UK licence cost for larger drones?

[Deleted member 174226]

Thinking of getting a DJI Mavic 3 Classic, but mate told me it is over 250 grams and will cost around £1,500 for a CAA licence and it is a 1-week in-person course for this licence.

I can't find any info about this on the CAA website. Can anybody conform that larger drones like the Mavic 3 cost a fotune for licence and takes a week, full time, in person to get one?

 

[Aerialskape]

Thinking of getting a DJI Mavic 3 Classic, but mate told me it is over 250 grams and will cost around £1,500 for a CAA licence and it is a 1-week in-person course for this licence.

I can't find any info about this on the CAA website. Can anybody conform that larger drones like the Mavic 3 cost a fotune for licence and takes a week, full time, in person to get one?

Have a look here: Drone Laws & Rules UK 2023 [May 6th News Update].

 

[old man mavic]

@MrWriter it not actually a licence its a category for the weight of the drone you will be flying
the course is called a GVC and it allows you to fly heavier than 250g drones with permissions from the CAA ,you would be flying in the specific category ,which entails logging all your flights, and flying a certain number of hours over a three month period to stay compliant,but the rewards for your efforts are that you can fly with much less restriction's ,with reduced distances and over places and people ,but if you decided not to go for a GVC then the Mavic 3C would have to be flown in the open category with no overflight of people or dwellings or built up areas with a minimum separation distance of 150m from them , you could reduce that distance down to 50m by passing the A2 C of C but the overflight rules still apply and the A2 C of C is being Phased out at the end of 2025, as great as the Mavic 3 family of drones is ,here in the UK at this time the only drone that is worth having for the freedom of places to fly is the Mini 3 pro ,or other sub 250g drones

 

[NorbertG59]

Hi m8”



If you are going for commercial licensing and adding all the courses together it may reach that amount



If you are just using for recreational purposes you will need CAA licence (£11.00) and operators Id

with the above you can fly as long as you keep away 50M from people and buildings and not fly over them, that said you can take the A2 Cofc course on line (Starting at £67.00) and join FPV UK Membership and with the membership you get Insurance and also be able to fly 30M close to people under “article 16 Authorisation Code”



I would advise you that before buying such beast do your homework ie: Plenty of information on youtube





Hope it Helps

 

[old man mavic]

@NorbertG59 just to clarify your post above the flyer ID is free and lasts 5years its the operator ID that cost currently £10.33 and lasts for a year

 

[NorbertG59]

@NorbertG59 just to clarify your post above the flyer ID is free and lasts 5years its the operator ID that cost currently £10.33 and lasts for a year

Thank You! abselutly right!

 

[Robert Prior]

you can fly as long as you keep away 50M from people

In Canada a pilot with a basic sRPAS certificate must stay 30 m away from people. This can be remarkably difficult to do unless you're in a _really_ isolated area — and the UK is much more crowded than Canada.

I last visited in the 80s, and I think I might have been able to stay 50 m away from people in Yorkshire, but not anywhere else I visited. I never went north of Hadrian's Wall, and in videos the Scottish Highlands look pretty uninhabited, but everywhere else seems to have enough passersby that staying 50 m away from everyone looks very difficult.

This is one reason I mostly fly my Mini 3 Pro now — far fewer restrictions.

 

[Deleted member 174226]

Sounds like too much red tape and hassle in the UK so I won't be bothering with a drone now. Cheers though.

 

[NorbertG59]

Sounds like too much red tape and hassle in the UK so I won't be bothering with a drone now. Cheers though.

Like the previous post said, Get yourself a Mini3 Pro and spend 10 minutes of your time anwsering 10 easy questions at CAA website to get your flyers ID and you will be good to Go

 

[Deleted member 174226]

Read somewhere that you have to do 3 hours flying time per month to keep licence or something, that's a pain as I won't be doing that much flying, meaning I'll have to get a new licence every few months when I fly. Pain in the butt in the UK.

Again, was thinking Mavic 3 Classic, 870 grams as I need the quality of that sensor and Hasselblad lens, anything less won't do for my purposes.

 

[Robert Prior]

Read somewhere that you have to do 3 hours flying time per month

How do they check that? Could you just hover in the garden until the battery runs out a couple of times? It's flying, after all…

 

[Deleted member 174226]

Not sure how they check, but I suspect it has to be a flight path.

 

[landmark orbiter]

@MrWriter it not actually a licence its a category for the weight of the drone you will be flying
the course is called a GVC and it allows you to fly heavier than 250g drones with permissions from the CAA ,you would be flying in the specific category ,which entails logging all your flights, and flying a certain number of hours over a three month period to stay compliant,but the rewards for your efforts are that you can fly with much less restriction's ,with reduced distances and over places and people ,but if you decided not to go for a GVC then the Mavic 3C would have to be flown in the open category with no overflight of people or dwellings or built up areas with a minimum separation distance of 150m from them , you could reduce that distance down to 50m by passing the A2 C of C but the overflight rules still apply and the A2 C of C is being Phased out at the end of 2025, as great as the Mavic 3 family of drones is ,here in the UK at this time the only drone that is worth having for the freedom of places to fly is the Mini 3 pro ,or other sub 250g drones

That’s about the clearest explanation I’ve read about this thank you.