The rules will be the same whether you're making money from your flying or not. It's a reasonable approach to take because doing the same flight for commercial reasons rather than recreational doesn't change the risk profile of that flight.
Regs changes in the UK - Nov update
- Thread starter scro
- Start date
Take a look here under the “How to apply” section:
Permissions and exemptions for commercial work involving small unmanned aircraft and drones | UK Civil Aviation Authority
Guidance on requirements and how to apply
www.caa.co.uk
after the31st of December 2020, then the difference between commercial and hobby flying will be removed ,for aircraft under a certain weight ,so you will be able to make money with your drone without having to do a training course ,as long as you follow the separation distances for your particular drone, and there are no airspace restrictions, and the flight can be made safely within the open category rules, if it cant then you will need to fly them in the specific category rules and it lists the requirements that have to be met for each of the categories and the certificates you will need to be able to fly in each category
gtmoulds
Active Member
Yeah...thats the current reqirement. Im looking at the new rules which have now been pointed out to me.
The CAA drone code website has been updated and now lays out the new rules:
register-drones.caa.co.uk
The Drone and Model Aircraft Code | UK Civil Aviation Authority
Read the Drone and Model Aircraft Code to fly safely and legally. Find out what the rules are about flying unmanned aircraft in the UK.
@nathankw did you also notice, that the online test has also gone from 20 questions, and is now 40 questions, with a 30 question pass mark
Interesting - thats more than an A2CoC exam! I might sit it later and see whats changed!
Yes spotted that. Glad I completed mine a couple of weeks ago.
Mind you I might have a go at the new one, just to make sure I'm up to date with the new rules.
So does this mean that effectively the new rules are active now?
I mean if someone were questioned about flying their mini in a town centre they could just point to the CAA website and say "look - under 250g I can fly over people and in built up areas".
I can't see anywhere on the site where it says these rules don't apply until Dec 31st.
CAP and implementing regulations all state Jan 1st.
Remember the Drone Code website isnt the actual regulation - its a simplified explanation of them not the actual legal text.
Is one i hadn't seen previously. No VLOS in tracking mode within 50m. Its a while since i looked at the site but i dont recall that being present.
Yes true. Best to be patient!
But on what day do the regs actually come in? All the things I've seen specify Dec 31st.
Which admittedly seems an odd day for the new rules to come in.
But according the the EASA timeline:
Drone user can start operating in limited ‘Open’ category. Between 31 December 2020 till 1 January 2023
So, can we fly under new regs on New Years Eve?
thats to allow you to have the drone follow you without you having to actually watch it all the time
i just said which midnight 31st Dec is new years eve ,and at 1 minute past midnight then it will be new years day and thats when the new rules will be in force
Im aware of that - i meant i didnt see that specific paragraph and exception to the rules published before (although admittedly i last looked at it when the test first went live)
You said "midnight on 31st Dec" but of course there's midnight when the 30th becomes the 31st and midnight when 31st becomes the 1st. So midnight on a particular date is inherently ambiguous.
12:01 on the 1st Jan 2021 would be entirely unambiguous and a logical time to start.
But all the references I can find simply say the new rules start on 31st Dec.
To my mind, that should mean they come in at 12:01 on the early morning of the 31st Dec itself.
I know it's only a day but would be good to clarify. Is there an official source which says anything clearer than just "31st Dec"?
Just had a go at the new 40 questions test to see what it's like, and managed 38/40 without referring to any material. All the questions have been updated to align with the new regs. I found it required a bit more thought than the previous version of the test (20Qs) as there is a fair bit more to be covered (drone classifications, flight categories etc). I did find the previous version of the test very basic though. A good read thru the new "easy to read" version of the new rules (see post #65) will give you all the answers.
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