 'cities of'.

Enjoy your trip, and you'll get loads of places to fly, and great photos / video on your visit for sure.

 

[Ben B]

Wow, thanks for all the info, really appreciate it.

We've got a great trip planned: Port Douglas and GBR, and Daintree Rainforest. Then Sydney, then Melbourne. Then we pick up a campervan and drive the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide. Can't wait!

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Wow, thanks for all the info, really appreciate it.

We've got a great trip planned: Port Douglas and GBR, and Daintree Rainforest. Then Sydney, then Melbourne. Then we pick up a campervan and drive the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide. Can't wait!

No problems Ben.
Great trip !
QLD National Parks is one of the 2 easiest states to fly Nat Parks (WA is the other), so you will get lots of opportunities there.
Watch out for marine parks which may be off limits, and distances from marine mammals.

Sydney is pretty limited fling in the city, but can be a few places you can sneek in, or do small park low quiet flights, even beaches if going during blue / golden hour morning flights, late day is busy / crowded generally.

Melbourne not quite as bad as Sydney.
Great Ocean Road, fantastic drive . . . all Nat Parks off limits to drone flight, but many fly spots like 12 Apostles I see on YouTube etc, some might fly stealth from the road. You might find some places outside parks you can fly over some parts of parks legally from outside.

Shoot me a private message when you get close to Adelaide, can give you a couple of great places to fly.
If I'm in town, maybe even do a sunset flight down at one our great seaside spots (glacial cliffs) or ships graveyards down the port.

 

[Phill]

No nothing is going yet for hobbyists, and if you are flying a drone like the mini at 249gm, you are outside the incoming registration etc to be brought in.
You just follow our air authority rule of drone flight.

This is our drone flight / airspace app, OpenSky, available ios and android, also web based version here . . . OpenSky

Not much is enforced solidly now as far as proactive policing, who knows where this will go when the new licence / registration thing comes in.
For now, fly sensibly, to the rules as best one can, most importantly using common sense, and if you do have serious discretions, don't post to social media like a few total numpties I've seen doing.

Here are CASA rules to fly Drones rules
I'm seeing more and more CASA rules pages now with reference to "populous area", their interpretation . . .

Flying near emergencies and in public spaces

You must consider the people and the environment around you – before you take-off. [TOC] Flying near emergencies You must not fly your drone during emergency operations. Flying your drone near emergencies can cause major safety hazards to response teams in the air and on the ground. Using your...

www.casa.gov.au

Over populous is so open to individual interpretations, it's a bit like your flying over people in the US, no distance being set etc. Ambiguous.
(Here, it's 30m laterally from people, never over and / or within that 30m or ~ 100'.)
Some will say here don't fly over homes, vehicles, buildings, etc etc, others will say don't fly over the 'burbs if you see people below etc.

Most of this is common sense.
If you look at that sentence "You must not fly where, if your drone should fail and fall, it could harm people or property."
Well, if one really follows that to the letter, you can just about rule out all but remote beach, forest, outback etc flight.

I think who (as a hobbyist) really wants to fly ANYWHERE near people or suburban habitat anyway ?

In a few years of drone flying, I've never come close to losing control, I trust my M1P systems enough to fly briefly over a highway (during a break in traffic), or straight out over some buildings when flying to a point to film etc.
at this point in time, it is probably still mostly when an incident where one does crash, cause injury / damage etc, when CASA may get involved and reactively police their drone rules. (Very rarely so far.)

Be aware of our National Park rules, 2 of our mainland states / territories are totally drone friendly, 1 is easy enough to get a permit from, the other 5 are near impossible to deal with as a hobbyist flyer.

Many of our 'cities' or local councils have bans on drones being flown from or landing on lands under their authority, but if using common sense, flying in quiet times, no people around, you would be unlucky to get bothered by the council rangers.
A google of the council name (city of *), drone, bylaw should bring up info on most larger regianl council 'cities of'.

Enjoy your trip, and you'll get loads of places to fly, and great photos / video on your visit for sure.

Because of the ambiguity of the word populous CASA now define populous as 1 or more people.

 

[WithTheBirds]

Because of the ambiguity of the word populous CASA now define populous as 1 or more people.

A link would be appreciated.

To look at practical considerations this alteration to the definition, to the extent it occurred, hopefully simply provides that the 30m rule is the default position. If it doesn’t it means every defined area of public or private land area with the exception of remote wilderness areas would be considered populous.

Let’s have a look at the change. If it reads as you suggest it should have just been removed.

 

[Phill]

The actual definition came in an email that I can't find at the moment.
"You can't fly over people at any time – no matter how high you fly above them. "
From this CASA page

Flying near emergencies and in public spaces

You must consider the people and the environment around you – before you take-off. [TOC] Flying near emergencies You must not fly your drone during emergency operations. Flying your drone near emergencies can cause major safety hazards to response teams in the air and on the ground. Using your...

www.casa.gov.au

They're running behind with their licencing.

 

[WithTheBirds]

The actual definition came in an email that I can't find at the moment.
"You can't fly over people at any time – no matter how high you fly above them. "
From this CASA page

Flying near emergencies and in public spaces

You must consider the people and the environment around you – before you take-off. [TOC] Flying near emergencies You must not fly your drone during emergency operations. Flying your drone near emergencies can cause major safety hazards to response teams in the air and on the ground. Using your...

www.casa.gov.au

They're running behind with their licencing.

There you go- nothing startling there. That’s how the 30m rule has always applied.