Regulations starts to include Mavic Mini ("above 248 grams")

[BokiFly]

There are (new) Regulations for Bosnia and Herzegovina that starts with "This regulations does not apply for the drones that has maximum take off weight less than or equal to 0.248 kg".



This is a brand new Regulations, and they included Mavic Mini

It seems that registration of the drone is required, and it has to be extended every three years. And you have to have insurance, and carry it with you. You must also carry manual and technical documentation, and several permits.

Max AGL altitude is 30 m, basically no flying in the city, and so on. I will need to study it more, I think that it applies from tomorrow.

Prior to this I didn't see or hear that some regulations starts with 248 grams. It seems that they are moving "lines" to avoid that funny trick DJI pulled with "249 g".

Some of the pilots are making jokes that they will try to buy Japanese Mavic Mini.

 

[Paul51]

And how hard do you think it might be to reduce the weight by 1grm ? A small hole here, a small hole there .......

 

[scro]

Weigh your MM. You might find it's 247.9g ?

Mine seems to be a bit lighter than the specified 249g, having weighed it on several different scales and consistently got less than 249g.

 

[FlyoverDRN]

Yes, it would be pretty easy to shave off 1 gram

 

[Repaid1]

If I remember correctly they fudged weight (Listed) so you could put those "Stickers" on it and keep it sub 250grm. Doesn't matter, even if it has a camera UK countries have restrictions on it regardless of weight. Even in the USA your giving up a lot just to save $5 and some obscure database. DJI could have put so much more into the mini if they weren't shooting for glory and marketing of a sub 250 drone...IMHO. But honestly, they have about all bases covered once again with the release of MA2 and a M3 looming on the horizon.

 

[BokiFly]

And how hard do you think it might be to reduce the weight by 1grm ? A small hole here, a small hole there .......

Someone make jokes that we can use sandpaper to reduce weight

But it will not work, someone pointed out that regulations consider that Mavic Mini in specs (production) have 249 g and that is all that matters. When they caught you and if they identify that you have Mavic Mini they will consider that it is a 249 g drone.

 

[Ramjam61]

Here in the UK I believe all camara equipped UAV's will have to be registered, eventually. Regardless of weight. Not unexpected really. It will no doubt happen in Europe as well.

 

[scro]

How much do you need to modify it for it no longer to be considered a "standard Mavic Mini"? The reference to "maximum take off weight" also gets ambiguous. What is it for the MM, as DJI hasn't published a value for Max take off weight or mass, just the standard weight for flight without any payload.

UK proposed regs for the UK have decided to use "weight in flight" rather than MTOM, to avoid that ambiguity. The regs will require registering, as the MM has a camera, but at least it maintains the fairly common altitude limit of 120m. 30m is a bit restrictive! Current UK regs essentially don't allow flying in the city, but the new regs will ease that a bit. I can't fly in my own garden, for example, as it is less than 150m from a "built up area". The same typically applies for football fields or parks in the town/city.

 

[BokiFly]

Current UK regs essentially don't allow flying in the city, but the new regs will ease that a bit.

In what matter? And when?

Registering should not be a big problem, I'm more concerned about other things, things that you already have in your regulations so you are used to it, but we are not. We are not used to be prohibited to fly in the city, and not to mention to fly to just 30 m AGL. Last Saturday I made a short video about new roundabout in my city (that has a Star Wars New Order logo). By new regulations I should not fly like that.

 

[Ken-Mav-Mtl]

In some jurisdictions, this is like similar to "spot zoning" where a regulation is passed to get around certain legislation, without data or justification.

I will assume that the data used to fix the 250 gram lower limit is based upon data that was determined to be "relatively safe" with respect to potential accidents, whether falling on people or in air to air collisions with commercial aircraft.

There needs to be room for the "toy drone" which is generally less than 250 grams and which is flimsy compared to the Mav Mini.

The fact that DJI introduced such a functional sub-250 gram drone clearly goes beyond the definition of a "toy drone" and it introduces more issues (such as privacy) which a sub-250 gram drone could not raise.

The fact that this legislation comes from a smaller European country does not mean that major powers will follow suit, since there would be a strong lobby or legal opposition to keep a sub-250 gram category for minimal regulation.

 

[scro]

In what matter? And when?

Registering should not be a big problem, I'm more concerned about other things, things that you already have in your regulations so you are used to it, but we are not. We are not used to be prohibited to fly in the city, and not to mention to fly to just 30 m AGL. Last Saturday I made a short video about new roundabout in my city (that has a Star Wars New Order logo). By new regulations I should not fly like that.

The new regs are expected to come in to force 31 Dec 2020 and won't have a specific distance to remain away from buildings, but it will expect min 50m distance from uninvolved people for the MM (it will be classified as a legacy aircraft). For the MM the new regs will mean you can fly near buildings, provided you still keep away from people

Current regs state you need to keep 50m min from people and individual buildings, and 150m away from "built up areas" (ie villages/towns/cities etc)

 

[BokiFly]

but it will expect min 50m distance from uninvolved people for the MM

But that is still a problem, where in the city you can be sure that during the flight some people will not be 50m from the drone? You can have than in the point where you take of, but when the drone flies and moves around eventually some people will be closer than 50m from the drone.

If you fly 80m above people is that violation of that regulation of "minimum 50m from the people"?

 

[scro]

There are very few countries that allow unrestricted flying in cities.

With the new regs coming in the UK drones under 250g are allowed to fly over people, but not crowds, so flying at 80m would typically allow flight in towns. The logic behind it is a 250g drone poses a lower risk to people than a 500g drone if it drops out of the sky.

 

[BokiFly]

That is great to hear. I am very glad for you. That was my logic from the beginning. Fly over people to max AGL od 120m, that is great. Of course not over crowds, and not hover over people, but in some milliseconds you are above some person when the drone flies from spot A to spot B (witch is hard to avoid anyway). That makes sense.

 

[maelstrom]

There's a good (if a little dry) video about how the new rules will affect the Mini here:

The new regs are expected to come in to force 31 Dec 2020 and won't have a specific distance to remain away from buildings

...so flying at 80m would typically allow flight in towns.

Where is that mentioned in the new regulations? I ask because I can't find a reference to buildings. My understanding (could be completely wrong, of course) is that the existing regulations will still apply unless specifically changed in the new EASA rules.

 

[scro]

https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP1789%20Edition3%20June2020%20cor.pdf

@maelstrom Page 43 clarifies your query. Prescribed distances from buildings will be dropped, hence the general lack of mention of it in the new regs.

 

[maelstrom]

https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP1789%20Edition3%20June2020%20cor.pdf

@maelstrom Page 43 clarifies your query. Prescribed distances from buildings will be dropped, hence the general lack of mention of it in the new regs.

Are you looking at question 4? If so, according to the existing Drone Code, you can currently fly no closer than 50m from a building ("Never fly closer than 50m to buildings, cars, trains or boats"), but no closer than 150m from a built-up area. Built-up areas are not mentioned specifically in the new regulation so that 150m may well still apply in the future.

 

[Flycaster]

Yes, it would be pretty easy to shave off 1 gram

Simple, weigh it uncharged....... ?

 

[scro]

This is where it gets slightly more complicated. Specifically for the Mavic mini (legacy, under 250g) it will be able to be flown in the A1 category, which will remove the specific distances from buildings, but not people. In this instance it will be a relaxation from current requirements, based on the fact that a small, light drone doesn't pose a significant risk to buildings, but does pose some risk to people.

If flying a >500g legacy drone then it would be in category A3, where the distance from "residential/industrial/recreational areas" will be 150m. Legacy drones between 250 and 500g can be flown in the A1 category until 31 Dec 22.

However, this all digresses from the OP, who was talking about new regs for Bosnia and Herzegovina. They don't seem to be quite as favourable as the proposed UK regs, and a bit of a shock to anyone who was previously used to just applying common sense to their flights, rather than trying to abide by complex, ambiguous and onerous regulations.

 

[Tolly]

Everyone is trying to avoid the forthcoming regulations for the Mini but you're pi**ing in the wind. They will bring the Mini in and we should sign up and register.
THAT SAID! all responsible pilots will obey the 50m distance, privacy, etc but I don't believe any of us will obey the VLOS regulation. If the Mini is beyond 30M and you look down at your screen the chances are you will not pick it up again with your eyes and who will limit themeselves to flying within 30M?
To me, this is where the regs do not keep up with the technology. We have GPS and Wifi connection as well as RTH and the safety settings to make FPV a safe approach to flying a 249g object very safely. Until this is recognised we will all flout this regulation methinks.