Confused from Surrey, UK

[mosh]

Another newbie here - wanted the MA2 but don't want to end up with something that is heavily restricted in the UK in just a few short years, especially if people who waited end up with exactly the same product but without the restrictions because it has a class sticker on it.

Have gone for the Mini instead for now and currently awaiting delivery. Still very much looking forward to it and will hopefully be able to upgrade once the dust settles with the regulations. Has an added bonus of not having as much invested in it if the hobby isn't for me after all ?

Good on you. I couldn’t take the leap for a Mini due to the biggest disadvantage of not having Ocusync. I feel I would be much tempted to upgrade fairly quickly and then be further down with the £’s. Hope it works out for you.

 

[Garilla]

Another newbie here - wanted the MA2 but don't want to end up with something that is heavily restricted in the UK in just a few short years, especially if people who waited end up with exactly the same product but without the restrictions because it has a class sticker on it.

Have gone for the Mini instead for now and currently awaiting delivery. Still very much looking forward to it and will hopefully be able to upgrade once the dust settles with the regulations. Has an added bonus of not having as much invested in it if the hobby isn't for me after all ?

The mini is very good for its price point, just don't use it in heavy winds. Use the UAV forecast app and don't fly in winds above 20 mph just to be in the safe side.

 

[Flere-Imsaho]

Having recently purchased a Mavic Mini and it being my first drone I have come to realise there is a lot of regulation changes ahead.
I have watched some videos on this You Tube channel and he seems to know what he is talking about:

One example is here but even he states that over the last few months his videos have become outdated due to the continuous rewrites:

The main thing point as others have made is that changes and re-writes are continuing to happen so who knows where we will be in 2022.
The November 2020 changes with my MM is fairly straight forward. I fill out a registration form, pay £9, place a sticker with the registration number inside the battery slot. That's its, well aside from confirming that I have read the DJI MM manual which I have done several times already) and of course sticking to the Drone code.
The main concern I have is in 2022 ( I think) we will all need to have a tracking device attached to the drone if it does not already have this built in (I don't think many do at the moment) This will take the MM over the 249g weight and then I don't how the rules will then affect the drone. Not to mention having all of my flight data sent to the CAA which for some reason feels a little uncomfortable.
Anyway I enjoying my flights at the moment and as others have said enjoy the it while you can. Someone mention not just wanting to fly over greenery and water, well for me that's the appeal. Getting out of the city / towns is very much of the appeal.

 

[gnirtS]

The main concern I have is in 2022 ( I think) we will all need to have a tracking device attached to the drone if it does not already have this built in (I don't think many do at the moment) This will take the MM over the 249g weight and then I don't how the rules will then affect the drone. Not to mention having all of my flight data sent to the CAA which for some reason feels a little uncomfortable.
Anyway I enjoying my flights at the moment and as others have said enjoy the it while you can. Someone mention not just wanting to fly over greenery and water, well for me that's the appeal. Getting out of the city / towns is very much of the appeal.

*ALL* drones will be legacy after the EASA grace period (so end 2022 or beginning 2023). Tracking device no. Thats not the same as remote ID.
No drone currently sold has certified as a drone class under EU rules, certification is NOT retrospective so ALL drones bought or owned currently will be classed as legacy.

 

[RonW]

Having recently purchased a Mavic Mini and it being my first drone I have come to realise there is a lot of regulation changes ahead.
I have watched some videos on this You Tube channel and he seems to know what he is talking about:

One example is here but even he states that over the last few months his videos have become outdated due to the continuous rewrites:

The main thing point as others have made is that changes and re-writes are continuing to happen so who knows where we will be in 2022.
The November 2020 changes with my MM is fairly straight forward. I fill out a registration form, pay £9, place a sticker with the registration number inside the battery slot. That's its, well aside from confirming that I have read the DJI MM manual which I have done several times already) and of course sticking to the Drone code.
The main concern I have is in 2022 ( I think) we will all need to have a tracking device attached to the drone if it does not already have this built in (I don't think many do at the moment) This will take the MM over the 249g weight and then I don't how the rules will then affect the drone. Not to mention having all of my flight data sent to the CAA which for some reason feels a little uncomfortable.
Anyway I enjoying my flights at the moment and as others have said enjoy the it while you can. Someone mention not just wanting to fly over greenery and water, well for me that's the appeal. Getting out of the city / towns is very much of the appeal.

Think you mabe wrong about all flight info sent to CAA, I don't recall reading thst anywhere in CAP1789, but I could be wrong.
gnirtS is correct in his reply re legacy drones, I may have to buy a class certified one eventually. It's a case of 'Watch this space' at the mo'.

 

[gnirtS]

Think you mabe wrong about all flight info sent to CAA,

That doesnt happen. (The last thing the CAA wants are tens of thousands of pointless flight logs or photos of fields).

 

[civ]

Good on you. I couldn’t take the leap for a Mini due to the biggest disadvantage of not having Ocusync. I feel I would be much tempted to upgrade fairly quickly and then be further down with the £’s. Hope it works out for you.

I am a little concerned that I'll love it but want to upgrade almost immediately and lose more money if I enjoy it as much as I hope ? - but will hold off until the dust settles and the certification details become a little more clear.

 

[Flere-Imsaho]

*ALL* drones will be legacy after the EASA grace period (so end 2022 or beginning 2023). Tracking device no. Thats not the same as remote ID.
No drone currently sold has certified as a drone class under EU rules, certification is NOT retrospective so ALL drones bought or owned currently will be classed as legacy.

Thanks for the reply. So what is a Remote ID? Someone mentioned that this will not send flight traffic reports to CAA which is reassuring. This just confirms the confusion that is circulating.

 

[Ridgeback]

Hi,

Found this site a few weeks ago. There are certainly a lot of experienced, helpful people present. At the time, someone said I should wait for MA2 to be launched before buying which was great advice.

However, I am now even more confused around whether I will be able to fly the drone in 2022.

A few things about me:-

• I live in Surrey, UK.
• I have never had a Drone before and will only ever be a leisure pilot.
• I understand the current Drone code, registration process, feeds, etc and that you cant fly in certain areas due to air space restrictions.
• I know there are changes to the legislation coming but not too sure what that means for a casual leisure Drone user like me.
• I clearly don’t want to buy a Drone now, spending £1000 on a MA2 only to find I can’t fly it again in 2 years or be even more restricted on where I can fly it.
• I don’t really understand many of the acronyms used on this site which confuses me but do appreciate the need to learn more before venturing into the skies.

Is there a specific thread (or site) that is more suited for leisure Drone pilots that can give me the simple facts?

I need to understand that, based on my profile above, if:-

• I buy a UK MA2 now as it won’t be too bad later this year or in 2022. I will still be able to fly it sensibly for leisure purposes.
• Not worth it as it is too unknown at this point and any Drone bought now will be highly restricted in 2022.

Any thoughts or help would be much appreciated. Hopefully number 1 is the answer ?

Thanks,

Tony

Hi Tony I would also advise you to firstly buy mavic mini.
I also have A2 C of C and have a Mavic Air 1 and a DJI Spark which are legacy drones but I have flown these since January 2019.
I am now in a very good position and await release of compliant drones before my next purchase .I would take your A2 C of C in the future, I took mine online with "Pigs Can Fly" for less than £200 bear in mind you need to have flying experience prior to taking the course which you would get flying the mavic mini.
As the introduction of the "Open Category" now does not come into effect until December 2020 legacy aircraft can be used until 31st December 2022.

 

[old man mavic]

one thing i will say on this subject ,all this is for the future yes we may be adopting the EASA airspace rules from 31st December 2020, but this does not mean that this will be the case forever and a day ,we will be able to make our own rules in future and these may end up having subtle differences that suit UK drone flying ,never say never