I’ve had an email from the CAA and it now seems that my DJI mini 2 needs me to have CAA registration at £10 a year to fly it legally. Ba humbug, not the best Christmas present. Needs to be labelled as per heavier drones
CAA and sub 250g drones
- Thread starter SimonDT
- Start date
dirkclod
Well-Known Member
It don’t fly any different with it regerstered i have my FAA #’s
on my Mini and it flys fine.
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on my Mini and it flys fine.
Welcome to the forum.
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .
True - we do now have to register the Mini / Mini 2.
But on the plus side we can now legally fly it in urban areas, over people and buildings, and even make money from it.
For me that's a huge plus and easily worth £9.
I think the new rules probably are the most exciting present I'll get this year!!
The test of 40 questions is easy, you should fly through them (excuse the pun) ?
I believe for the mini / mini 2 you'd don't technically need a Flyer ID and therefore don't need to do the test.
That said, I'd strongly recommend doing it - it's not hard and it's good to know the rules. Plus it's free and lasts 5 years.
You do need an operator ID and that's what you have to pay the £9 for.
That said, I'd strongly recommend doing it - it's not hard and it's good to know the rules. Plus it's free and lasts 5 years.
You do need an operator ID and that's what you have to pay the £9 for.
all i can say is, that IF doing the test and registering your drone ,is to much of a hassle, and an inconvenience then perhaps a different hobby would be in order
Yep, plus the harmonisation of flying rules across the EU isn't to be sneezed at either. I know a lot of people thought that this was essentially a slap on the wrist since most of it came in post-Gatwick, even though the wheels were in motion well before then, but IMHO for £9/year we're actually gettting an awful lot of benefits compared to what we had previously. If the (admittedly thin) layer of accountability and traceablility that the testing and registration requirement adds also deters even a few of the more reckless pilots from illegal flights as well, then so much the better.
Thanks to media hysteria and a few rogue pilots (or potentially imaginary ones in the case of Gatwick), we've gained a somewhat tarnished image of late. Being able to tell a random busybody that, actually, I've passed a competency exam and am a registered pilot (they almost certainly won't know the details of how trivial that is!) is a pretty good tool to have in the box if challenged. I still think an official, CAA issued, Operator ID card would be even better, but I guess you can't have everything.
Although the £9 in my view is far too high for what it is, its a lot better than the crazy amount the CAA claimed it needed per drone initially.
Ideally i'd have liked to have seen a 1 off fee or maybe 5 yearly. After all, the ongoing cost ones registered to the CAA themselves is essentially nil.
Ideally i'd have liked to have seen a 1 off fee or maybe 5 yearly. After all, the ongoing cost ones registered to the CAA themselves is essentially nil.
Completely agree. I'm a big supporter of the new rules.
I think moving to a system where we're trusted to behave sensibly, with a registration system to catch those who don't, is a very positive move.
Drones cost £100's of pounds - it's never going to be a super cheap hobby. So a £9 fee seems trivial.
Seriously? That’s only 75p each month. You can’t even buy a single coffee or a newspaper for that!
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Yes, sorry £9 not £10. I’d been registered then let it lapse when I moved from a Mavic 2 Pro to a mini. Did you get out of the wrong side of bed this morning Old Man Mavic?
no my friend ,sorry if i sounded that way all the regs are there to benefit all of us ,what level you take them too is up to you ,maybe i misread your OP as you seemed to be unhappy that you needed to get your operator ID ,having the Flyer ID is also a very good idea ,its free and now lasts for 5 years i believe and it shows that you have taken the time to understand the requirements for safe flight
Have I read incorrectly? I thought I read that the Mini has to be registered as it has a camera? Please correct me if that is not so. ( under the new rules that is)
I get the impression that back in the day when the charge for registering was initially suggested by the authorities to be in the region of £16 per annum, there was considerable opposition from within the UK drone community for what had previously been a pastime which had been free of government taxes for flying. When the £9 charge was introduced many still compared that to other countries where the fee was much smaller and lasted for several years- e.g. USA, or nothing at all.
For myself, since I'm not particularly interested in flying & videoing in Britain, and only take my Mavic abroad to add aerial footage to the underwater video I take doing scuba diving trips abroad, I gave up doing even practice flights at my local drone club's regular site in October last year and this government won't have any remuneration from me for services which I don't use and see no reason to pay for.
For myself, since I'm not particularly interested in flying & videoing in Britain, and only take my Mavic abroad to add aerial footage to the underwater video I take doing scuba diving trips abroad, I gave up doing even practice flights at my local drone club's regular site in October last year and this government won't have any remuneration from me for services which I don't use and see no reason to pay for.
Lastrexking
Well-Known Member
I can’t believe people are complaining about a measley £9. Especially now there’s no distinction between hobby and commercial flying. Those of us that had the old PFCO paid over a grand to get qualified. Now, you just pay your £9 and you can make money from your drone, especially if you have a mini. I think it’s great.
I agree £9 is nothing and for what you can do now with the mini i. E commercial work i quite happy ??
But it would appear that you need third-party insurance cover unless you are using the Mini purely for sport or recreational purposes. See page 32 here:
Lastrexking
Well-Known Member
That goes without saying. Any client would want to see that an operator is insured as part of a contract - that’s standard business practice across all industry.
That said - what the new regs allow is for ad hoc commercial uses. Such as; prior to the new regs the BBC wouldn’t take video shot on drones unless the pilot held a PFCO. Now, there’s no such need. So, we’re you in an area with an ongoing incident such as a flood and you were flying within regs you’d be able to offer it to media. Similarly, video and images taken whilst flying recreationally before the new regs couldn’t be sold. Now, they can. And, you wouldn’t expect recreational flyers to hold third party insurance.
I strongly advise anyone that intends to monetise their efforts to join FPVUK. It’s only £20 a year and one of the many benefits is third party insurance for recreational flying.
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