Why is the UK's CAA Commercial Training so over the top?

[Ian in London]

Well, I finally went for my CAA Permission For Commercial Operations - PfCO - Mandatory training if you want to do any aerial work for money or reward in the UK.
You'd like to think the required training and assessments are all focussed on achieving good, safe drone flying and giving you relevant information on staying safe and assessing risks.
You'd like to think...
Compare with the USA's FAA's $135 or so for the part 107 and you're left wondering just what the CAA is trying to achieve with the PFCO....

 

[Exphantomflyer]

as jesse J said, its all about the money, the course costs, the insurance costs, and ultimately you dont have much more rights to fly over a building then a hobbyist pilot.

 

[Ian in London]

as jesse J said, its all about the money, the course costs, the insurance costs, and ultimately you dont have much more rights to fly over a building then a hobbyist pilot.

These things all add up and it's a real shame it's all or nothing; no reasonable half way.
Ian

 

[Showbizjones]

These things all add up and it's a real shame it's all or nothing; no reasonable half way.
Ian

I’m from the UK as well and recently passed my PfCO. Totally agree with you with regards to a lot of the theory although I did my theory remotely all online with the help of the NQE instructor. He was very helpful all along the way. We then met up to do the theory exam and the practical assessment over a few hours on the specific day. I’d already compiled the ops manual at this point so didn’t have that to comprehend afte passing. He also went through the submission process via the caa website which, although straight forward, was still helpful to have him on the other end of the phone with me before submission.

I would totally recommend the way I did it remotely with support rather than classroom based where sometimes people, in a group situation, are deterred from asking questions.

I’d love to keep in touch with how your ops manual went in the end and whether you’ve now received the PfCO back ready to earn money.

Glenn

 

[Ian in London]

I’m from the UK as well and recently passed my PfCO. Totally agree with you with regards to a lot of the theory although I did my theory remotely all online with the help of the NQE instructor. He was very helpful all along the way. We then met up to do the theory exam and the practical assessment over a few hours on the specific day. I’d already compiled the ops manual at this point so didn’t have that to comprehend afte passing. He also went through the submission process via the caa website which, although straight forward, was still helpful to have him on the other end of the phone with me before submission.

I would totally recommend the way I did it remotely with support rather than classroom based where sometimes people, in a group situation, are deterred from asking questions.

I’d love to keep in touch with how your ops manual went in the end and whether you’ve now received the PfCO back ready to earn money.

Glenn

Thanks Glenn
That's an interesting approach and sounds a better one if time (and possibly money) is an issue. I did like the weekend atmosphere and the idea of getting it all done in one weekend, but you're right, most of that I could have learned online beforehand. Unsure if solitary online learning would be as effective as the visual, lecture and practical way of the UAV8 course though. There were only 6 of us and questions were actively encouraged.
Now I'm wading through the Ops Manual template. It's actually 40 pages long and really, really inappropriate for what should be required... You can always keep in touch by PM on here, or via my website www.ianinlondon.com which has my email

cheers
Ian