UK will not follow EASA Regs, Mavic 3 Classic will become Legacy in Jan 2023

[leebroath]

Official announcement from the UK DfT and CAA

Good news for everyone who has a Mavic 2 Pro etc as the transition period is extended to 2026

But for the bad news, the DfT will NOT allow the Mavic 3 Classic (with a Class 1 sticker) to fly in the A1 Cat. in Jan 2023

This means your Classic will also become a Legacy Drone in Jan 2023 until period January 2026….what happens after that, who knows!

Im pretty annoyed at this, and wondering if the DfT will hopefully back track on this decision

Updates about drones | Civil Aviation Authority

Information on the latest guidance and developments relating to drones

www.caa.co.uk

 

[old man mavic]

the problem is with the fact that the C1 classification was obtained in the EU, which as we all know the UK is no longer a member of
therefore it follows, that as with all other none EU countries around the world ,we are under no obligation to follow those rules ,the extended transitional period for our older drones, is indeed great news ,and after 4 years of ownership of my MPP ,i will still be able to fly it as i do now

 

[leebroath]

I suppose it’s not all that bad if you have an A2 CofC and can fly that little bit closer in the A2 Cat. To be honest though, I never fly close to people anyway, incase something happens, and I do have my Cert.

I know it’s a long way off, but what’s your thoughts on all legacy drones in 2026. And as Mavic 3 Classic has the C1 stamp, the DfT can always have special rules for this in a Cat at that time.

And for example: the Mavic 2 Pro in 2026, what will be the plan for that drone, after the transition period, will it be illegal to fly it at all or what happens?

 

[globetrotterdrone]

Clearly a Brexit benefit ...
Sicut aliter facere - Just do it differently seems the appropriate motto. And no, I am not JRM.

Personally I don't see a reason why drones follow different physics in the UK, but it is, what it is.
Really happy to travel around the EU and just follow the same rules everywhere instead of different legislation and fees.

On a positive note: longer transition period is at least a good thing for "vintage" models.

On a another note: changing legislation in December 2022 to be effective one month later in January 2023 without knowing what exactly the classes will be transformed ... well, did I miss something? CAA is only writing "will be updated; will be published, etc."

Where is the draft for this? I mean, there must be some changes because why would you then not use the classes you once mutually created and inherited?

 

[old man mavic]

@leebroath ,well for me who does have the A2 C of C till 2025, i doubt if my trusty old MPP will still be airborne by then, as it will like me, be a bit long in the tooth ,but who knows,
and of course there is no reason why in the future ,the UK could have its own C rated
certification compliance testing facilities here

 

[globetrotterdrone]

and of course there is no reason why in the future ,the UK could have its own C rated
certification compliance testing facilities here

Can't see that anywhere near.
Hardly the EU's classes have been a favourite thing to hassle with by DJI and as you know, there are roughly 450 Mio people living in these countries. UK is approx. 15 % of this so I really doubt DJI is going to implement other national wishes.

Or do you mean, that CAA is working on different delimitations of classes, like C classes (or whatever they are called then) with different masses?

I can only assume slight changes, nothing on the physics side, as a lot of EASA's current scheme has been decided on potential impact energy and safety regards derived from that.

 

[leebroath]

Can anyone advise

If I buy this Classic, and in 3 years it turns into an ornament?

It’s just my other half purchased the Classic Fly More kit for my gift at Christmas, and she’s gonna be pretty peed if in a few years her present will be basically be for the bin

 

[globetrotterdrone]

No, I am pretty sure, there will be an extension or even other regulations in place by then but I cannot see that new rules will render them illegal completely.

Having said that, it certainly depends on your scope of flying, these heavy birds will be pretty much restricted in the vicinity of uninvolved people more and more. So landscape should be fine, but cityscapes or partially populated places not so much I would guess (which is why I went the way with < 250 g despite the fine sensor of the M3).

 

[globetrotterdrone]

It’s just my other half purchased the Classic Fly More kit for my gift at Christmas, and she’s gonna be pretty peed if in a few years her present will be basically be for the bin

Great indeed! Lovely misses!

 

[leebroath]

Great indeed! Lovely misses!

She’s a keeper

 

[zocalo]

Just because we voted for Brexit doesn't mean we have to go our own way on everything, and in cases like this it probably make more sense all round to just copy the EU scheme into our own laws. It's easier for consumers to travel in either direction with their aircraft, it's easier for manufacturers to certify, it's cheaper for the UK (we don't need to do any work as we can just let the EU do it all for us). Even though the CAA all but announced this was going to happen several months ago, I thought the government might have realised this with the EU USB3 charging requirement since we're not going to pass our own legislation either way on the matter and will almost certainly get just universal USB3 by default as a result. I suspect what'll happen now is the UK will have less choice in drones because only a handful of suppliers will bother with a specific certification for the UK market in the first place, and might even only do it for a subset of the total range depending on how onerous the process is.

Regardless, 2026 is a long way off in tech terms, and it's anyone's guess how this might evolve in the meantime, especially if it starts to have a detrimental effect on some of the large bodies in the UK that use drones commercially (Network Rail, Utilities, etc.) and they lobby for change. I'm going to continue to stick with my M2P until either it breaks and I'm forced to replace it or saner heads prevail and some the wrinkles this is inevitably going to cause get smoothed out. I took my M2P up to Northumberland last week and got some shots I'm very happy with (just as well, since I had to get up at stupid o'clock for many of them!); it's still perfectly capable and, nice as the M3 is, I can't justify spending the best part of £2k on a new drone and accessories with all the current economic and regulatory uncertainty.

 

[old man mavic]

there is a complete overhaul of many of the CAAs regulatory requirements ,for UK airspace usage since leaving the EU
the DfT have tasked the CAA with this job , and drone rules and regs are just a small part of the extensive work being undertaken ,for the requirements ,of being able to use the UKs controlled airspace
of course this is being done in accordance with other airspace regulatory bodies around the world when it comes to international airspace
and its quite possible that in the fulness of time ,the UK will adopt many of those requirements ,that are already in place in other countries

 

[zocalo]

there is a complete overhaul of many of the CAAs regulatory requirements ,for UK airspace usage since leaving the EU
the DfT have tasked the CAA with this job , and drone rules and regs are just a small part of the extensive work being undertaken ,for the requirements ,of being able to use the UKs controlled airspace
of course this is being done in accordance with other airspace regulatory bodies around the world when it comes to international airspace
and its quite possible that in the fulness of time ,the UK will adopt many of those requirements ,that are already in place in other countries

Yeah, I get all the regulatory stuff on Skywise in my inbox so I know there's a considerable amount of effort going into this, and at least some of the UK-specific changes announced so far clearly make a good deal of sense. I'm not convinced on some aspects, especially where we are diverging from the EU without a clear reason/benefit I can see, but I'm mostly reserving judgement until I get a better feel for the end game. Whether it's all going to be worth it, when we could have just aligned applicable elements of UK law and regulation with the EU and saved a lot of effort and paperwork, clearly remains to be seen.

Still, I can't help but feel that there's also a concerted effort in many departments (not just the DfT) to diverge from the EU just because we can as some kind of pseudo-justification for Brexit and show they've delivered something - anything - as a result, without really thinking through the implications. That seems remarkably shortsighted given that UK is essentially surrounded by the EU regulated airspace given that we effectively have mainland Europe to the South and East, Iceland and the Faroes (Denmark) to the North, and Ireland to the West. Creating an island of regulatory non-confirmity when you are essentially land/sea locked by one of your largest trading partners doesn't seem all that smart a path to take, in any sector, and at some point I suspect that's going to result in a lot of the differences being re-aligned with the EU.

 

[leebroath]

I’m hoping the DfT eventually step off their soap box and actually think things through properly, and help us hobbyists

I would like to think, even though it’s clearly said they won’t follow the C1 into Jan 2023, hopefully our voices are heard before 2026, and they adopt some of the EASA regs.

As mentioned above it would be great to know going into another country the same regulations apply, and not confuse everyone by changing everything.

 

[old man mavic]

gentlemen this thread is in eminent danger of becoming a for or against debate about Brexit,
please lets keep political views and feelings out of this thread ,and stick to the community guidelines

 

[zocalo]

So, meanwhile, do we expect a bit of a collapse in the retail side of things as people put off buying drones for fear of having them fall foul of the legacy rules in the near future?

I suspect the global financial crisis will play a bigger part in buying decisions at present, but once you get past that and still have the cash available then, yes, I think those that are aware of the flux in regulations will absolutely be factoring them into the process as well. "Collapse" might be a bit much, but given many people are already cutting back on essentials, I think a noticeable downturn in sales of non-essential items across the board is almost inevitable at this point.

Ultimately, any buying decision - whether for business or leisure - is a question of whether the buyer think they will get an acceptable return on their investment, by whatever metrics they chose to measure it. If legacy won't work for the kinds of things someone wants to shoot, then they'll need to factor in the cost of a CofC (if that'll make a difference) and/or getting value for their money before the drone enters legacy. I guess you could also take a calculated risk on the date being pushed back again, but three years ought to be plenty of time for the CAA and DfT to come to a final decision and put it into practice so I really wouldn't put mich faith on that happening.

 

[Will_UK]

I suppose it’s not all that bad if you have an A2 CofC and can fly that little bit closer in the A2 Cat. To be honest though, I never fly close to people anyway, incase something happens, and I do have my Cert.

I know it’s a long way off, but what’s your thoughts on all legacy drones in 2026. And as Mavic 3 Classic has the C1 stamp, the DfT can always have special rules for this in a Cat at that time.

And for example: the Mavic 2 Pro in 2026, what will be the plan for that drone, after the transition period, will it be illegal to fly it at all or what happens?

I'm not sure how useful the A2 CofC really is. Given this will allow you to fly within 50 meters (164ft) of people but the definition of people also includes people within buildings, it seems a total waste of time gaining the qualification.

My view is that the only way to be able to fly anything above 250g usefully is to obtain a GVC.

 

[old man mavic]

@Will_UK ,you are right about the GVC certificate being a better option ,but bear in mind ,the considerable costs involved ,and the fact that if you wanted to fly a drone that was over 250g then you would need to fly it in a different category other than the open category
namely the specific category ,which requires flight log keeping, and a lot of other requirements ,if you wanted to fly close to people and structures

 

[leebroath]

I fly no where near people in most instances, so the 50m separation hardly ever gets used, and I have my A2CofC, just in case.

Yesterday my other half made a good point
“in 3 years you’ll be upgrading anyway and 3 years is a long way away, just go enjoy it just now”

I’ll take that advise, and the approval to buy another one in 3 years

 

[Will_UK]

I fly no where near people in most instances, so the 50m separation hardly ever gets used, and I have my A2CofC, just in case.

Yesterday my other half made a good point
“in 3 years you’ll be upgrading anyway and 3 years is a long way away, just go enjoy it just now”

I’ll take that advise, and the approval to buy another one in 3 years

Do you fly within 50m (horizontally) of buildings because if you do unless you can be certain there's nobody inside there's every chance you're flight contravenes the rules even with the A2 CofC.

And that's my point about the A2 CofC, it's virtually a useless qualification.