(UK) Commercial & YouTube content with a regular Flyer & Operator ID - Mavic Air 2

[QuestionTime]

Hi All!

Firstly, this is my first post, and looking at the forum, it's extremely active so I'm sure I will be here often - happy to join what looks like a great community.

Now, back to the point - firstly, lets start off with some background!
I've owned around 4 drones - none of which have been 'professional' of any kind, and were those cheap £100 ones.
I bought a DJI Mavic Mini around a month ago, and was very impressed with what a 249g drone can perform - blown away to say the least.
I decided that the drone wasn't for me - almost every time I flew the drone, I got a 'strong winds' warning, so decided that its time to say goodbye to the Mini.

I'm now looking at the Mavic Air 2 as an upgrade - I've just completed my registration for an Operator & Flyer ID on the CAA website.
I noticed a section that says I cannot use the drone in return for payment in any way (Getting IDs for flying | UK Civil Aviation Authority).

This does slightly strike a concern - first of all, I want to use the drone as a hobby, get some footage of the local area, share it with people in the community and hopefully put a smile on some people's faces.
Once I've completed this, I want to advance further with my drone, and possibly do the following;

• Post content/footage on YouTube
• Possibly some small jobs as an individual (not a business)

With this, I have some questions!

1. If I were to post content on YouTube and lets say for some crazy reason the video managed to pay out, would this be considered as a breach of the drone code?
2. How would I go about registering as an individual for commercial work? Again, this would only be small projects (e.g, recording an agricultural farm)
3. Have you had any experiences of commercial work as an individual? If so, what is the process?

And 2 slightly off-topic question I thought of whilst writing this topic!

1. If an area is marked as a 'no fly' zone in Amber or Red, who would you contact regarding permission to fly a drone in that area? Is it the landlord? So in my instance, the national park?
2. When requesting access to fly in a no-fly zone, what type of content would you provide in the email? Is there a form of some sort I could use as a template?

If you've managed to get this far, thank you for your time & appreciate any useful responses.

 

[Tentoes]

I'm sure somebody from the UK will be along shortly. You might change your title to include "UK" just to attract their attention.

In USA, you need the FAA license. I got it. Of course, that doesn't have anything to do with your situation.

 

[QuestionTime]

I'm sure somebody from the UK will be along shortly. You might change your title to include "UK" just to attract their attention.

In USA, you need the FAA license. I got it. Of course, that doesn't have anything to do with your situation.

Thanks for your input - I have put 'UK' in the thread title

 

[Lastrexking]

So, some good news.

From January next year there won't be any problem in making money from your drone footage here in the UK (however, the date keeps changing - so keep an eye on the CAA web site) as there won't be a distinction between 'commercial' and 'none commercial' when it comes filming side of things. But, you still have to stick to the drone code which will limit how close you can fly to buildings and people - Drone code - Dronesafe

If you do want to fly closer to buildings and people you'll need to take some form of qualification. There are several available, but aain - I'd wait until January as they are renewable, and doing them now is a waste of money. Here's one provder as an example of what courses are avaiable and costs (A2CofC is most likely best for you).

One thing to note - from 2022 the Mavic Air2 will be classed as a 'Legacy Drone' - so, even if you do take a qualification you'll have to go back to flying it under the current drone code rules as none of the DJI drones currently on the market meet the new standards for flying post 2022.

Direct answers to your questions:

1.If I were to post content on YouTube and lets say for some crazy reason the video managed to pay out, would this be considered as a breach of the drone code? Not really. I wouldn't worry about it.

2.How would I go about registering as an individual for commercial work? Again, this would only be small projects (e.g, recording an agricultural farm) - see my comments above

3.Have you had any experiences of commercial work as an individual? If so, what is the process?

Yes. I fly as part of my job for the UK government. The process for private work will be very different than mine.

And 2 slightly off-topic question I thought of whilst writing this topic!

1.If an area is marked as a 'no fly' zone in Amber or Red, who would you contact regarding permission to fly a drone in that area? Is it the landlord? So in my instance, the national park?

No, you need permission from the CAA

2.When requesting access to fly in a no-fly zone, what type of content would you provide in the email? Is there a form of some sort I could use as a template?

I can't answer this as I work under a government exemption, but I assume you'd need a PFCO anyway and apermission from the CAA.

 

[QuestionTime]

So, some good news.

Appreciate your detailed response - definitely is helpful, thank you!

I will await the new rules that are set to come into play - hopefully they don't push the date further, although likely