I've become the drone police

[Fishman Dan]

Not really .... but having clear knowledge of what you can and can't do is really important, and I can't stress that enough.

I recently earned my Cert III in Aviation - Remote Pilot (RePL). I was fortunate to do this as one of the fee-free TAFE courses in north-east NSW. What it has done though is remove A LOT of the grey area around what you can and can't do, as dictated by CASA's rules around Remote Piloted Aircraft (including fixed-wing).

Put simply, the rules are there to protect you and everyone around you.

Some of the things I see a lot of (locally);

- Flying over people
- Flying over whales
- Flying beyond VLoS (easy to do) including flying in cloud
- Can I fly at such-and-such location

The one big thing the course taught me to do was read aeronautical maps, and determine what can and can't be done at a given site. I can't overstate how important this is to know. For example, can you fly in a Military/Restricted site? Generally the answer is YES, but you must work out whether that site is currently in use.

All of the information above is freely available, you just need to know where to look.

For example - discussion around flying off the edge of a lookout or mountain. With a vertical ceiling off 400ft/120m, you need to know the elevation of the lookout. By flying out horizontally for 100m you might be 100m+ over the floor of a valley, which changes how high you can fly. All of this info is available on maps.

I once had a potentially near-miss with a small aircraft. I didn't launch but was moments away from it. In this case I firmly believe the 2 joycraft were below their elevation floor, however it was still a potential catastrophe. I have personal friends who posted flying at night around the Gold Coast near The Spit, over people, and another who is entering photos into competitions along Sydney's beaches, which breaches both flying over people, and in proximity to the runway of Kingsford Smith airport corridor (limited altitude).

Personally I'm happy to answer any questions, and I've seen a lot of 'well I checked this and that' and then they've gone and breached CASA's rules.

 

[JimSteadman]

Not really .... but having clear knowledge of what you can and can't do is really important, and I can't stress that enough.

I recently earned my Cert III in Aviation - Remote Pilot (RePL). I was fortunate to do this as one of the fee-free TAFE courses in north-east NSW. What it has done though is remove A LOT of the grey area around what you can and can't do, as dictated by CASA's rules around Remote Piloted Aircraft (including fixed-wing).

Put simply, the rules are there to protect you and everyone around you.

Some of the things I see a lot of (locally);

- Flying over people
- Flying over whales
- Flying beyond VLoS (easy to do) including flying in cloud
- Can I fly at such-and-such location

The one big thing the course taught me to do was read aeronautical maps, and determine what can and can't be done at a given site. I can't overstate how important this is to know. For example, can you fly in a Military/Restricted site? Generally the answer is YES, but you must work out whether that site is currently in use.

All of the information above is freely available, you just need to know where to look.

For example - discussion around flying off the edge of a lookout or mountain. With a vertical ceiling off 400ft/120m, you need to know the elevation of the lookout. By flying out horizontally for 100m you might be 100m+ over the floor of a valley, which changes how high you can fly. All of this info is available on maps.

I once had a potentially near-miss with a small aircraft. I didn't launch but was moments away from it. In this case I firmly believe the 2 joycraft were below their elevation floor, however it was still a potential catastrophe. I have personal friends who posted flying at night around the Gold Coast near The Spit, over people, and another who is entering photos into competitions along Sydney's beaches, which breaches both flying over people, and in proximity to the runway of Kingsford Smith airport corridor (limited altitude).

Personally I'm happy to answer any questions, and I've seen a lot of 'well I checked this and that' and then they've gone and breached CASA's rules.

I am a recreational flyer and will be coming to Australia in September to visit my daughter and her family who live in Alice Springs. I have a Mini 4 pro. As I understand the current rules I can fly with the exceptions noted above and do not need to register my drone. Can you provide a site with the most up-to-date regulations? Does it vary by state or territory? I will be spending a few days in Sydney and visiting Ayres Rock, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island and a few points in between. Want to stay legal, but still get some great photography of your beautiful country.

 

[Fishman Dan]

The Mini Pro can fly in the Excluded category if you use the standard battery .... however that's only an issue if you're within 3nm (5.5 km's) from an airfield.

Apart from that you will be fine, noting the usual routine cautions - over 30m from people, not above people at all, max altitude of 400ft ... the one thing is we also aren't allowed to fly in National Parks without permission.

Some very general advice not knowing where you intend to fly. Alice Springs (and the Northern Territory) is sparsely populated and it won't be hard to keep your distance, but whether many of these sites are in National Parks is the one query I have.

I would use ok2fly.com.au as your key indicator about any locations.

CASA (www.casa.gov.au) is the Australian Federal authority in this regard. The rules are on their website but it's not written for general consumption ... I would stick to the basics and if you have any other specific questions about any locations feel free to post them.

If you understand aeronautical maps I'd be happy to post them here for the Alice Springs area. Of major note is the Pine Gap military site west of Alice Springs, which is a Restricted zone - good luck if you try and fly anywhere near there!!

 

[Jimmid]

Not really .... but having clear knowledge of what you can and can't do is really important, and I can't stress that enough.

I recently earned my Cert III in Aviation - Remote Pilot (RePL). I was fortunate to do this as one of the fee-free TAFE courses in north-east NSW. What it has done though is remove A LOT of the grey area around what you can and can't do, as dictated by CASA's rules around Remote Piloted Aircraft (including fixed-wing).

Put simply, the rules are there to protect you and everyone around you.

Some of the things I see a lot of (locally);

- Flying over people
- Flying over whales
- Flying beyond VLoS (easy to do) including flying in cloud
- Can I fly at such-and-such location

The one big thing the course taught me to do was read aeronautical maps, and determine what can and can't be done at a given site. I can't overstate how important this is to know. For example, can you fly in a Military/Restricted site? Generally the answer is YES, but you must work out whether that site is currently in use.

All of the information above is freely available, you just need to know where to look.

For example - discussion around flying off the edge of a lookout or mountain. With a vertical ceiling off 400ft/120m, you need to know the elevation of the lookout. By flying out horizontally for 100m you might be 100m+ over the floor of a valley, which changes how high you can fly. All of this info is available on maps.

I once had a potentially near-miss with a small aircraft. I didn't launch but was moments away from it. In this case I firmly believe the 2 joycraft were below their elevation floor, however it was still a potential catastrophe. I have personal friends who posted flying at night around the Gold Coast near The Spit, over people, and another who is entering photos into competitions along Sydney's beaches, which breaches both flying over people, and in proximity to the runway of Kingsford Smith airport corridor (limited altitude).

Personally I'm happy to answer any questions, and I've seen a lot of 'well I checked this and that' and then they've gone and breached CASA's rules.

Any drone pilot should keep up with notam's as well, to keep up-to-date with areas that may have temporary restrictions. I was previously a trainee GA pilot but never completed due to family commitments so have a understanding from a pilot's perspective.

I am retired and can't afford the ridiculous cost of the RePL so fly under the exempt category.

When flying where aircraft may be present I have a netbook with Rtl-sdr dongle and antenna attached which shows me adsb broadcast of nearby aircraft and their location, and a scanner tuned to the local working frequency, and stay clear of approach/departure lanes.

I can charge for my work and though I can't fly at night, that isn't much of a handicap for me. And I do have fantastic long range vision

 

[Fishman Dan]

I am retired and can't afford the ridiculous cost of the RePL so fly under the exempt category.

Have you checked the TAFE website to see if the RePL is offered near you? I know it has changed since I did it late last year, but not sure what has changed.

One change I'm aware of is that you do several weeks of theory before you fly a drone, then I think only 3 drones can be airborne at any time (in a class of 10?!).

When I did it in October / November last year it was 8 in the class, Theory in the morning, Prac in the afternoon - and everyone flew their drone concurrently.

 

[Jimmid]

Have you checked the TAFE website to see if the RePL is offered near you? I know it has changed since I did it late last year, but not sure what has changed.

One change I'm aware of is that you do several weeks of theory before you fly a drone, then I think only 3 drones can be airborne at any time (in a class of 10?!).

When I did it in October / November last year it was 8 in the class, Theory in the morning, Prac in the afternoon - and everyone flew their drone concurrently.

Yes, but it isn't available to me because there are age restrictions.

I have my certIII in Aviation I did at Parafield TAFE years ago before it closed, so have done a lot of Aviation theory including Bernoulli's principles, aviation weather, air density etc.

I have been flying my Mavic Pro drone for a number of years now and have recently started attaching my 360 camera to it to get some great 360 degree video and pictures.