Discussion
Meldon Reservoir, Dartmoor today although sun was a bit too bright!
Meldon1 by David Hands, on Flickr
Meldon1 by David Hands, on Flickr
Tuna said:
That's more than 400' 
Where is it?
The biggest problem I've got with drone pictures/video right now is it makes me want to go travelling.
Old town in Wroclaw, Poland. Where is it?The biggest problem I've got with drone pictures/video right now is it makes me want to go travelling.
The bad thing about drones is that it actually makes you walk less
My girlfriend complains all the time that she needs to hike alone since I just send the drone out 
If you fly a drone, or would like to, it's worth knowing about forthcoming EASA legislation that's proposing to limit such aircraft to 50m height and 100m distance (the length of an average Company Director's garden).
Not only is this a draconian response to r/c hobbyists who have largely behaved with great responsibility over the last decades, but it also puts a deliberate block in the way of companies wishing to innovate in this space. The proposed permits to exceed these limits play into the hands of companies like Amazon who can afford to 'dominate the skies'. In general, it's a bad idea
Please consider writing to your MP, MEP and signing the petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/168112
Unfortunately the timing and lobbying behind this legislation mean that Brexit is unlikely to protect the UK from automatic adoption of whatever rules the EASA come up with.
Not only is this a draconian response to r/c hobbyists who have largely behaved with great responsibility over the last decades, but it also puts a deliberate block in the way of companies wishing to innovate in this space. The proposed permits to exceed these limits play into the hands of companies like Amazon who can afford to 'dominate the skies'. In general, it's a bad idea
Please consider writing to your MP, MEP and signing the petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/168112
Unfortunately the timing and lobbying behind this legislation mean that Brexit is unlikely to protect the UK from automatic adoption of whatever rules the EASA come up with.
Tuna said:
If you fly a drone, or would like to, it's worth knowing about forthcoming EASA legislation that's proposing to limit such aircraft to 50m height and 100m distance (the length of an average Company Director's garden).
Not only is this a draconian response to r/c hobbyists who have largely behaved with great responsibility over the last decades, but it also puts a deliberate block in the way of companies wishing to innovate in this space. The proposed permits to exceed these limits play into the hands of companies like Amazon who can afford to 'dominate the skies'. In general, it's a bad idea
Please consider writing to your MP, MEP and signing the petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/168112
Unfortunately the timing and lobbying behind this legislation mean that Brexit is unlikely to protect the UK from automatic adoption of whatever rules the EASA come up with.
Ha! No chance I'll stick to 50 bloody meters. Pathetic!Not only is this a draconian response to r/c hobbyists who have largely behaved with great responsibility over the last decades, but it also puts a deliberate block in the way of companies wishing to innovate in this space. The proposed permits to exceed these limits play into the hands of companies like Amazon who can afford to 'dominate the skies'. In general, it's a bad idea
Please consider writing to your MP, MEP and signing the petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/168112
Unfortunately the timing and lobbying behind this legislation mean that Brexit is unlikely to protect the UK from automatic adoption of whatever rules the EASA come up with.
NJK44 said:
Tuna said:
If you fly a drone, or would like to, it's worth knowing about forthcoming EASA legislation that's proposing to limit such aircraft to 50m height and 100m distance (the length of an average Company Director's garden).
Not only is this a draconian response to r/c hobbyists who have largely behaved with great responsibility over the last decades, but it also puts a deliberate block in the way of companies wishing to innovate in this space. The proposed permits to exceed these limits play into the hands of companies like Amazon who can afford to 'dominate the skies'. In general, it's a bad idea
Please consider writing to your MP, MEP and signing the petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/168112
Unfortunately the timing and lobbying behind this legislation mean that Brexit is unlikely to protect the UK from automatic adoption of whatever rules the EASA come up with.
Ha! No chance I'll stick to 50 bloody meters. Pathetic!Not only is this a draconian response to r/c hobbyists who have largely behaved with great responsibility over the last decades, but it also puts a deliberate block in the way of companies wishing to innovate in this space. The proposed permits to exceed these limits play into the hands of companies like Amazon who can afford to 'dominate the skies'. In general, it's a bad idea
Please consider writing to your MP, MEP and signing the petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/168112
Unfortunately the timing and lobbying behind this legislation mean that Brexit is unlikely to protect the UK from automatic adoption of whatever rules the EASA come up with.
NJK44 said:
I doubt anything will happen.
Some of the large companies like Amazon are pushing to get into this space, and I understand their aim is to 'claim' airspace that is currently available to drone operators. They are lobbying the governments hard to make such an arrangement legally binding, so they can have a competitive edge.So, are the government going to listen to well paid lobbyists, or a handful of hobbyists?
Tuna said:
Some of the large companies like Amazon are pushing to get into this space, and I understand their aim is to 'claim' airspace that is currently available to drone operators. They are lobbying the governments hard to make such an arrangement legally binding, so they can have a competitive edge.
So, are the government going to listen to well paid lobbyists, or a handful of hobbyists?
I don't see why they'd have to limit it to 160ft just so Amazon can fly around. So, are the government going to listen to well paid lobbyists, or a handful of hobbyists?
NJK44 said:
I don't see why they'd have to limit it to 160ft just so Amazon can fly around.
The point is Amazon want 'licensed air space' which becomes a barrier to entry to others, and they aren't going to claim it from full size aircraft, so it gets carved out of the currently unregulated space.And here's a response from an MP contacted about the regulations:
MP said:
Thank you for expressing interest in the UAS Prototype Rule.
We had and we are still having intensive discussions on the inclusion of model aircraft in our regulatory proposal, and how to differentiate between a model aircraft and a drone operator flying for leisure.
We are trying to give as much flexibility as we can.
With regard to your query, if you fly under a model club nothing will change for you. I would like to refer you for example to Article 15 of the UAS draft proposal (Prototype Rule, for your convenience I report it below). It gives the possibility to the national competent authority to issue an authorisation to model clubs identifying deviations from the European rule, no further risk assessment is required. In this way we are allowing the model clubs to operate as they do today giving maximum freedom. So if you fly within the remit of a club recognized by your national authority, you do not need to comply with the European rule since we know that a model club already imposes rules providing a sufficient level of safety. Therefore I expect that not much will change for people flying under model clubs rules and no modification could be required to their aircraft.
Still we need to regulate the flight of UAS outside of model clubs and in order to reduce the risk, we defined limitations in energy (weight and speed or level of injury).
Regarding model aircraft we are meeting with model associations, including BMFA, FAI and other national clubs and with their help we will improve the draft text further, if needed.
As you may know we keep aviation safety as high priority and we hope this draft regulation allows the UAS market to develop safely in Europe, without negatively impacting other categories such as the model hobbyist. The purpose of publishing the “prototype” version of the regulatory proposal, while we are still working on it, was exactly to receive comments from all interested stakeholders.
So thank you for sharing your thoughts and I hope my answer helped to show that we do not intend to impede on model flights.
So if you like flying around disused airfields, you'll be fine.We had and we are still having intensive discussions on the inclusion of model aircraft in our regulatory proposal, and how to differentiate between a model aircraft and a drone operator flying for leisure.
We are trying to give as much flexibility as we can.
With regard to your query, if you fly under a model club nothing will change for you. I would like to refer you for example to Article 15 of the UAS draft proposal (Prototype Rule, for your convenience I report it below). It gives the possibility to the national competent authority to issue an authorisation to model clubs identifying deviations from the European rule, no further risk assessment is required. In this way we are allowing the model clubs to operate as they do today giving maximum freedom. So if you fly within the remit of a club recognized by your national authority, you do not need to comply with the European rule since we know that a model club already imposes rules providing a sufficient level of safety. Therefore I expect that not much will change for people flying under model clubs rules and no modification could be required to their aircraft.
Still we need to regulate the flight of UAS outside of model clubs and in order to reduce the risk, we defined limitations in energy (weight and speed or level of injury).
Regarding model aircraft we are meeting with model associations, including BMFA, FAI and other national clubs and with their help we will improve the draft text further, if needed.
As you may know we keep aviation safety as high priority and we hope this draft regulation allows the UAS market to develop safely in Europe, without negatively impacting other categories such as the model hobbyist. The purpose of publishing the “prototype” version of the regulatory proposal, while we are still working on it, was exactly to receive comments from all interested stakeholders.
So thank you for sharing your thoughts and I hope my answer helped to show that we do not intend to impede on model flights.
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