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MA2 from tomorrow - newbie clarification

danabnormal

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So as of tomorrow I know the rules are changing and that the Mavic Air 2 will be changing class. I've seen a lot of confusion and doom and gloom posts about this but from what I found yesterday I don't BELIEVE this will affect me much. I haven't got my head around the class system yet so please treat me as a five year old!

I took the online test last week, which I believe reflects the rules starting tomorrow. I understand that the MA2 will be affected by the transition period (of two years), however given that I only know of the the rules presented in the CAA test I don't think that I will see any change at all? ie during transition and after I'll still be able to fly 50m from buildings and people, and 150m from built up areas and crowds.

There is a lot of conjecture and out of date info out there so I'd appreciate it if someone could correct me if I've got it wrong.

Many thanks!
 
@danabnormal you are correct for the next two years things will remain the same for your drone ,but to be able to fly over uninvolved people or commercial areas or built up areas ,then to do so you will need the A2 C of C
 
From today your Mavic Air 2 is a 'legacy' drone and can only be flown in the A3 Open category (150m), unless you have passed the A2 C of C training, then you can fly in the A2 category (50m). The category's are:
  • A1: Flying ‘over’ people;
  • A2: Flying ‘close to’ people;
  • A3: Flying ‘far from’ people;
With an A2 C of C certificate you can fly to within 50m of uninvolved people, you cannot overfly them though. The big plus with this certificate is that you can now fly in parks, industrial, residential and built-up areas, though still keeping 50m from uninvolved people.
Full details here: Flying in the open category | UK Civil Aviation Authority (caa.co.uk)
 
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From today your Mavic Air 2 is a 'legacy' drone and can only be flown in the A3 Open category (150m), unless you have passed the A2 C of C training, then you can fly in the A2 category (50m). The category's are:
  • A1: Flying ‘over’ people;
  • A2: Flying ‘close to’ people;
  • A3: Flying ‘far from’ people;
With an A2 C of C certificate you can fly to within 50m of uninvolved people, you cannot overfly them though. The big plus with this certificate is that you can now fly in parks, industrial, residential and built-up areas, though still keeping 50m from uninvolved people.
Full details here: Flying in the open category | UK Civil Aviation Authority (caa.co.uk)
Thanks @Drumsagard . So just to clarify - today with an MA2 and a pilots license I am able to fly within 50m of uninvolved people, however from tomorrow that will increase to 150m unless I take the A2 CofC, is that correct? Sorry if it sounds like I'm just repeating what you said but I just want to make sure I get this right!
 
Thanks again @Drumsagard, I really do appreciate your patience! As I say theres been a lot of conflicting information that I've stumbled across and I want to make sure I'm doing things properly.

From what you're saying my initial assumptions in the first post would be correct if I took the A2 CofC.
 
@Drumsagard while flying in a park ,for instance then it would be pretty near impossible not at some point to fly over an uninvolved person or persons during the flight and is something that i have done many many times in the last two years of flying my MPP,and to continue to do so under the new rules then i have taken the A2 Cof C to allow me to continue to fly that way, as long as i am no closer than 50m from them,and that will apply during the two year transitional period ,i also have a MM which under the new rules will give me the ability to fly almost anywhere other than restricted airspace
 
Hi @old man mavic Happy New Year. I agree with you that with the Mini you can now pretty much fly almost anywhere excluding FRZ's, but the OP is flying a Mavic Air 2. Can you please point me to the regulations which state you can overfly uninvolved people in the A2 category? As I also did the A2 C of C training, to allow me to get back to flying down to 50m horizontally rather than be forced to fly in the A3 category. However in my training material and everything else I've read since, it's pretty clear that no overflying of uninvolved people is allowed in the A2 open category under any circumstances.

This is from CAP722:

A1.3 Subcategory A2
A1.3.1 Operating Area No flights within restricted airspace (Restricted Areas, Danger Areas, FRZs) without relevant permission. Flight permitted within residential, commercial, industrial and recreational areas.
A1.3.2 Separation from uninvolved persons Class C2: • No closer than 30m horizontally. • If ‘low-speed mode’ is activated – employ 1:1 rule (see 2.1.3.1.1), but never closer than 5m horizontally.
‘A2 Transitional’: • No closer than 50m horizontally.
 
@Drumsagard i agree its very specific ,and it does seem that with MP ,MPP,MA2 or M2P going up 50m is no longer appropriate under the new rules ,so in that case its going to be only very remote places that those drones will be able to fly ,so as far as it now stands my poor old MPP is relegated to the role of A3 with 50m separation instead of 150m separation ,for two years,that combined with the winter weather ,covid restrictions, will mean it ant going to get much air time in 2021 then
 
We are now to imagine a cylinder going up to 120m rather than the 50m bubble we had before. It's good that with the A2 C of C certificate we can now fly in industrial, residential and built-up areas, but keeping 50m from uninvolved people is going to be very difficult.
1609499004757.png
 
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I live in Northern Ireland and as you said in your original post danabnormal, going to A3 didn't at first seem to matter much to me either.

However, initially I hadn't spotted that industrial, residential, built-up areas and parks, included take off and landings from a beach.
Most of my flights have been in fairly remote areas, but many have been from deserted, or sparsely populated (50m no problem) beaches along our North Coast.
Looks like I'll be taking the A2 CofC too!

I can see the future benefit of the new rules, but it is a wee bit of a pain contemplating how much our expensive 'non classified' drones, will lose resale value...arrgh! lol
 
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